2 weeks Ago By Post-Courier Contributor
CHRISTOPHER Vela, Senior Maintenance Planner of Equipment Office in Ramu NiCo’s Basamuk Refinery, has something special for the 2024 China Copper Cup Competition. The young Mechanical Engineer from Central Province was one of the participants of the 2024 China Copper Cup, an annual event which provides the testing space of how Chinese own industries operating overseas manage their operations. Mr Vela presented a speech in his capacity as team leader for his team at the Chinese Copper Cup Competition in August, 2024 which was one of his best performances apart from the competition itself.
In his speech, he said successful team performance depended on quality leadership that could inspire others not only to become committed team players but more importantly, to create more leaders and he specifically pointed out some highlights of his leadership achievement to support his qualifications for the team leader role during the competition. Mr Vela had seven years of work experience in Manufacturing and Engineering, which covers a range of areas including, Projects, Reliability Systems, Asset Management, People Management, as well as Production Operations Management. “Before joining the Ramu Nico Project, I held a pivotal role as Maintenance Coordinator in my previous company where I lead a team of 46 seasoned tradesmen across Mechanical and Electrical Disciplines, while being the youngest member of my team, as well as the youngest coordinator in the business at that time,” he said.
Mr Vela holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, as well as a Certificate in Transformational Leadership and in combination with his field experience; he successfully led the implementation of continuous improvement projects that positively impacted operations and employee job satisfaction. He believes in healthy competition in the workplace, freedom of expression, freedom to seeking assistance within and across teams and he is a promoter of positive career growth through continuous professional development activities. “If I am to be appointed as Team Leader, I will immediately put forward my implementation plans for an internal maintenance audit which will be conducted in accordance with the ISO 55000 Asset Management Group of standards to identify the root cause behind Regulatory Compliance Gaps, Preventive Maintenance Gaps, Process Failures and Work Flow management gaps that will assist the business leaders to have more visibility on the situation and make informed decisions for Improvement,” Mr Vela said.
“I believe that this will greatly impact the Ramu NiCo Project by enhancing its On-site Quality and Safety Compliance, its Production and maintenance efficiencies as well as create a safer work environment for its employees, its local community and environment while also boosting our capacity to produce quality nickel and cobalt concentrate and meet the demands of our valued customers.” Meanwhile, the 2024 China Copper Cup Overseas Enterprise Local Team Leaders Comprehensive Management Skills Competition 2024 aims to identify and develop talented leaders within Chinese nonferrous metal companies. This year, the competition was expanded to include overseas local team leaders and was held in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, China.
From Mr Vela’s personal opinion, the competition’s goal of cultivating management talent for team leaders was successfully achieved, as evidenced by the positive experiences and skills development of the participants. Mr Vela received 2x Bronze Medals and 1x Silver Medal for individual performance as well as the overall Team Bronze Trophy at the end of the competition. His team members who also received medals were Joseph Kupsy Umare (Registered General Manager – KBK) Bronze Medal recipient, Pais Yanes (Production Team Leader – KBK) Bronze Medal recipient, Benny Kausik (Production Team Leader – KBK) Participation Medal recipient, Kenna Kulap (Production Team Leader – KBK) Participation Medal recipient.
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