Advanced Wine Operations Skills Project
Menu: Click across the green arrows to view active and completed project stages. Consultation takes place at every stage of the project.Case for change
The previous Wine Operations Project (2017-2018) involved the review and update of wine industry related units of competency and qualifications to reflect changing industry skills requirements, especially in the area of technology. Towards the end of the project it became apparent that the existing Certificate III in Wine Industry Operations allowed for a high number of units that reflect Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) level 2 to be undertaken and as such it did not reflect the level of skill expected of someone with this qualification.
Further consultation revealed that several of these level 2 units were still required to address essential skills. As a result, industry requested further development to address these skills at the higher Certificate III level. As this could not be accommodated within the approved scope and timeline of the original project, this additional project was proposed.
The areas proposed for development address skills in operating automated processes and performing more complex tasks relating to cellar operations in winemaking.
The Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC) approved this project via a Case for Change submitted by Skills Impact in 2018 on behalf of the Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical Industry Sector IRC.
Skills Impact and the Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical Industry Reference Committee (IRC) will manage this project, consistent with the 2012 Standards for Training Package Development.
Project Plan
Getting wine into domestic and international markets requires the input of a team of skilled people, particularly when it comes to large scale businesses. While the title of winemaker is usually reserved for someone with a university degree, getting wine out into the world requires the contribution of a range of individuals with different levels of skill and knowledge. This includes expertise across viticulture, bottling and packaging, customer service, wine evaluation and people planning and logistics.
In 2018, Skills Impact undertook a project in consultation with wine industry representatives and training organisations to review Certificates II and III in Wine Industry Operations and their related units of competency. Towards the end of the project, it became clear that this project would not be able to cover the more complex equipment and systems becoming standard for wine production, bottling and packaging. As a result, this additional project has been proposed to ensure these skills are addressed at the correct level, supporting job roles and strengthening career pathways within the wine industry.
Increased automation is changing the way work is done in the wine industry, both in cellar operations and in packaging. The wine operations industry typically relies heavily on a highly skilled permanent workforce that is supplemented by a large proportion of itinerant workers during harvest and vintage. These itinerant workers are vital to the success of most large scale wineries, and require training, coordination and leadership to develop and perform to the levels of skill demanded by the industry. Therefore, this project is required to address both increased automation and leadership and coordination in the wine industry.
Project Scope
A workforce functional analysis, including several site visits to large scale wineries has identified the following eight new units of competency to be developed, to address skills and knowledge required by wine industry workers in cellar operations and packaging. These units will be added as electives in the existing FBP30918 Certificate III in Wine Industry Operations:
- Coordinate a wine operations process – Vintage
- Coordinate a wine operations process – Clarification
- Coordinate a wine operations process – Filtration
- Coordinate a wine operations process – General Cellar
- Coordinate a wine operations process – Packaging
- Schedule, prepare and apply additions and finings
- Operate an automated packing process
- Operate an automated palletising process
Register your interest in the projectSubscribe to the Skills Impact newsletter to keep informed about project updates and opportunities to provide input and feedback. Make sure to select ‘Food, Beverage & Pharmaceutical’ as your industry of interest. |
Relevant Occupations
These new units are targeted to the following roles:
- Cellar operations leading hands
- Cellar operations workers
- Bottling and packaging leading hands
- Bottling and packing workers
Project Team
| Tom Vassallo | Industry Skills Standards Manager, Skills Impact | [email protected] |
| Julie Stratford | Industry Engagement Manager, Skills Impact | [email protected] |
Timeline
August 2019
Initial scoping
August – September 2019
Development of draft skill units
September 2019
Drafts available for broad consultation
October 2019
Validation of final drafts
November 2019
Finalisation of Training Package components
December 2019
Submission for endorsement
Subject Matter Experts
Subject Matter Experts will be drawn on throughout this project to help review and draft the revised units and skill sets.
