12-Week Operator Training Course
This class is intended to train an operator with no experience. Covers basic to advanced press operations and components. 80 percent hands-on, 20 percent classroom.
The operator training is an intense, fast-paced class with both lecture and hands-on segments. Each lecture portion starts with a quiz and a math problem. Every week there are various hands-on checkpoints consisting of tasks that are essential for operators to understand and complete properly. These tasks must be completed within the metrics (time or footage) set forth at the start of the class.
The students run increasingly complex work on the press. The first assignment is properly webbing the press then we advance to a single blank label and by the end of the class, we are completing delam relam jobs. We do not run live work in the class, we focus on the training and skills of the students. The expectations for each press run are communicated to the student via a job ticket. The students set up the job and complete a standard sign off process and the appropriate QC checks. The waste footage and setup time for each assignment are tracked and compared to metrics of an experienced operator. Allowing the students to see what is expected of them upon graduation. Press runs are completed on a Mark Andy 2200 13” press using UV and water-based inks.
Weekly feedback on the student’s performance including their GPA, and waste/footage times are provided to the student’s company sponsor.
The class culminates with two final exams; a hands-on press run and a written final. The written exam is comprised of 160 questions from true-false to short answer. The final press run is a tight register 6-color label, with a flood varnish, die cut and lineal. To get maximum points students need to set up the job using less than 850 feet of material and set up, run and clean up in under 3.5 hours.
