News

Mainland Apprentice of the Year
 

Paul Nunan from Hally Labels in Christchurch was announced as the Mainland Apprentice of the Year Award at an industry event on 25 August at Natcoll Design Technology in Christchurch.

The Mainland Apprentice of the Year Awards focus on the achievements of apprentices in the Canterbury, Nelson/Marlborough and West Coast regions. This year there were 23 eligible candidates from all areas of the industry including pre-press, digital printing, reel-fed printing, mailhouse and print finishing.

Congratulations to Paul Nunan from Hally Labels - this year's winner. Congratulations also to Runner up, Samual Ansley from PMP Print. The other finalists were Vanessa Jones from AB Note, Luke Maugham from Amcor Kiwi Packaging and Nigel South from PMP Maxim. All finalists were of a high standard and can be proud of their achievements to date.        

An Excellence Award was given to Jason Sim from Amcor Cartons for his achievement at national level in winning the 2009 Paperboard Packaging Apprentice of the Year Award.

After some refreshments and a guided tour around Natcoll facilities, PrintNZ CEO Joan Grace updated attendees on what was happening at a national level, including the PrintNZ industry survey, Part of Life campaign and PrintNZ Conference in October.

Thanks to event sponsors Spicers Paper and PrintNZ Training. Special thanks also to Natcoll for hosting the event.

From left: Rebecca Harris (Spicers Paper), Paul Nunan (Hally Labels), Vanessa Jones (AB Note), Luke Maugham (Amcor Kiwi Packaging), Nigel South (PMP Maxim) and Samual Ansley (PMP Print). 

After a very close competition, four sheet-fed printers have been selected to go through to the national WorldSkills sheet-fed printing competition in Christchurch from 24-26 September.

Judging has just been completed, with the top competitors going through to the national competition announced as Mitchell Tomai from Logick Print & Graphics, Rajnil Chand from Magic Print, Andrew McFadzean from Croxley Stationery and Johannes Willemen from Jeff Oliver Print.

Seven sheet-fed printers from around the country put their knowledge and practical skills to the test by completing a test job in their workplace under the supervision of a WorldSkills supervisor as part of the regional competition held in early August.

This year the test job included an image from the Part of Life print marketing campaign. The test job had different depths of colour and other elements to provide a challenge. Similar to previous competitions, entrants completed the test job on a wide range of presses, with some entrants having to put the job through multiple times on a single colour press.

The test jobs were judged by industry experts who scrutinised each entry to select the top printers to go through to the national competition.

WorldSkills judge, Grant Letfus, said the judging proved difficult with scores very close between the seven competitors.

“The test job was extremely difficult and put the competitors under pressure. The on-site judges have commented on the 100% effort of all the competitors and are very impressed with the quality of work and the diligence shown as the printers went about their tasks.

“I think we can safely say the industry is in very good heart with the quality of the trainees coming through,” said Grant.

The national competition will be held in Christchurch in late September and will involve the finalists undertaking a range of tasks and attending an interview panel. Once chosen, if eligible to attend, the national winner will be given in-depth training to compete at the international WorldSkills competition in 2011.

Previous competitors have enjoyed the WorldSkills challenge and have shown that their skills and training put them among the best apprentices in the world. Royce Richards, of Rainbow Print in Christchurch, competed at WorldSkills in Canada last year. Royce won a Medal of Excellence. In 2006 Kieran Dale of Logick Print & Graphics won a bronze medal at WorldSkills in Japan.

Special thanks to our Industry Partner BJ Ball Papers and sponsor Trust4Skills who generously support the print industry’s involvement in WorldSkills.

WorldSkills Regional Competition Entrants:

• Albert Hiligutu - Nicholson Print Solutions
• James Zuo - Red-i
• Kelvin Matenga - Otago Daily Times Print
• Andrew McFadzean – Croxley Stationery
• Mitchell Tomai - Logick Print & Graphics
• Johannes Willemen - Jeff Oliver Print 
• Rajnil Chand - Magic Print Ltd 

Apprentice of the Year stunned to take out top award 

Angelo Gedult, of APN Print Ellerslie, was presented with the PrintNZ Apprentice of the Year Award in front of a crowd of nearly 700 at Sky City Auckland on 18 June after coming through a tough selection process involving over 100 apprentices and trainees.