If you are interested in applying to be a subject matter expert and are able to volunteer your time to this project, please email details of your expertise to [email protected]
Opportunities for stakeholder input
Stakeholder input is appreciated throughout the duration of this project. The documents will be drafted in consultation with Subject Matter Experts and their networks. Opportunities to provide targeted feedback on first drafts are expected to occur in September 2019 and validation of final drafts is currently planned for October 2019. The units need to reflect real work experience in order to ensure training provides a skilled and flexible workforce for the future. As such, your feedback is welcome at any time, to assist in the development of appropriate draft documents.
If you work in the sector, Skills Impact would appreciate your input. Register your interest to receive project updates and information about consultation opportunities by following the newsletter subscription link below. Alternatively, please feel free to contact the project manager, Tom Vassallo on 03 9321 3526 or [email protected]
Development
To keep up with the domestic and international demand of Australian wines, the operations of large-scale wineries is becoming increasingly sophisticated. Automation is changing the way work is done, with more complex equipment and systems now standard practice. The skills requirements of people working in cellar operations and bottling and packaging are being identified to incorporate these into the national skills standards.
Several visits to large scale wineries in Griffith, NSW and Barossa, SA took place in August 2019 to undertake worksite functional analysis. At these visits, the unique work functions of cellar operations workers and bottling and packing workers were observed to identify the skills standards that are required. Subject Matter Experts have also been engaged to provide advice and support in drafted revised units of competency.
As a result of workforce functional analysis and consultation with wineries and Subject Matter Experts it became apparent that leadership and coordination skills to oversee diverse teams and processes is also needed. Therefore, the following units are being drafted.
- FBPCEL3019 Prepare and apply additions and finings
- FBPCEL4001 Coordinate wine operations vintage processes
- FBPCEL4002 Coordinate wine operations clarification processes
- FBPCEL4003 Coordinate wine operations filtration processes
- FBPCEL4004 Coordinate wine operations general cellar processes
- FBPBPG3008 Operate an automated carton packing process
- FBPBPG3009 Operate an automated palletising process
- FBPBPG4001 Coordinate wine operations packaging processes
It is expected that the drafts units will become available for broad consideration and feedback from 11 September until early October 2019 (under the ‘Drafts Available’ menu above). We welcome your feedback and advice on the draft units in this time. There will be the ability to comment on the draft documents via our online feedback tool. There is also the option to provide feedback via a webinar. To register for a webinar, please select one of the options below.
Consultation webinars
- Monday 16 Sept 2019, 10am – 11am AEST – register here
- Monday 16 Sept 2019, 2pm – 3pm AEST – register here
- Wednesday 18 Sept 2019, 10am – 11am AEST – register here
- Wednesday 18 Sept 2019, 2pm – 3pm AEST – register here
Register your interest in the projectSubscribe to the Skills Impact newsletter to keep informed about project updates and opportunities to provide input and feedback. Make sure to select ‘Food, Beverage & Pharmaceutical’ as your industry of interest. |
Drafts Available
To keep up with the domestic and international demand for Australian wines, the operations of large-scale wineries is becoming increasingly sophisticated. Automation is changing the way work is done, with more complex equipment and systems now standard practice. Leading hands also require the skills to coordinate and lead the numerous temporary and casual workers that supplement this workforce during harvest and vintage. The Certificate III in Wine Industry Operations and relevant units of competency has been reviewed to add these advanced skills. they have been drafted with the input of subject matter experts and insights from visits to large scale wineries in Griffith, NSW and Barossa, SA.
Thank you to those who provided feedback on the draft units of competency and qualification that were made available on this webpage for feedback from 11 September – 3 October 2019.
During this time, feedback was collected via the online feedback hub, seven consultation webinars and email. The drafts, including any comments made on the feedback hub, are still available for viewing below.
Feedback will inform the work on the final drafts which are expected to be available for industry validation in late October 2019. A summary of the feedback and how it was addressed in the final drafts will also be available.
| FBP30918 Certificate III in Wine Industry Operations | View qualification |
The draft document can be downloaded in Microsoft Word format by clicking here.
