The Print Media Center of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) trained the best up-and-coming offset printers from Estonia, Finland, Canada, France, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland and Germany to prepare them for the international WorldSkills 2013 competition in Leipzig at the beginning of July.
The aim of the training was to offer participants the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the equipment they would be using prior to the actual contest. The focus during the training week was on mastering the operating concept and printing sample products. Trainees included Elena Singer, who had beaten seven other competitors in the German final. She will represent Germany at the 42nd WorldSkills competition from 2-7 July in Leipzig.
Eight of the finalists trained at the Heidelberg Print Media Center, the company’s recently revamped customer demonstration centre. High-end printing is important and will continue to be so in the future. Since highly qualified personnel are essential to the print media industry, we are only too happy to support WorldSkills once again this year, said Bernhard Nahm, a senior executive at the Heidelberg Print Media Center who worked with the finalists during their intensive five-day training period. Training took place on Speedmaster SX 52 presses and Linoprint C digital printing systems. The Speedmaster SM/SX 52 is the most popular training press and is ideal for preparing these young people for the tough demands of the competition. This small-format press is on a par with our large-format machines in terms of technical equipment and automation, said Nahm, who will assess the young printers’ skills as a member of the judging panel in Leipzig.
At the international WorldSkills competition in Leipzig, over 1000 young people from more than 60 member states of the WorldSkills organisation will pit their skills against each other in 45 key occupations in the trade, industrial, and service sectors.
Heidelberg is a founding member of WorldSkills Germany e. V. and its support covers both Germany’s national final and the international competition in Leipzig. For the latter, it will be providing two Speedmaster SM 52-4 offset presses, two Linoprint C digital printing systems, and a Polar cutter. This year, Heidelberg is also a skill presenter for the printing technology category.
Other countries that are also competing in the printing category but were unfortunately unable to attend the training week are as follows: China, Japan, the United States, Brazil, and Colombia.
