Environmental Scan 2017: Human Capital Issues within the Medical Devices Sector
A. Executive Summary
This environmental scan covered all five sub-sectors within the Medical Devices industry( medical consumables, diagnostic imaging, orthopaedics and prosthetics, patient aids and other medical devices), with specific focus on the manufacturing of medical devices.
There are currently 230 companies within the scope of this environmental scan, where 166 of them are medical consumables companies, 15 are orthopaedics and prosthetics manufacturers, 7 are diagnostic imaging companies, 4 are patient aids manufacturers and 38 from other medical devices sub-sector. More than half of these companies are SMEs and their main business activities are concentrated in the Klang Valley and Penang.
The MedDev sector in Malaysia is estimated to employ around 65,800 employees and 6,400 outsourced production workers. The environmental scan has identified 3 critical occupations within the surgical / medical gloves segment( rubber products machine operators, electrical engineering technicians and mechanical engineering technicians), 3 within other medical consumables segment( manufacturing managers, research and development professionals and assemblers) and 7 within the non-consumables segment( manufacturing managers, manufacturing professionals, sales and marketing managers, mechanical engineering technicians, industrial and production engineers, mechanical engineers and manufacturing supervisors). The main stumbling block faced by companies in their recruitment is the lack of technical skills / competencies among the talent pool, where it is typically difficult to find talents that are familiar with the medical devices regulations and auditing processes.
Moving forward, the following 7 key recommendations have been identified to address the human capital issues and challenges related to the medical devices industry:
1. Raise the profile of the medical devices industry among Malaysians to further attract talents
2. Drive R & D and innovation within the MedDev industry in order to move up the value chain
3. Increase involvement of the industry in the development of curriculum and training packages, which should be reviewed every 2 years 4. Improve practical knowledge and technical skillsets of fresh graduates 5. Increase internship period to a minimum of 6 months and plan a structured internship and lecturer’ s / instructor’ s field attachment program for the industry 6. Promote continuous learning and upskilling to companies and industry professionals 7. Help industry better understand their current status and gaps, and prepare them to move towards Industry 4.0
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