Feedback was sought on whether the draft units reflect the current skills standards and practices of industry. Five of the eight units describe the skills and knowledge required to coordinate several processes and workers. These units reflect Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) level 4 outcomes and have ‘Coordinate wine operations’ in the unit title. Feedback is requested on whether it is necessary to have prerequisite units for these five units.
| FBPBPG3008 Operate an automated carton packing process | View unit |
| FBPBPG3009 Operate an automated palletising process | View unit |
| FBPBPG4001 Coordinate wine operations packaging processes | View unit |
| FBPCEL3019 Prepare and apply complex additions and finings | View unit |
| FBPCEL4001 Coordinate wine operations vintage processes | View unit |
| FBPCEL4002 Coordinate wine operations clarification processes | View unit |
| FBPCEL4003 Coordinate wine operations filtration processes | View unit |
| FBPCEL4004 Coordinate a wine operations process – general cellar operations | View unit |
The draft documents can be downloaded in Microsoft Word format by clicking here.
Summary of consultation to date
Several visits to large scale wineries in Griffith, NSW and Barossa, SA took place in August 2019 to undertake work site functional analysis. At these visits, the unique work functions of cellar operations workers and bottling and packing workers were observed to identify the skills standards that are required. Subject Matter Experts have also been engaged to provide advice and support to draft the revised units of competency.
The need for this project work came out of consultation during the In 2018 Wine Operations Project, when the Certificates II and III in Wine Industry Operations and their related units of competency were being reviewed. Towards the end of this 2018 project, it became clear that a subsequent project was required to address the more complex equipment and systems becoming standard for wine production, bottling and packaging, to embed these skills at the correct level, strengthening career pathways within the wine industry.
Register your interest in the projectSubscribe to the Skills Impact newsletter to keep informed about project updates and opportunities to provide input and feedback. Make sure to select ‘Food, Beverage & Pharmaceutical’ as your industry of interest. |
Validation
Large-scale wineries require input from a team of skilled people, often drawing on temporary workers to supplement the workforce during harvest and vintage. Coordination and leadership of this workforce is key during these busy times, to meet the demand for wine from the domestic and international markets.
New units have been developed to address the need for advanced skills in the wine industry, especially in response to increased automation in bottling and packaging, and to provide the skills and knowledge required to coordinate several cellar operations processes in the wine industry. The Certificate III in Wine Industry Operations has been updated with these units.
Thank you to those who provided feedback on the final draft qualification and units that were made available on this webpage for feedback from 18 October – 6 November 2019.
Validation means checking and confirming that the documents are are logical, factual and accurate. Feedback was collected during this stage about whether the draft documents reflect the advanced skills required to coordinate several cellar operations processes in large-scale wineries, especially in response to increase automation in bottling and packaging.
Final drafts of the qualification and units can be viewed in the lists below.
Minor changes have been made to the packaging rules to limit the number of elective units that reflect outcomes above Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) level 3 to no more than six.
| FBP30918 Certificate III in Wine Industry Operations | View final draft qualification |
| Unit title | Changes made since the first draft | Link to download |
| FBPBPG3008 Operate an automated carton packing process | Minor grammatical edits to application statement and Performance Criteria 2.4 and 2.6 Performance Criteria 3.4 deleted and merged with Performance Criteria 3.5 Minor grammatical edit to Foundation Skill descriptor for Numeracy Minor grammatical edit to Performance Evidence Minor edit to ‘physical conditions’ in the Assessment Requirements | View final draft unit |
| FBPBPG3009 Operate an automated palletising process | Minor grammatical edits to application statement and Performance Criteria 2.4 and 2.7 Performance Criteria 3.3 deleted and merged with Performance Criteria 3.5 Minor grammatical edits to Performance Evidence | View final draft unit |
| FBPBPG4001 Coordinate wine operations packaging processes | “Under broad direction” removed from the unit application statement Minor grammatical edits to application statement and Performance Criteria 2.7,2.8, 2.9, 4.2 and 4.5 Performance Criteria 2.2 deleted and Performance Criteria 2.4 on staff welfare moved up to become Performance Criteria 2.2 Minor grammatical edit to Performance Evidence The following have been added to the Knowledge Evidence:
