Post on 26-Mar-2015
This Project received funds from Liverpool’s
Neighbourhood Renewal Fund
Analysis of Skills Needs in Life Sciences
Merseyside and Halton
• Study commissioned by MerseyBIO on behalf of the Partners
• Pye Tait Ltd were contracted to undertake survey
• Steering Group– Ensured the focus of the work had an industry perspective. Chaired
by Steve Jones, Novartis Vaccines
• Questionnaire Design– Design was driven by industry expertise
• MerseyBIO Network– Using our network, we have achieved a very high response rate
Management of the Study
This Project received funds from Liverpool’sNeighbourhood Renewal Fund
This Project received funds from Liverpool’sNeighbourhood Renewal Fund
46.9
21.9
21.9
9.3
Diagnostics
R&D
Consultancy
Manufacturing
Diagnostics
* Managing an inventory
* Ensuring equipment is cleaned
* Monitoring competence of staff
* Keeping financial records where
required
Manufacturing
* Setting up equipment
* Solving packaging problems
* Contributing to standard
operating procedures
* Setting up procedures for
ensuring manufacturing adheres
to regulations
Consultancy
* Capacity management
* Testing operations
* Drawing up principles for dealing with the supply chain
* Providing advice and support for implementation of quality systems
R & D
* Following the relevant
process instructions
* Writing technical reports
* Ensuring own actions
protect the environment
* Setting up systems for
managing quality
Types of skills employed in our industry in Greater Merseyside
Sector Drivers
13%
4%
20%
18%
20%
24%
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Developments in technology andautomation
Increase in market competition
Increase in regulatory measures
Changes in demand for products
Changes in demand from local,national and international markets
Other
Percentage of respondents
This Project received funds from Liverpool’sNeighbourhood Renewal Fund
Aims of study
• Obtain detailed map of skills requirements to meet the demand of this growing sector
• Gain in depth understanding of manufacturing and related skills
• Inform key partners/stake holders on creating demand- led program of training for the industry
• Use the findings to develop a Local Skills Agreement for training– to ensure funding agencies are aligned with industry
requirements
This Project received funds from Liverpool’sNeighbourhood Renewal Fund
Methodology
This Project received funds from Liverpool’sNeighbourhood Renewal Fund
Setting the scene – initial information gathering
• Desk research – existing detail on skill needs analysed to develop survey structure
• Telephone discussions with training providers to establish current specialist training provision
• Face-to-face interviews and telephone interviews
• Steering group review and input supported by industry specialists
This Project received funds from Liverpool’sNeighbourhood Renewal Fund
Structure of survey
Operators 98 skills assessed
Supervisors 51 skills assessed
Managers 29 skills assessed
• Identified skills for analysis were exclusively based upon technical skill requirements
• Managers were asked to comment on the level of competence of their staff relating to the skills defined in the survey
• Managers were also asked to comment upon their view of the future relevance of skills
This Project received funds from Liverpool’sNeighbourhood Renewal Fund
Survey Coverage
• 42.8% of companies in Greater Merseyside interviewed
• 2895 employees were represented in this survey
• Mixture of operational, managerial and technical staff job roles represented
This Project received funds from Liverpool’sNeighbourhood Renewal Fund
Scoring & Presentation of Results
• Managers marked skills between 1 -10
• 10 represented “perfect”, requiring no attention
• 1 represented “poor” skill, requiring attention
• 7 represented a skill that “meets business requirements”, and therefore considered “satisfactory”
• Therefore, scores below 7 are defined skills gaps in the industry, and those considered to be of future importance as “actionable”
This Project received funds from Liverpool’sNeighbourhood Renewal Fund
Data Processing
This Project received funds from Liverpool’sNeighbourhood Renewal Fund
Data Processing• Areas were split into three major business sections for
– Operational/Frontline staff 98 skills assessed– Technical/Supervisory Staff 51 skills assessed– Managerial Staff 29 skills assessed
• Each skill was rated for current importance and future importance to the respondent company
• The mean scores across all respondents for a particular skill were calculated.
• These results are the basis of the presentation and have identified skills gaps in the current activities required within companies, as well as skills gaps for the future of our sector.
This Project received funds from Liverpool’sNeighbourhood Renewal Fund
Data Processing
• To simplify the identification of the areas of skills shortage, or future gaps, the processed data were plotted on to scatter diagrams.
• To ensure consistency of visualisation and allow comparison of the three types of role, scores were normalised relative to the mean score for each group.
This Project received funds from Liverpool’sNeighbourhood Renewal Fund
Front Line Staff - All Skills
0.85 0.90 0.95 1.00 1.05 1.10 1.15
Future Importance of Skills
0.70
0.80
0.90
1.00
1.10
1.20
6 8
13 17
18 21
22
23 26 27
28 33
34
35 36 37
44
45
50
54
56 57
67
74
75
78 79 80
81
86
87 88 89
91
94
Cu
rren
t S
kill
Le
vels
Current skillLevels are low.
Skills ratedhighly for future
importance
Example Scatter Diagram
Equivalent toa score of 7.00
Staff currentlyHighly skilled.Skills not ratedhighly for future
importance
Staff currentlyHighly skilled.
