The Academy now covers a total of 25 different workshops, providing training and an opportunity to upskill via a range of courses from Vehicle Wrapping and Packaging Mock-ups, to Colour Management and Screen Print Film Separations.
Through its market position, expertise and partnerships with OEMs, Antalis is uniquely placed to monitor new technologies arriving on the market and pre-empt the likely training requirements of customers seeking to diversify their business offering.
Places are still available for the February workshops which include Static Control in Digital Print and Intro to Vehicle Wrapping. In addition, a brand new course, Laminating and Finishing, launches on 14 February in Coalville, Leicestershire, where the Digital Academy is based. It is aimed at companies who are looking at installing large format laminators and will need to maximise the effectiveness and productivity of this equipment.
As with all its workshops, the appointed tutor is an independent expert who can bring industry-leading coaching to the sessions. For Laminating and Finishing, Marc Hansing from adhesive coating experts, Drytac, will be working with Antalis to showcase best practice in laminating and share his considerable expertise and knowledge.
Other workshops in development for 2017 include textile printing, interior decorations and wallpapers. All these areas offer huge B2B and B2C market opportunities for those printers in pursuit of diversification.
Giles Bristow, Antalis’ Digital Support Manager, comments: “In the past, printers have shied away from venturing into these growth areas as they may have lacked the know-how or the means to acquire the required technology. Now though, with new accessible and affordable technologies arriving on the scene, our aim is to take that next step and commission our industry experts to teach them how to do it, sharing those invaluable tricks of the trade.”
Also on the horizon are additional RIP software and colour management courses to assist those who are running large format printers and need to guarantee consistency and quality on every job they deliver.
Giles continues: “Booking demand continues to be really good for all of our courses. We’ll never have more than eight in each session to make sure each delegate has quality time with the tutor and can get hands-on with the equipment. In fact, for vehicle wrapping we cap the group at four so they have plenty of time to hone their livery skills while the tutor is present to guide and assist.”
The Digital Academy’s most popular workshop continues to be Colour Management, followed by Signmaking and Vehicle Wrapping – all based in Coalville. Since the Academy launched, there have been pop-up workshops across the UK and Ireland, including Leeds, Livingstone, Norwich and Plymouth, as well as in Dublin. For 2017, there are plans to take the Academy to Belfast in April and host return visits to Bristol in February and Dartford in March – thus providing PSPs with greater access to the available training. The Digital Academy team will also be presenting seminars on colour management at PrintWeekLive! And Sign & Digital UK, both in March.
With Antalis keen to promote careers in the industry, the resources of the Digital Academy are also available to students of Leicester College, one of the largest and most successful colleges in the UK. Last year, a group of the college’s learners were given the opportunity to enhance their knowledge of colour management by attending the workshop free of charge. For 2017, the partnership continues and free spaces are available on each and every course, should the students wish to expand their knowledge and understanding of that particular area of digital printing.
Complimentary spaces are also offered to winners of the Print Futures Awards so that young people looking to work in printing or graphic arts are equipped with training to help them on their chosen career path.