| View final draft unit |
| FBPCEL3019 Prepare and apply complex additions and finings | Minor change to Performance Criteria 1.1 to replace ‘quarantine’ area to ‘storage’ area
Minor change made to the Performance Evidence to add ‘ammonium bisulfite and potassium sorbate’ to the choice of additives and finings | View final draft unit |
| FBPCEL4001 Coordinate wine operations vintage processes | “under broad direction” removed from the unit application statement Minor grammatical edits to application statement and Performance Criteria 2.7,2.8, 2.9 and 4.7 Performance Criteria 2.2 deleted and Performance Criteria 2.4 on staff welfare moved up to become PC 2.2 The following have been added to the Knowledge Evidence:
| View final draft unit |
| FBPCEL4002 Coordinate wine operations clarification processes | “under broad direction” removed from the unit application statement Minor grammatical edits to application statement and Performance Criteria 2.7,2.8, 2.9 and 4.5 Performance Criteria 2.2 deleted and Performance Criteria 2.4 on staff welfare moved up to become PC 2.2 List of equipment in the Performance Evidence has been modified to add “racking and cold settling equipment’ and ‘pumps’ The following have been added to the Knowledge Evidence:
| View final draft unit |
| FBPCEL4003 Coordinate wine operations filtration processes | “under broad direction” removed from the unit application statement Two new Performance Criteria have been added: 1.8 Ensure integrity testing on filters is carried out to meet required parameters 2.5 Ensure flow rates and differential pressures meet production requirements and determine when filters are compromised. Minor grammatical edits to application statement and Performance Criteria 2.9, 2.10, 3.5 and 4.6 Performance Criteria 2.2 deleted and Performance Criteria 2.4 on staff welfare moved up to become Performance Criteria 2.2 Minor changes to the Performance Evidence to include ‘pad’ filtration and integrity testing The following have been added to the Knowledge Evidence:
| View final draft unit |
| FBPCEL4004 Coordinate general cellar operations processes | “under broad direction” removed from the unit application statement Minor grammatical edits to application statement and PCs 2.7,2.8, 2.9, 3.5 and 4.5 Performance Criteria 2.2 deleted and Performance Criteria 2.4 on staff welfare moved up to become PC 2.2 The following have been added to the Knowledge Evidence:
| View final draft unit |
Summary of Consultation to Date
The Certificate III in Wine Industry Operations and units of competency were been drafted with the input of subject matter experts and insights from visits to large scale wineries in Griffith, NSW and Barossa, SA.
The draft qualification and units were available on this webpage from 11 September – 3 October 2019, under the ‘Drafts Available’ menu tab. During this time, feedback was collected via the online feedback hub, seven consultation webinars and email.
Feedback that was received during this stage was considered to redraft versions of these documentsA full description of how feedback was considered and applied in these final drafts can be downloaded below. Please click the ‘Download Summary of Feedback, Responses and Actions’ button.
The final drafts were made available on this webpage for validation from 18 October – 1 November 2019. An Industry Validation Forum was also held on 7 November 2019. It provided the opportunity for wine industry stakeholders, including training providers, to review the draft units and qualification in depth and provide feedback.
Register your interest in the projectSubscribe to the Skills Impact newsletter to keep informed about project updates and opportunities to provide input and feedback. Make sure to select ‘Food, Beverage & Pharmaceutical’ as your industry of interest. |
Finalisation
The operation of large-scale wineries is becoming increasingly sophisticated, to keep up with the growing demand for Australian wines. Automation is changing the way work is done, with more complex equipment and systems now standard practice. Leading hands also require the skills to coordinate and lead the numerous temporary and casual workers that supplement this workforce during harvest and vintage.
Thanks to the input of experts across Australia, the coordination and leadership skills that are required of people working in cellar operations and bottling and packaging have now been incorporated into new units of competency.
The new units, a revised Certificate III in Wine Industry Operations and two new skill sets were published on the training.gov.au website on 10 July 2020, within the FBP Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical Training Package. They are available for use by registered training organisations (RTOs).
