CBA Certified Operations Manager

Process Design and Improvement22%

• Select the appropriate process mapping technique (flowchart, swimlane diagram, SIPOC-style scope map, value stream map) for a stated analysis purpose and audience.
• Distinguish value-adding, necessary non-value-adding and waste activities within a described process and identify the strongest candidate step for redesign.
• Calculate process performance figures from mapped data, including cycle time, lead time, first-pass yield across sequential steps and the location of the bottleneck.
• Evaluate process design choices against the trade-offs between cost, speed, quality, dependability and flexibility for a given operating context.
• Interpret how layout and process type choices (job, batch, line and continuous patterns; front-office versus back-office split) affect flow, flexibility and unit cost.
• Select appropriate redesign actions, such as combining steps, resequencing, parallel working, automating a step or relocating a decision point, to resolve a described flow problem.

Capacity, Demand and Flow18%

• Calculate design capacity, effective capacity, utilisation and efficiency from staffing, shift and downtime data.
• Calculate takt time from demand and available time, and compare it with cycle times to determine required resourcing.
• Apply Little's Law to relate work in progress, throughput and lead time, and interpret the consequences of changing one variable.
• Select an appropriate capacity strategy (level, chase, demand management or a hybrid) for a described demand pattern and cost structure.
• Interpret the relationship between utilisation, variability and queue length, and evaluate the realism of a proposed service target.
• Distinguish forecasting approaches (simple moving average, weighted average, exponential smoothing, seasonal adjustment) and select the appropriate one for a described demand history.

Quality Management and Lean Fundamentals20%

• Distinguish quality control, quality assurance and prevention-based quality management, and classify described activities correctly.
• Calculate and interpret cost of quality categories (prevention, appraisal, internal failure, external failure) from cost data.
• Select the appropriate root cause tool (Pareto analysis, cause and effect diagram, five whys, check sheet, scatter plot) for a described quality problem.
• Interpret a control chart to distinguish common cause from special cause variation and select the correct management response to each.
• Apply lean fundamentals, including the classic wastes, 5S, standard work, pull versus push and kanban signals, to a described operational situation.
• Evaluate an improvement proposal for likely effect on quality, flow and team workload, including the risks of cutting inspection or inventory without addressing underlying variation.

Performance Measurement and Operational Data18%

• Select KPIs that align with a stated strategic goal and operating context, distinguishing leading from lagging indicators.
• Calculate common operational KPIs including OEE, on-time-in-full delivery, schedule adherence, absence rate, productivity and simple service level figures.
• Interpret performance data presented in tables, run charts and simple dashboards, distinguishing genuine signals from normal fluctuation.
• Evaluate a measurement design for likely distortions, including gaming, target-chasing at the expense of unmeasured work, batching to hit period-end figures and survivorship in the data.
• Distinguish appropriate uses of averages, medians, percentiles and ranges when summarising operational performance, particularly for waiting and handling times.
• Select an appropriate review cadence and escalation route for a described KPI, connecting daily team huddles to monthly management review.

Leading Teams and Delivering Change22%

• Select appropriate leadership actions for described frontline situations, including onboarding, underperformance, conflict between team members and sudden absence cover.
• Distinguish effective from ineffective performance conversations, feedback and one-to-one practices in operational settings.
• Evaluate a workload and skills plan for a team, including cross-training decisions, skill matrices and fair allocation of unpopular tasks and shifts.
• Apply a structured approach to a small change project: defining scope and success measures, sequencing activities, identifying dependencies and setting a realistic timeline.
• Interpret stakeholder positions on a proposed operational change and select engagement and communication actions that reduce resistance.
• Evaluate risks to a small change project and select proportionate mitigations, including pilot runs, fallback plans and post-implementation review.