Women in Manufacturing Stepping Up Program

Assistance for Women in Manufacturing
Program Overview
Program Funding
Eligibility Criteria
Mentee Participant Benefits and Commitments
About the Team Delivering the Program

Assistance for Women in Manufacturing

This Program provides learning opportunities for women in manufacturing to foster best-practice and help increase competitiveness, growth and sustainability of manufacturing in New South Wales.

Participating businesses will benefit by:

• obtaining an understanding and appreciation of modern operations and supply chain management, concepts and practices;
• improving their own operations through the application of newly-acquired knowledge and skills;
• building a strong network of manufacturing professionals.

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Program Overview

The Program runs for eight months.  The Program consists of both an educational, course-based component and a mentoring component.

Course-Based Instruction
Facilitated by subject-matter experts and industry practitioners, participating businesses will have the opportunity to attend seven manufacturing-focused sessions.

These sessions will vary in format, including on-site factory visits, interactive discussions and lecture-style meetings.  These sessions will focus on providing an appreciation for and understanding of best-practices in the manufacturing sector.

The subjects of the seven workshops are:

• Manufacturing Processes and Materials Management
• Improving Forecasting
• Material Requirements Planning
• Project Management
• Inventory Management Fundamentals
• Lean Manufacturing
• Leadership Through Influence

Mentoring
Participants will be matched with more experienced manufacturing professionals - Mentors.  The Mentors will assist the Program participant by:

• acting as a sounding board for ideas and issues;
• monitoring progress and feedback;
• inviting the Mentee to learn from their own experiences, knowledge and skill;
• offering opinions and personal insight to support development;
• supporting the Mentees' development over the duration of the Program.

Matching will be undertaken by the Program Facilitator, who will also take into account the work experience, desired outcomes and sector-specific requests of participating companies.  Any conflict of interest will also be taken into consideration.

Mentees will undergo formal training at the outset of the Program to gain a clear understanding of the mentoring relationship and to set achievable outcomes.

Mentors and Mentees will be required to meet at least once per month with the aim of addressing or resolving identified business issues.

Workshop sessions may be further amended/adjusted to take into account specific issues raised by participating companies during the course of the Program.

Program Funding

This Program has been made possible through funding provided by the NSW Department of State and Regional Development.  Eligible companies can access this Program, valued at $3,000, plus GST, per company at a subsidised cost of $1,500, plus GST.  A maximum of three participaants per eligible company.

Eligibility Criteria

All participating companies which will nominate mentees, must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Be a manufacturer in New South Wales.
• Employ more than one staff member (excluding the business owner).
• Have a turnover greater than $200,000 per annum.
• Must have a positive net worth.
• Must have a current assets/current liabilities >.75.
• Nominated participants should be women owners and/or managers of small to medium manufacturers;  or women employed in production, manufacturing or supply chain roles within companies.

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Mentee Participant Benefits and Commitments

1. Benefit by taking guidance from a more experienced manufacturing and supply chain professional.  You should be actively seeking to accelerate your development as a supply chain professional.
2. Complete an enrolment and mentee information form if you wish to be considered as a Mentee in the Program.
3. Attend induction training to understand the role of a Mentee.  Attendance is mandatory.
4. Meet with your Mentor at least once per month for one to two hours.
5. A structured meeting runs once every month focused on a particular manufacturing, supply chain or leadership issue.  This provides you with an opportunity to meet again with your Mentor and to up-skill in key manufacturing areas.  You should be available to attend at least six of the eight instructor-led sessions.

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About the Team Delivering the Program

This Program will be delivered by APICS NSW.

APICS (The Australasian Production and Inventory Control Society) is a non-profit society that facilitates the exchange and advancement of practical knowledge, ideas and techniques in the field of production, inventory and supply chain management.

Contact Linda Henry from APICS on 9891 1411 or email linda.henry@apicsnsw.org.au.

Website:  www.apics.org.au

If you are interested in next year's program, ring Viola Lee on phone 9338 6693 or email viola.lee@business.nsw.gov.au.

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