By Sujata Albert

Technology is transforming plastics manufacturing, but technology alone does not make a manufacturer more competitive. The people who operate, troubleshoot and optimise that technology are equally important.

The scale of the skills challenge is significant. The World Economic Forum estimates that 39% of workers' existing skills will change or become outdated by 2030, while 59 out of every 100 workers will require upskilling or reskilling. More importantly, 63% of employers identify skills gaps as a major barrier to business transformation.

For the Malaysian plastics industry, this is not a distant challenge. MPMA's own study on industry skills needs found that 88.1% of companies were likely to turn to internal training or mentoring when facing difficulties obtaining skilled employees, while 52.6% would consider external training providers.

Plastics manufacturing requires highly specialised technical knowledge. This is why MPMA has increasingly focused on niche, structured industry-specific skills training that can be applied directly on the production floor.

MPMA's programmes cover specialised areas including scientific and systematic injection moulding, injection moulding defects and troubleshooting, extrusion and blown-film processing, extrusion blow moulding, mould design and maintenance, plastics materials, product design and automation. For example, MPMA's ‘Scientific Injection Moulding: Defects Troubleshooting’ training goes beyond basic machine operation into rheology and plastic flow, process parameters, root-cause analysis, scientific troubleshooting and Design of Experiments (DOE). Similarly, extrusion and blow moulding programmes develop specialised capabilities in areas such as material behaviour, process optimisation, mould set-up, quality and troubleshooting.

These are capabilities that cannot always be developed through generic manufacturing courses. They require trainers with plastics processing expertise and programmes designed around actual industry requirements.

Training, however, is only valuable when its quality and relevance can be assured. This is where the Malaysian Plastics Industry Talent Accreditation Council (MaPITAC) has an important role to play. Established in 2019 and revitalised by MPMA in 2024, MaPITAC serves as the plastics industry's course accreditation and registration body. Its role includes developing relevant courses for different occupational levels, accrediting industry training programmes, and registering qualified trainers and training providers.

This is important because Malaysia needs more than a larger number of training programmes. The industry needs the right training, delivered to the right standards and aligned with the skills manufacturers actually require. MaPITAC can help bridge the gap between industry, training providers and TVET institutions so that training keeps pace with changing manufacturing technologies and workplace requirements.

The future competitiveness of Malaysia's plastics industry will increasingly depend on productivity, automation, innovation and the ability to move towards higher-value manufacturing. Each of these ultimately depends on people.

For manufacturers, upskilling should not be viewed simply as a training cost. It is an investment in productivity, quality, reduced downtime, better troubleshooting, employee progression and long-term competitiveness.