Printing SA, in partnership with DigitalView, hosted a series of Member Forum Meetings in Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg during the first week of April. During these meetings, Printing SA presented updates regarding its national training and development strategy, while DigitalView presented an Innovation Event with international guest speakers from X-Rite and Rutherford Graphic Products.
Ken Leid, director: national training and development for Printing SA, outlined the new strategy, which includes the development of various new learning programmes, with the help of subject matter experts from around the country. Some 12 Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) trade qualifications have been developed over the years, which incorporate 20 part-qualifications. So occupational learning programmes for 32 qualifications will be developed and registered by the South African Qualifications Authority – an ongoing process. These encompass disciplines concerning commercial digital printing, electronic pre-press, printing, packaging, print finishing and more.
Printing SA has implemented pathway frameworks of occupational learnership programmes from foundational learning through to management development programmes. Printing SA’s new foundational learning programme has proved to be successful in recruiting talent and preparing them for careers in the printing, packaging and signage industry. This programme includes the Foundational Learning Competencies, English communications and Math literacy as well as Occupational Health & Safety and Work life Orientation Programmes. Graduate Learners serve three month internships to gain valuable workplace experience and exposure before being made available for full-time employment in the industry. Leid gave an account of the visits that he had made to companies in KwaZulu-Natal, which had employed graduate learners, and the inspiring stories the companies and learners had to tell.
Printing SA showcased examples of their newly designed and developed learning material including their completely reworked technical theoretical module material. Leid stressed that measures, including listening to Printing SA’s member feedback and suggestions, had been put in place to ensure continuous improvement of the course material to prevent it from become outdated and antiquated in future.
Leid outlined the career pathways for the technical and non-technical fields learners can get into. He added that non-technical occupational qualifications, including print estimating, production planning and print sales representatives were also on the cards for development.
He also addressed Printing SA’s collaboration with WITS Commercial Enterprise, which offers Business Management and Management Development Programmes commencing in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town from June 2019. He added that limited bursaries were available thanks to FP&M SETA.
DigitalView Innovation Event
DigitalView owner Mark Minter discussed the critical importance of colour measurement and management. He emphasised how visual inspection of colour is not adequate and that we cannot trust our eyes. Measuring colour density is also a pitfall as the density of two very different colours is exactly the same, ‘We need to go beyond measuring density, and measure spectral values, actual wavelengths and light,’ said Minter.
‘Print cannot be viewed as an art and craft, but as industrial. Colour must be printed the engineering way, and seen as a blueprint. Colour must be seen as data so it can be processed with software, so users can see how close or far away they are to achieving the right colour specification, and avoid uncontrolled colour workflow.’
He illustrated how X-Rite’s eXact spectrophotometer enables accuracy for clients’ specific needs, and that the eXact is used by leading brands around the world for their brand colours. Such equipment enables users to know where adjustments can be made to control colour for better results.
Minter showed pictures from supermarkets, where identical packets of sweets can be seen sitting on one shelf. Some packets had strong colours, whereas others were faded, which according to Minter easily leads to a loss in sales based on the lack of consistency in quality.
X-Rite I&M Products regional sales manager Alaa Salah Mushtaha spoke about the role X-Rite plays in colour managemet, in terms of analysis, synchronisation, measurement, consistency and finishing touches. He emphasised how X-Rite products advance the creation and delivery of colour, whether it concerns cars or cosmetics. ‘It is about assessing and perfecting colours, considering how they reflect on various substrates, and giving customers exactly what they want,’ he said.
DigitalView co-owner Laura Minter conducted a brief product demonstration with the new X-Rite eXact AutoScan along with its various versions and sizes. Developed based on customer feedback, and very new to South Africa and the rest of the world, Minter discussed the product’s quick and easy measurements.
Fabrice Doreau, Global Network Director of Rutherford Graphic Products (powered by X-Rite and Pantone) illustrated how his company’s products can save users money by maintaining colour targets throughout a print run and mastering a production workflow. Such products have the company’s own adaptive incremental algorithm per key and substrate, which stabilise and standardise production, hitting colour targets and staying there. The products are compatible with a number of world-leading print systems.
PRINTING SA +27112871160 http://www.printingsa.org
DIGITALVIEW +27114624849 http://www.digitalview.co.za
