The three-hour workshop will be free of charge following Federal Government funding approval for the programme by Enterprise Connect under its Workshops, Industry Intelligence and Networking (WIIN) initiative.

Brisbane will be the first city to host the programme on April 17 and Perth the final city on May 4 2012.

Bill Healey, CEO of Printing Industries welcomed the WIIN funding and said it provided an opportunity to help position the industry to face the expected energy related challenges from 2012 and beyond.

He says, “From July 1, 2012 the Carbon Tax will be introduced and while that will cause costs to increase across the printing industry value chain, energy prices are likely to continue increasing independent of the Carbon Tax.

“This is why it is critical that in our role as the peak industry body that we develop a comprehensive framework addressing the energy cost challenge being faced by our industry.”

Healey adds that in addition to the seminar programme, Printing Industries has entered into a partnership with a group buying exchange, EMSquared, which will explore cheaper electricity purchase for companies as one of its first priorities to achieve cost savings for members across key areas of business expense.

He says, “Our preliminary research involving a mid-sized printing operation in Sydney has identified an 11 per cent saving off their current electricity bill.”

Also commenting, Hagop Tchamkertenian, national manager for policy and government affairs at Printing Industries says a goal of the workshop programme is to deliver useful and practical information to help the industry effectively manage energy costs.

He says, “Being conscious of the fact that business operators are time poor we have ensured that the three hour seminars will target the improvement areas for printing companies.

“They will go further than just raising awareness and will demonstrate how companies can establish energy efficiency objectives and targets.”

Dates for the national Transitioning to Cleaner Printing Technology seminars include: Brisbane April 17; Sydney April 18; Canberra April 19 ; Melbourne May 1; Hobart May 2; Adelaide May 3, and Perth May 4.

Comment below to have your say on this story.

If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.  

Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter