Analysis of Skills Needs in Life Sciences Merseyside and Halton.

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


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


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


Methodology


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


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


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


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”


Data Processing


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.


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.


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


Results


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.


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


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


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


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


Quality

Front line/operational Supervisory Managerial

Environmental considerations

• Carrying out environmental monitoring – air, water and surface sampling

• Understanding environmental considerations in packaging



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


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


Analysis of Skills Needs in Life Sciences Merseyside and Halton.

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