Competitive Manufacturing a high priority

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Competitive Manufacturing a high priority for a productive future

The government has announced a $168m increase in skills investment to support New Zealand's economic transformation and productivity goals. The Competitive Manufacturing Initiative (CMI) group of Industry Training Organisations (ITOs) is advocating for the Competitive Manufacturing qualifications to be a priority because they directly promote productivity.

"To compete globally we need to increase our productivity", said Ian Boyd, CMI spokesperson. "That means we need widespread education on the tools and processes of continuous improvement and high performance. These skills are as important as literacy and numeracy to New Zealand's future prosperity", he said.

The New Zealand Skills Strategy states that 'an hour worked in New Zealand produces approximately 30% less than an hour worked in Australia'.

"To close the gap with Australia we need to do three things. Firstly, invest in training the existing adult workforce in all the skills needed to be competitive, including literacy and numeracy. Secondly we need to have effective programmes in workplaces that equip both leadership and operational staff in the systems, processes and practices that support high levels of productivity. Thirdly, we need to motivate people by recognising their skills through national qualifications.

Competitive Manufacturing qualifications recognise the work processes and skills that are best practice for highly competitive organisations internationally. The Competitive Manufacturing qualifications are recognised in both New Zealand and Australia.

Competitive Manufacturing is a wide set of processes and skills that enables organisations to support those carrying out the work to have the information, the skills, the work organisation and the systems to analyse, problem solve, and make improvements on a continuous basis.

"The CMI group of ITOs believes that the Competitive Manufacturing skills and qualifications should be a high priority for the new investment in tertiary education spending to support New Zealand's economic transformation", said Ian Boyd.

ENDS

CMI Industry Training Organisations

FITEC - Forest Industry Training and Education Council Competenz - Engineering, Food and Manufacturing ITO NZITO - New Zealand ITO PaMPITO - Plastics and Materials processing ITO Print NZ SITO - Seafood ITO ATITO - Apparel and Textiles ITO JITO - Joinery ITO

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