Offset Printing
German Print Media Technology Competition selects winner for WorldSkills 2017 in Abu Dhabi
Monday 28. November 2016 - Preliminary selection round in the Print Media Center in Wiesloch-Walldorf
WorldSkills taking place in Abu Dhabi from 14 to 19 October next year
Three newly graduated printers put themselves forward for the opportunity to represent Germany at the next WorldSkills in the print media technology discipline, competing in a preliminary selection round entitled “We make world champions” from 23 to 24 November 2016. Florian Kraus from AZ Druck und Datentechnik GmbH in Kempten came away the winner, with Andreas Will from the same company and Jan Jungwirth from Engelhardt Etikett in Nördlingen as runners-up. Florian Kraus will therefore represent Germany next year at the WorldSkills International competition from 14 to 19 October 2017 in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
The German competition was held in the Print Media Center of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg). The participants were given two hours to produce a print job revealed to them during the competition. The jury – Harry Belz from Bundesverband Druck und Medien, Dietmar Meier, Head of Training from Mohn Media, and Josef Schmidt from Berufsschule Kempten- scored the participants on their approach to color blending, the total time needed, and the quality of the printed product. The jobs were printed on a Speedmaster SX 52 five-color press with coating unit. Enn Kerner, Managing Director of Grafitek in Tallinn (Estonia), and Roman Silkin from the Technical College for Printing and IT Technology in Novosibirsk (Russia) were invited to observe the proceedings. Both gained valuable experience from the national competition and got an opportunity to exchange information and ideas with the printing experts. They will be able to put this valuable know-how to use in 2019 when the WorldSkills competition is held in Kazan for the first time.
Commitment to WorldSkills and training
Heidelberg is a founding member of WorldSkills Germany e.V. and is sponsoring the national Print Media Technology Competition for the seventh time. Heidelberg will also be providing the equipment for the WorldSkills competition in Abu Dhabi in 2017: three Speedmaster SX 52 presses – two four-color presses and one two-color press – as well as a Versafire CV digital printing system and a Polar cutting machine. “Heidelberg is committed to the industry, and training is an important part of this,” explains Bernhard Nahm, Head of Vocational Training for Media Professions, who is reprising his role as juror and trainer for WorldSkills for the fourth time. The WorldSkills competition requires participants to complete exercises in offset and digital printing. To prepare the German participant, he will receive special additional training in digital printing from Heidelberg before the competition. The increasing digitization in the industry is regarded as an opportunity, one that Heidelberg is consistently promoting.
“The WorldSkills competition for industrial and craft occupations center on the Olympic ideal, an understanding among nations, and a test of ability of the best from all the nations. It evaluates the discipline of printing technology and demonstrates the attractiveness of the print media technology as a career path,” asserts Bernhard Nahm. 15 nations will be competing in the print media technology discipline in Abu Dhabi. Participating for the first time will be Russia, Thailand, and Zambia. Over 76 nations in total will complete in 50 disciplines.