Training tomorrow’s printers

　　In a contracting industry, where business failures are the norm, mergers and acquisition activity continues and technology is replacing physical labour, you might think the need for skilled labour was on the decrease. You’d be wrong, says Simon Cochaud. The director of the International Centre of Graphic Technology at Melbourne’s RMIT cites a recent study by training body Innovation and Business Skills Australia (IBSA), which found that over the coming decade, the printing and allied industries will struggle to overcome a shortfall in trained personnel of more than 2,500 people. So training remains crucial, but more than ever, it must be training for the real world. As he celebrates his full 12 months in the director’s chair, the youthful Cochaud look back on a year where real-world training continued to be a focus.

　　Cochaud’s time at RMIT may only go back a year, but the school’s heritage goes back a lot further. It all began back in the 1880s as a venerable Melbourne institution known as The Working Men’s College. Over a century later, its successor continues to grow its reputation as one of Australia’s most respected providers of structured graphic technology training.

　　That’s not to say the school’s efforts are always recognised by the industry at large. Cochaud is no stranger to criticisms that training organisations such as the ICGT trot out the wrong training for today’s needs. In response, Cochaud stresses that the student selection processes at ICGT are tied to employers’ needs and priorities. Apprentices and diploma students are accepted only after a meticulous consultation process with employers.

　　“The training proposal for each apprentice is very much a three-way conversation between employer, employee and RMIT,” says Cochaud.

　　“We customise the needs of each apprentice. We may have three apprentices from the same printing company; in terms of their elective subjects, all three may go in different directions. We are very much about being student stream focused and client focused,” he adds.

　　There’s a perception among some corners of the industry that supply of bindery training in particular does not meet the industry’s needs. Cochaud refutes the idea that finishing is lagging behind by pointing to a full A4-page list of bindery equipment and faculty staff in place at the Brunswick campus. “RMIT is very much aware of the priorities within bindery and has implemented a new training program for 2011,” he says.

　　More than printing

　　Cochaud also seeks to correct another misconception: that the institution has become a “printing only” school largely sponsored by press manufacturers. In fact, he says it offers training in virtually every phase of the process – from design to the fully finished print product. One initiative Cochaud has implemented is to put a design student in the customer’s shoes as an “internal client” interfacing with a printing student by briefing out a print job with follow-through that mimics the real-world client/printer relationship.

　　But while the traditional crafts of heavy metal litho printing and bindery skills will be needed for a long time to come, there’s no doubt that the printing industry of tomorrow will be driven by emerging digital technology and cross-media applications. ?The ICGT provides training in the use of XMPie’s cross-media personalisation soft­ware, which lets students create commun­ications across all print, web and email.

　　Beyond production, what about core competencies such as marketing and management? They are not currently on the menu at ICGT, but Cochaud does not rule out their exclusion down the track.

　　“We are undertaking an internal program review, assessing each, its structure and delivery methodology and career and employment outcomes from the student’s perspective,” he explains.

　　Cochaud has spent the past 12 months overseeing the inception of several new initiatives including a school-based apprenticeship program during which students spend three days a week at school, one day at ICGT and one day at an employer for 12-18 months, before receiving RMIT qualifications.

　　Cochaud’s recent announcement of a new pre-press facility and a $375,000 refurbishment of the ICGT pressroom marks a major development. The coming months will see a consolidation and modernisation of the facility, the flagship of which will be a purpose-built climate controlled pre-press facility and include an upgrade to its existing Agfa platesetter, wide-format proofing devices, desktop devices and integrated colour management and workflow system. The university-funded refurbishment program still has a further $75,000 committed for upgrades in 2011.

　　“Further plans under development are likely to change the print and integrated communications educational landscape,” says Cochaud.

　　What with this major facility upgrades as well as the school’s 130-year reputation in graphic arts training, Cochaud is notably proud of the institution and doesn’t mince his words when asked how it compares to other training providers. “While we are in an open market in terms of educational facilities and while we respect training providers in other states in what they are doing, they don’t come close [to us] in terms of infrastructure.”

　　He justifies this by citing the ICGT’s 7,000m2 footprint, its proximity to Melbourne’s CBD, its 1,000 students, its wide array of equipment (he says its “classrooms” contain a more comprehen­sive plant list of pre-press, press and post press hardware than any other training provider) and close relationships with major suppliers to the sheetfed, flexo, screen, newspaper and magazine industry.

　　Learning labels

　　Label production is a growing area, says Cochaud. “Many of our corporate clients have very large numbers of apprentices aligned to label production who are finding it more and more necessary to emphasise on-the-job training. ICGT enthusiastically encourages this training need for clients and is willing to customise the apprenticeship stream.”

　　In addition he contends that “given the wider across-the-board product mix and service delivery needs of tomorrow’s printing supplier, we have to broaden the machine experience of the apprentice”.

　　So what will drive the training needs of the printing supplier of tomorrow? We know for a fact that the greying workforce will have a major impact. Cochaud says: “With the average age of employees lifting to 52 years in 2020 and the older age groups retiring earlier in the path of advancing technology, now is the time for the industry to be hiring apprentices.”

　　RMIT’s projections reveal today’s total industry workforce [of qualified tradespeople] will shrink to 41,500 by 2015 and even further to 35,000 by 2015, resulting in shortages of up to 3,000 qualified apprentices between 2015 and 2020. Several senior industry executives have seriously questioned these projections – after all, is there really a risk of a major labour shortage when the industry is obviously shrinking?

　　Cochaud insists that RMIT has factored in the trends of a declining workforce. He emphasises that the estimated number of people planning to retire in the next 10 years is dramatically higher than in the corresponding past decade. “What’s more they’re retiring earlier,” he adds.

　　All this gives Cochaud considerable chal­lenges for the future. Focused on firming the ICGT’s relationships with industry bodies, it has broadened its advisory board to include GAMAA executive director Karen Goldsmith, Heidelberg general manager sales and marketing Alastair Hadley, the PIAA’s Ron Patterson and Neil Flowers from the Australia & New Zealand Flexographic Technical Association.

　　At the same time he outlines a firm focus of working with industry partners to bring the ICGT in line with changes in graphic communications technology as well as aiming to reduce looming skills shortages with the implementation of a new national program of digital printing.

　　“This will ensure we position ICGT as the benchmark within Australia and internationally to deliver quality programs for a dynamic changing industry,” he says. Examples of this forward-thinking approach include on-the-job assessments for apprenticeship programs and the launch of its Greening Footprint and Environmental Focus. Other initiatives in the pipeline include a Diploma of Management and Sales and a Diploma of Digital Production courses.

　　Looking ahead, Cochaud has a clear vision as to the role of training in the industry. “As a training provider, we are seeing constant consolidation in the sector. And while we hope that this will not go any further, we can certainly see the possibility of it extending. Hence the need to turn out more multi-skilled apprentices than ever before.”