Esko has shared its know-how for flexible packaging
with an international group of young graphic arts graduates during the fourth
annual Flexible Packaging Honours Class. The two-week initiative, developed by
the university’s Graphical and Digital Media department, is designed for
students at the top of their university class. It focuses on the production of
flexible packaging, including design, prepress, file handling and plate making
operations. The course was held at Esko’s headquarter offices in Ghent,
Belgium, June 18 to 29.
During the detailed and professional training,
students got to grips with the technological and practical aspects and learnt
how to streamline packaging production from design to printing plate. The group
of students is composed from Artevelde University College in Ghent, as well as
peer students from the School of Engineering and Management, Switzerland, and
both Seneca College and Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada.
Jan De Roeck, Director Solutions Management at Esko
explains: “We were very proud to welcome the most ambitious and most talented
students of international packaging universities for the fourth time. As
leaders in the packaging industry, we are investing in the future by supporting
the professional education of these young graduates. A mix of theoretical
classes, hands on workshop and customer production environment visits give them
an in-depth 360 view on flexography.”
Building for
success
The Honours Class is designed to inspire and engage
students. This approach worked well with the former attendees that now work in
the industry.
Bastiaan Heyse, order guidance and calculation
(internal sales) in the flat cardboard department, St-Luc, comments: “after an
internship at St-Luc Labels & Packaging, it seemed like a great opportunity
to learn more on the packaging industry during this Honours Class. I found the
company visits and learning more about the Esko solutions very interesting. We
could see how everything fits together and works in a real business.”
Jochen Verbrugghe, Commercial Assistant at Crea
Print Group, says The Honors Class gave him the opportunity to get to know
Esko’s tools more intimately including WebCenter Automation Engine and Studio
Visualizer: “The packaging industry is very diverse and work is never the same.
Meeting deadlines, supporting customers with optimization and streamlining
packaging set up requirements are just of few of the processes you can manage smartly
while offering added value to the customer.”
Applying for
the Honour Class
Students in the academic year prior to graduation
are welcome to apply for one of the 20 Honours Class seats. To be accepted,
students must have a mastery of Adobe® Creative Suite applications and a
general understanding of prepress production steps, processes, and functions.
Students who are approved for the program, will be invited to complete and
submit preparatory work in order to fully prepare for the program.
Luc Berth, lector at the Artevelde University
College Ghent and mentor of the Honours Class concludes: “The Honours Class is
a great platform for both technical as well as cultural and social
experience-based learning. The students deepened competences relevant for a
competitive and rewarding career in the packaging industry and learned how to
cooperate in an international context. They exchanged knowledge and best
practices in an open and friendly atmosphere.”
At the end of the training, students received a
certificate of participation, a valuable advantage when applying for a job in
this sector. In some countries, students can also receive training credits by
attending the Honours Class.
Adds Berth: “Apart from the broad and basic
training, students receive via their regular curriculum the value of the
Honours Class in Flexible Packaging can’t be underestimated. Forty percent of
the participating students of Artevelde University College start building a
career in a packaging company right after receiving their certificate.”
