Silcar and Tertiary Education in the Latrobe Valley A significant agenda delivered in Partnership with GippsTAFE

A little bit about Silcar  A mid sized organisation jointly owned by Siemens Australia and Thiess Services; Turnover $500M, 2300 employees, Australia wide operations.  Managers of technically complex assets: –Install and Manage Telecommunications systems, cable, fibre optics, microwave, mobile networks and NBN systems –Design, Construct & Manage 65Megawatts of Direct Current power supplies powering the total telecom network throughout Australia with very high reliability –Facilities management for Telstra and Optus –Very high voltage systems testing, commissioning and calibration of fault protection systems –Advise clients on Gas Turbine selection, commission them and carry out periodic inspections –Manage the Asset management and maintenance for the TruEnergy Yallourn Power station and mine in Gippsland –Asset management and maintenance for the BlueScope Steel facility at Western Port Victoria –Asset management and maintenance for Nippon Paper at Nowra NSW  Leading edge Reliability platforms at enterprise scale  Manage Major shutdowns and refurbishment programs

Why train our mid level managers at all? Background issues: –The origins of Silcar came out of outsourced maintenance, but that is no longer a growing business –Need for elevated skills in the leadership domain as business offerings become more complex, basic maintenance has moved to Asset Performance Management –An on-going need to provide opportunities for self development –It supports Silcar’s internal Accomplishment Development Program which focuses on key staff, their aspirations for self development and the links into succession planning –Cheaper than recruitment of new staff –Lower risk than recruitment of new staff –Delivers better results than recruitment

The subject matter Three skill sets streams were developed and linked to core units in the Diploma of Engineering Technology. –Planning and Scheduling –Asset Management –Project Management Each individually tailored to suit Silcar’s business needs, e.g. included the use of the software systems in use by Silcar at Yallourn and Loy Yang A. Flexibility was achieved by Middle level managers being able to enrol in one or more of the streams (skill sets)

 Planning a complete activity  Writing reports  Organising and communicating information  Self management in an engineering environment  Managing operational plans  Building client relationships  Operating computing packages  Facilitating the application of principles of occupational health to control OH&S risk  Developing and monitoring quality systems  Managing People Performance Core Competencies

Planning and Scheduling Competencies  Using planning software systems in manufacturing  Facilitating the use of planning software systems in manufacturing  Planning, implementing & applying preventative maintenance procedures  Establishing and managing maintenance systems

Asset Management Competencies  Planning, implementing and applying preventative maintenance procedures  Selecting and applying lubrication principles  Performing vibration measurement and control  Undertaking root cause analysis  Undertaking proactive maintenance analyses

Project Management Competencies  Managing the application of project integrative processes  Managing project communications  Managing project costs  Managing engineering projects

Course delivery  To enable full customisation, product took approximately 18 months to fully develop  GippsTAFE Client Relationship Manager provided ongoing service with all development, delivery and co-ordination activities  Delivered by GippsTAFE in-house lecturers for the “normal” TAFE course elements  Delivered by external training providers for “very specialised” sections of the course  All delivery was scheduled in accordance with Silcar’s operations (to avoid major outage windows or peak periods)  Home study and assignments supplemented the formal study programs

Outcome  A total of 17 participants graduated from the program.  8 graduated with the Diploma level fully achieved  1 with two separate streams achieved  8 graduated with Statements of Attainment linked to completion in the required skill sets.  Participants surveyed since generally agree it has improved their skills, enhanced their self confidence, and reinforced the finer elements of their current role  Expressions now coming in to take another level beyond and link through to the career requirements for a more senior role

The benefits to Silcar  Opens the glass ceiling that was sitting above many really high quality people from trade backgrounds that had senior management roles in their personal aspirations  Has increased the numbers of skilled planner/ schedulers available to the industry in the Latrobe Valley and to Silcar  Has increased the self confidence levels of key resources and made available more mentoring staff for the next levels that may consider further education in the future  Has demonstrated that we can successfully develop customised training with GippsTAFE with positive outcomes

Future Challenges  The final graduating numbers were less than 100% - Part due to an over estimation by some attendees of how easy it would be to return to study. –Part due to the underlying pressures of work and ability to attend the schooling sessions –Part due to the calibre of applicants (not a big part) –Part due to the pressures of, and degree of support from, family and peers  Subsequent courses may have small numbers is that viable? Or can we link to other employers?  Linking courses for the next level of attainment would also be smaller, is that viable or can we broaden the appeal somehow?

In summary  A proud achievement for those that graduated  A significant step for Silcar in terms of providing the vehicles for self development with a clear business value achieved  A further development between Silcar and GippsTAFE in the alliance model created for this work  Jointly funded by Silcar and use of government funding in an area of skills shortage for the region and nation overall.