Large-scale wineries require input from a team of skilled people, often drawing on temporary workers to supplement the workforce during harvest and vintage. Coordination and leadership of this workforce is key during these busy times, to meet the demand for wine from the domestic and international markets.
Eight new units have been developed to address the need for advanced skills in the wine industry. The new units have been incorporated into two skill sets and the Certificate III in Wine Industry Operations to provide the leadership and management skills required to coordinate cellar operations. These are essential skills for permanent wine operations workers, especially during vintage and harvest times.
“We are pleased to see the availability of the five Coordinate Wine Operations units, as the industry relies heavily on casual workers during peak production times and these workers require training and coordination to perform to the levels required by industry. We also support the development of two new units related to high speed automated packaging processes as companies are increasing the levels of automation for their bottling and packaging lines. These new units reflect real work functions in the industry.” Henrik Wallgren, Business Services Manager, South Australian Wine Industry Association Incorporated
Industry experts have welcome these developments, which will support the Australian wine industry to retain and develop the skills it needs now and for the future.
“The wine industry is constantly evolving and it still relies on some old world techniques blended with the newest technologies. With these new technologies come new challenges and requirements for staff understanding and competencies. The revised qualification is a start to enhance the skills and knowledge of our workforce and therefore in the Australian wine industry overall.” Michael Horley, Packaging Technical Trainer, Casella Family Brands
Key Outcomes
- Three new units to address advanced technical skills:
- Two units for the bottling and packaging sector, related to the use of highly automated carton packing processes and palletising processes (which may also be taken up by other industries).
- One unit addresses the skills and knowledge required to create and apply complex additions and finings to wine.
- Five new units to address the skills and knowledge required to coordinate several processes and workers in cellar operations and bottling and packaging.
- The Certificate III in Wine Industry Operations has been updated with these units, they have been included as electives in the qualification.
- Two new skill sets have been created to make the ‘coordinate processes’ units accessible outside of the Certificate III in Wine Industry Operations.
Summary of consultation
The need for this project was identified during consultation of the 2018 Wine Operations Project, which included a review of the Certificates II and III in Wine Industry Operations and their related units of competency. Towards the end of the 2018 project, it became clear that the Certificate III in Wine Industry Operations did not reflect the level of skill expected of someone with this qualification and the more complex equipment and systems becoming standard for wine production, bottling and packaging.
The units of competency were drafted following visits to six large scale wineries in NSW and SA and in consultation with Subject Matter Experts, to observe and receive advice about the skills standards required. The Subject Matter Experts represented the major wine making companies in Australia, each of them operating in more than one state. Face to face meetings and webinars were also help with trainers/assessors from TAFE NSW and TAFE SA and wine industry experts to create the initial draft of the new units.
The draft qualification and units were available for broad stakeholder consultation from 11 September – 3 October 2019, as part of the ‘Drafts Available’ stage. During this time, feedback was collected via the online feedback hub, seven consultation webinars and email. Feedback that was received during this stage was considered to redraft versions of these documents. The revised final draft qualification and units were then made available for feedback as part of the ‘Validation’ stage, between 18 October – 6 November 2019. Feedback was collected via surveys and emails. An industry validation forum was also held on 7 November 2019 in Adelaide to allow stakeholders to discuss the draft the draft components and to provide feedback.
A summary of feedback and how it has been considered and applied at each stage can be downloaded below.
The final draft qualification, skill sets and units were endorsed by the Australian Industry and Skills Committee at their meeting on 25 February 2020 (read the communique). The documents have also been endorsed by the State and Territory Ministers.
Please find below links to the final documents, that are published on the training.gov.au website.
Click here to download the Case for Endorsement
Companion Volume Implementation Guide
RTOs can find information to help them adopt to the new changes in the Companion Volume, which provides additional information about the impacts of regulation and licensing implications and workplace health and safety on their training.
Minor changes have been made to the packaging rules to limit the number of elective units that reflect outcomes above Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) level 3 to no more than six.
| FBP30920 Certificate III in Wine Industry Operations |