Skills ratedhighly for future
importance
Current skillLevels are low.Skills not ratedhighly for future
importance
This Project received funds from Liverpool’sNeighbourhood Renewal Fund
Results
This Project received funds from Liverpool’sNeighbourhood Renewal Fund
Results identifying actionableSkills gaps for front line/operational staff
Normalised mean score
Skill score of 7.00
Preparation Control Completion
• Resource management• Segregating materials• Operating/setting up
automated inspections• Setting up automated
systems to conduct validation
• Control of inventory/stock• Cleaning equipment
• Testing operations• Testing materials• Protein separation• Fermentation• Incubating a virus• Harvesting a virus• Potential inactivation of a
virus• Controlling process
automation• Operating/setting up
automated inspections• Conducting checks
against GMP
• Control of inventory/stock• Separating/disposing of
processing materials, by products and waste
• Cleaning equipment
Identified Skills Gaps
Operational/Frontline Staff
Results Identifying ActionableSkills Gaps for Technical/Supervisory Staff
Skill score of 7.00
Identified Skills Gaps Technical/ Supervisory Staff
Personnel Process, Data & Validation
Other
• Responding to poor performance in the team
• Identifying skills needs of staff• Assessing effectiveness of
personnel in validating equipment & environment
Validation• Setting parameters for
process validation• Define which processes that
impact on validation • Planning timescales for
revalidation
• Solving packaging problems• Writing technical reports• Understanding environmental
considerations in packaging
Process & Data• Understanding and use of
Statistical Process Control (SPC)
• Monitoring use of SPC techniques during routine production
• Putting processes in place for collecting data during routine production
• Collecting data during routine production
• Monitoring data
Results Identifying ActionableSkills Gaps for Managerial Staff
Skill score of 7.00
Identified Skills GapsManagerial Staff
• Measuring line efficiency and improving Operational Equipment Efficiency
• Borderline Skills Gaps - Understanding the legislation regarding waste routes & environmental impact. - Understanding potential hazards with airflow and filter
sizes.
This Project received funds from Liverpool’sNeighbourhood Renewal Fund
Cross cutting themesThose skills that underpin all elements of dealing with
supply chain, R&D as well as manufacturing
Cross-Cutting Themes
• Setting up automated systems to conduct validation• Executing validation protocols• Testing of filters for validation• Operating/setting up automated inspections• Controlling process automation• Understanding of how to monitor/analyse efficiency of equipment• Understanding of relevant GMP (secondary manufacture)• Understanding of how to classify materials according to GMP• Complying with FDA requirements for GMP• Understanding of FDA requirements, Material Resources Planning• Carrying out environmental monitoring – air, water and surface sampling• Awareness of European guidelines about distribution and CE marking• Conducting checks against GLP/GCP (R&D)
These are skills required across all levels of staff
Summary
This Project received funds from Liverpool’sNeighbourhood Renewal Fund
All skills summary
All levels - All Skills
Mean Current Skills & Mean Future Importance
- Normalised Results
0.85 0.90 0.95 1.00 1.05 1.10 1.15
Future Importance of Skills
0.70
0.80
0.90
1.00
1.10
1.20
8 33
35
36
44
Cu
rren
t S
kill
Lev
els
Low mean score and high future importance
This Project received funds from Liverpool’sNeighbourhood Renewal Fund
Identified Skills for Action
Level of staffActionable
SkillsBorderline
SkillsTOTAL gaps
Number % Number % Number% ALL skills
Front line/operational(98 Skills)
17 17.3 16 16.3 33 33.7
Technical/supervisory(51 Skills)
15 31.3 4 7.8 19 37.3
Managerial(29 Skills)
1 3.4 2 3.4 3 10.3
This Project received funds from Liverpool’sNeighbourhood Renewal Fund
Prioritised Actionable Skills
ProcessFront line/operational Supervisory Managerial
Process automation and Statistical Process Control (SPC)
• Setting up and operating automated inspections
• Controlling process automation
• Understanding use of SPC• Monitoring use of SPC
techniques
Reviewing process effectiveness
• Understanding of how to monitor/analyse efficiency of equipment
• Collecting data during routine production
• Monitoring data
Identifying and reviewing skills needs of staff
• Identifying skills needs of staff
• Assessing effectiveness of personnel in validating equipment and environment
• Responding to poor performance in the team
Prioritised Actionable Skills
Quality
Front line/operational Supervisory Managerial
Environmental considerations
• Carrying out environmental monitoring – air, water and surface sampling
• Understanding environmental considerations in packaging
This Project received funds from Liverpool’sNeighbourhood Renewal Fund
Prioritised Actionable Skills
RegulationFront line/operational Supervisory Managerial
Understanding of relevant GMP in secondary manufacture and conducting checks against this
• Understanding of relevant GMP • Conducting checks against GMP• Complying with FDA requirements
for GMP
Validation
• Executing validation protocols• Testing of filters for validation
• Assessing effectiveness of personnel in validating equipment and environment
• Setting the parameters for process validation
In-house inspection
• Operating/setting up automated inspections
• Inspecting machinery provided by third parties
Current use of Training • Just under one quarter of companies prioritise training that will
impact on adherence to regulations (eg: GMP and GLP)
• Tend not to use structured training plans but send staff on provision when need arises
• Most frequently accessed training (>10% of training) delivered either in-house or externally was related to quality, regulation and technical skills used in R&D and primary manufacture
• Barriers: cost of training; time and money lost in releasing staff; and lack of information on specialist training available
• 22% of companies have also sourced management development training from external providers
This Project received funds from Liverpool’sNeighbourhood Renewal Fund
Summary• Sector diverse – range of service and products and stages of development of companies
• Despite this – cross-cutting themes affecting everyone
• All levels frontline/operational, technical/supervisory and management staff have some gaps
• Highlighted are regulation process and quality
• Largest percentage gap reported in skill levels – technical/supervisory staff
• Frontline/Operational staff demonstrated largest number of skills gaps
• Current training provision is not readily available across the sector in the areas of:– Process of automation– use of SPC – Technical report writing– environmental requirements – in-house auditing
This Project received funds from Liverpool’sNeighbourhood Renewal Fund