FIRST Prepress Operator Certification
FLEXO: What was your initial reaction to the idea of FIRST Prepress Certification?
Charles Strezo & Lisa Espinosa: Nervousness combined with excitement in comparing what we know with what we should know.
FLEXO: Did you find the material taught throughout the three levels new or a refresh?
Strezo & Espinosa: A little of both. Neither of us knew about the history of presses or how the technology and terminology came about. Some of the terminology was different from our usage.
FLEXO: How has the certification affected your day to day jobs and associated responsibilities? Where is it most evident?
Strezo & Espinosa: Calibration of the presses and the printers for more accurate press proofs. This greatly reduces press downtime for color matching.
FLEXO: How has certification improved the way you do your job?
Strezo & Espinosa: We are more streamlined and consistent in our processes. If an issues crops up, it is easier to find where it went wrong.
FLEXO: Does FIRST Company Certification change any aspect of your daily tasks? Has the emphasis on skills development made files and other job components reach you better prepared than in the past? Is the work you pass along of higher, more reliable quality?
Strezo & Espinosa: We now document more of our readings so we can catch issues earlier than before. The skills we have learned have made us more aware of targets we are capable of reaching and repeating, and our work has definitely become more reliable.
FIRST Press Operator Certification
FLEXO: What was your initial reaction to the idea of FIRST Press Operator Certification?
Tom Peters: A very good idea. Since we practice using the FIRST program, it seems natural for all the operators to understand.
FLEXO: Did you find the material taught throughout the three levels new or a refresh?
Peters: Both, but it helped me understand more of what we do and how it ties together.
FLEXO: How has the certification affected your day to day job and associated responsibilities? Where is it most evident?
Peters: I understood more about what we do and why. It also helped when talking to the operators when they understand it as well. It has helped the most on setup to match the press proofs and standards.
FLEXO: How has certification improved the way you do your job?
Peters: Just a better level of understanding of what we are already doing and are trying to maintain at a higher level.
FLEXO: From a press operator’s perspective, what will company wide certification mean to PSG as a whole, as well as its customers?
Peters: I believe it will mean that we hold ourselves at a higher level of understanding when it comes to the process of flexography,
and showing our customers that we are committed to using to best knowledge and technology that we can find in the industry.
FIRST Implementation Specialist Certification
FLEXO: What was your initial reaction to the idea of FIRST Implementation Specialist Certification?
Charlie Foca: I was very excited! Anytime we as a company can improve our process, I believe we should look into it. Implementing FIRST will increase communication between departments and help produce consistent products.
FLEXO: Did you find the material taught throughout the three levels new or a refresh?
Foca: For me personally, I found the material taught throughout the three levels to be mostly new. Information was very informative and easy to understand. The quiz at the end of each chapter really drove home the information and helped me to retain what I went over.
FLEXO: How has the certification affected your day to day job and associated responsibilities? Where is it most evident?
Foca: The FIRST certification has helped greatly when performing sign offs at press by taking the guesswork out of approving a job. We know what the target value is, as each job ticket will be accompanied by our AIM checklist. I feel more confident that each job will be consistent with the last. Also, I have a better understanding of what responsibility each department has in order to produce consistently good product.
FLEXO: How has certification improved the way you do your job?
Foca: I can now identify a problem sooner and backtrack to where it started from. This alone will help decrease downtime by knowing who to immediately ask.
Prairie State Group’s FIRST Implementation Team
- Dan Doherty, Executive VP of Operations & Principal
- Charles Strezo, Senior Prepress Technician
- Charlie Foca, QA Supervisor/SQF Advanced Practitioner
- Jeff Bucaro, Plant Manager
- Michelle Talko, Customer Service/Prepress Manager
- Randy Crutchfield, Pressroom Manager
- Alisha Pelliccioni, Label Production Supervisor