Holmesglen Institute’s print school has come a long way from this time last year, when a $45,000 donation from Visual Connections kicked off the development of its now-open digital print centre.
Since then, it has secured three digital presses courtesy of Konica Minolta, creating a print training room which accurately reflects the future of the industry, enabling students to work in an environment that mirrors the reality of most print sites.
Holmesglen has been well-supported by the industry, with its paper stocks supplied courtesy of Ball & Doggett, also getting free inks from DIC Inks, which students can mix and test in the brand-new lab.
Robert Black, who was brought in to lead the transformation, has just retired from his role as programme manager of print, and is replaced by long time educator and industry veteran Paul Ross.
Black says, “It is a good job done, so it is time to go. I have been there for two years, and a part of the project for four years.
“We have set it up really well, it is all going well, we will have 100 apprentices in the next month, and more next year.”
His replacement, Paul Ross has a four decade track record in print, starting as a letterpress printer in 1977, working for Cook & Heathcote, which was eventually bought out by John Sands, the greeting card company. From there he left to join David Syme, which was with Fairfax at the time, working in commercial printing.
Self-taught in lithographic printing, after a period of time he took on a teaching role at what was then the Melbourne College of Printing and Graphic Arts, in 1998, teaching there for 23 years. The College was absorbed into RMIT, which eventually opted out of print training and sold all of its IT to a private RTO, where Ross was taken on as business operations manager for the printing department.
Ross says, “It is early days for me at the Tafe, but I have 40 years of industry experience. I have seen it evolve, change, and adapt to where it is now, but I think what employers are faced with is finding the right talent. We have an aging workforce. If printing companies are going to survive, they need to think how they can attract young people into the industry. You cannot have people working till 65 with no new blood coming in.
“Young people see print as dirty, thinking of inky hands. Looking forward, our machines here are all digital, not the same heavy, industrial presses kids think of.
“The centre is titled the digital print centre, and focus on training them in managing and setting up digital files, working the Adobe programme, and outputting to various digital devices.
“We need to let students know, that with an interest in computers and technology, they would find the courses interesting and fulfilling. Photography, and capturing images is a part of it, and using Photoshop, and combining images with texts and graphics to create a job for output.
“We had a couple of Tafe programs where school students got to come in and try different trades. After students visited from Bialik College, one of the top five schools in Victoria, they were so impressed that they sent another group. They did a bit of tiling, plumbing, carpentry, but seemed to enjoy our programme the best.”
Holmesglen Tafe takes students not only from Victoria, but also provides off-campus training to Tasmanian students, and has plans to take on South Australian, and Queensland students. It currently has 90 apprentices, up from 50 at this same time last year.
It is now approved to teach a Certificate II in Printing (General), which is currently open for enrolments, and will be on the Tafe Free List for 2019.
Ross explains, “The Certificate II in Printing (General), is currently open for enrolments and will be on the Tafe Free List for 2019. It is designed for young people looking to get into the industry or those who are looking for upskilling or transitioning to another trade. Unfortunately, it is not available to students who will be studying in 2019 as a free course. Completion of the 12 week program gains credits into the Certificate III Programs and is digital in its focus." In an industry trying to work out how it will attract the next generation of talent, subsidised courses with a clear path to employment, will go a long way to attracting young people.
Ross says, “From here we are continuing on expanding in Victoria and Tasmania. We have just put up our third course, Cert III in print communications.
“We are continuing with our push for more online delivery for regional Victoria, and putting on another trainer taking care of digital and prepress units. He has 30 years in VET, and in working in the digital space in the industry. So he comes with a lot of credentials, and is a good catch for us.
“We have the issue with Tafe SA who are not taking any more involvement in print training.
"There will be a void, currently there is a private RTO with a presence there, but the Government has been advised they should be going to a Tafe instead.
“There will be something on the horizon in the near future, and plans further down the track for delivery in Qld. NSW already has an established Tafe.”
Holmesglen is also teaching the next generation of packaging printers, one of the segments of print where demand only continues to rise.
Ross says, “We are currently delivering to Orora Fibre, and have one site we are engaged with in Victoria, about to start a second site, looking at a national programme being delivered, where we would take on all of their apprentices.
“We have had initial discussions with Visy, who have just finished an upskilling program in the past couple of years. So that would not be for the whole workforce, but just for new workers.
“We are delivering fully-on-the-job, off-campus training, which we do with Orora. That is negotiable for companies which are interested, for some employers their apprentices are too key to the business to be released for a week.”
Ross plans on moving the centre forward, by adding equipment, and vying for more space on campus.
He explains, “We have a digital label press, but a small Mark Andy label press would be ideal, so that once the plates are done the students can print a job. We have a plate mounter and proofer, made by British company JM Heaford, which we bought through Aldus Tronics.
“The problem that we have is that we are in a design/art/media faculty, people here do fashion and interior design, it is not set up for a trade based programme. There can be issues with solvents, and fumes, without extraction.
“There are vacant spaces in the campus we could potentially expand into. We want to be quite a relevant place for pre-apprenticeships and VET schools, which is another key for us, having ready people for the industry.
“People often complain there are not enough young people applying for jobs, and being aware of the industry. Most career teachers at schools do not know about it, and do not promote it.
“We have one school-based apprentice enrolled with us at the moment, but we would like to see a whole group of those.
“I have my ideas and goals, but you have to vie for space here, and present a convincing business goal.
"We need enrollment around the 200 mark in order for that to happen.
“The Department of Education and Training committed to help fund the project and attended the official opening of our centre. A $500,000 grant was provided which has gone towards infrastructure and resource development. Holmesglen is thankful for the support of a much needed industry training programme.”
The outgoing Black says, “I wish Holmesglen all the best, and I am sure apprenticeship training in Victoria is in a good position, and needs the support of all to keep it going, particularly in the public Tafe space, which is where it needs to be. I hope I can continue to support them anyway I possibly can in the future.”
After all the kerfuffle when RMIT pulled out of print training and left Victorian apprentices with no off-site training opportunity it is good to see that the vision of Black, Ross and many in the local print industry to create a print training centre is being realised. Now in also catering for Tasmanian print apprentices, and hopefully those from South Australia it can provide an even bigger service to the industry.
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