Services Operator Review

Providing Service to an aseptic pharmaceutical manufacturing process. This includes preparing process equipment through the use of industrial sterilisers and also undertaking compliance tasks including environmental monitoring and sampling of other materials such as the pharmaceutical water systems. The job role includes working to a manufacturing plan and includes turning round contaminated equipment back into being used in production. We also have to undertake tasks to move irradiated components into different graded areas to allow them to be used.

The main skills I have developed whilst doing my apprenticeship in aseptic manufacturing include, developing the understanding of manufacturing excellence and a number of problem solving techniques which derive from interventions and deviations from the standard operating procedures. I have also gained experience in working with a number of different functions to meet the customer demands including the requirements for the companies production plan whilst maintaining a high level of product quality by working collaboratively with QA and QC departments. I have also come to learn the understanding of operational qualifaction and validations, by being involved in such programmes this has allowed me to get the background knowledge to understand why it is important from a regulatory point of view to run these programmes and to gather required data.

I have enjoyed my programme massively as I have been able to work between 2 production facilities which manufacture the same product but through 2 differing processes. This has allowed me to see the routine and perfected version of production but has also allowed me to work on a modern facility and experience process validations aswell.

The programme and job role I have been performing have involved the required tasks which have allowed me to meet all the required criteria to complete the required standards and qualifications I have been working towards. It was initially difficult to understand the structure of the qualifications as they were different to previous qualifications I had undergone (A-Level & GCSE) but were adaptable to due to the line of work I was performing.

I received the required amount of assistance from the employer, I have been working with industry professionals with years of experience throughout my programme who have great knowledge of our processes. Whenever time out of the day to day production routine was needed for more time to spend on qualifications etc this was granted without hesitation from the employer to offer me the maximum level of support available.

Regular visits were performed from the training provider (every 4-6 weeks) to ensure we were progressing effectively with our work based learning criteria to ensure we could perform the required tasks to complete the qualification and ensure we were prepared for our end point assessment when coming to the end of our programme.

I believe that the job role I am performing has contributed mostly to my qualifications as with it being a very varied role this has allowed me to be able to cross reference to my work based learning more effectively to allow me to complete in a timely manner aswell as submitting work to a high standard.

Yes, there are a number of different networking activities which the company offers for apprentices to be able to get a wider understanding of the business and the industry we are working in/for. There are also a number of AZInspire events which allow more senior employees to talk to the younger employees to explain what is going on in the company

Yes

It is a very supportive company to work for and the company as a whole performs a very important task in supplying the world with life changing medicines. All the support required for gaining qualifications is offered to enhance the learning of all involved. The opportunity is there to work in state of the art facilities as well.

It is not necessarily vital to have a passion for science if you want to work in a manufacturing environment however it does help for the understanding of certain processes. Regarding working in an aseptic environment it is key to be able to work to strict processes and rules to ensure we are performing to our regulators standards.