Angelo represented the reel fed sector and was selected after the initial list of candidates had been narrowed down to seven, representing different sectors of the print industry, all of whom had completed their training in 2009.

Among his portfolio was a copy of the Herald on Sunday which won the Newspaper of the Year Award at the recent Qantas Media Awards.

After receiving the award an emotional Angelo said he could not believe he had achieved such an honour – “I came from South Africa to New Zealand and didn’t expect ever to come so far. I feel so much for the print industry, and I want to give back to it. This makes me more determined to do so.”

Angelo said he had always had an interest in printing – “I started out by applying for a guillotine apprenticeship. My skills were quickly recognised and I was offered a printing apprenticeship. The greatest challenge for me was switching over from sheet fed to a reel fed apprenticeship. I had to transfer the necessary skills, while adapting to a new form of printing.”

During his training he completed his apprenticeship in two and a half years, achieving 100% for both Level 2 and Level 4 and also starting the Print Management Diploma. Asked about the things he enjoyed most about his job, he said he mainly looked forward to seeing the final printed product. He plans to stay in the industry.

“My goals are to complete my Print Management Diploma to gain skills that will set me up for future management opportunities,” he said.

Outside of work, his main interests are swimming, walking and weightlifting, plus volunteer work for the Red Cross, and spending time with his wife and family.

PrintNZ Training chief executive Joan Grace said that picking the winners was very tough due to the high calibre of the finalists.

“In the end, what decided it was a mix of Angelo’s knowledge of technical skills, and his understanding of the role he has in a team of people who produce the newspapers every day. He has a genuine nature – he is confident but also very humble. He was able to articulate some goals for his future and the steps that he’s going to take to get to those goals. I think that is a real gem with the apprentices – people who are able to look forward, identify means to get there and make it happen.

“He talked quite a lot about training and training others … ‘what the industry gives you, you have to give back to the industry’ … I think that is a very good quote in terms of somebody who has been given a lot through his work at APN Print, but also now wants to ask ‘what can I do?’”

Mrs Grace said the sectors of the industry are all unique and judges were dealing with the top of the top when interviewing these apprentices.

“The winners are spread across the branches – last year it was a screen printer, this year it is a reel fed printer – but in both cases they are champions in terms of being the future of our industry.

“It is always hard. I sat there with two other judges – one from the PrintNZ Training Board who has done it before, the other a Pride In Print Awards Patron who has never done it before – and a number of times it was said ‘I’m blown away by the standard of these apprentices, it is great to see our industry in such good hands’.”

The finalists were treated to a breakfast at Sky City attended by Thomas Ben, the winner of TV’s “The Apprentice” programme.

The Apprentice of the Year Award is sponsored by Spicers Paper, Fuji Xerox, Heidelberg, Hostmann Steinberg NZ and Aarque Graphics.

The full list of winners is:

• Binding and Finishing Award: Daniel Burns, Rainbow Print Group, Christchurch (Sponsored by the Print Finishers’ Association)
• Digital Processes for Print Award: Rebecca Fraser, Otago Daily Times Print, Alexandra (Sponsored by Natcoll Design Technology)
• Fibreboard Packaging Award: Jason Sim, Amcor Cartons Australasia, Christchurch (Sponsored by the NZ Paperboard Packaging Association)
• Screen Award: Cory Pollard, John Colours (1998) Ltd, Dunedin (Sponsored by Blue Print Imaging Ltd)
• Sheet-fed Award: Mitchell Tomai, Logick Print & Graphics Ltd, Auckland (Sponsored by PrintNZ)
• Reel-fed Award: Angelo Gedult, APN Print Ellerslie, Auckland (Sponsored by the Newspaper Publishers’ Association)
• National Certificate Trainee Award: Arvin San Victores, Amcor Kiwi Packaging Case Division, Auckland ((Sponsored by the EPMU union)