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P G A I
RINTING AND RAPHIC RTS NDUSTRY

T P (ICP99)
RAINING ACKAGE

National Printing Industry Training Council

March 1999
NPITC Australian Printing and Graphic Arts Industry Training Package March 1999

Copyright Australian National Training Authority (ANTA), 1999
GPO Box 5347BB, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia
Telephone [phone]
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All rights reserved. This work has been produced initially with the assistance of funding provided by the
Commonwealth Government through ANTA. This work is copyright, but permission is given to trainers and
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making of copies for use outside the immediate training environment for which they are made, nor the
making of copies for hire or resale to third parties. For permission outside of these guidelines, apply in writing
to Australian National Training Authority.

The views expressed in this version of the work do not necessarily represent the views of ANTA.

ANTA does not give warranty nor accept any liability in relation to the content of this work.

First published 1999
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NPITC Australian Printing and Graphic Arts Industry Training Package March 1999

The Printing and Graphic Arts Industry Training Package describes the competencies needed to achieve
qualifications in the industry, and also provides information about courses and materials that may be used to
achieve these competencies.

Table of Contents

About the Training Package
Describes the origins and coverage of this document.

Competency Standards
Introduction
Describes what competency standards are and how they are structured and used.
Assessment Guidelines
Describes how competencies will be assessed.
Units of Competency
Describes the skills, knowledge and attitudes required for each competency to be recognised.
Subsections for each of the following sector groups: Support units; Pre–press; Multimedia; Printing; Screen
printing; Converting binding and finishing; Printing engineering; Ink manufacture; Holistic knowledge
components; National generic standards.
Training Pathways
Describes how units of competency may be put together to achieve qualifications.

Training Resources
Curriculums
Lists national curriculums and some state curriculums.
Training Resource Map
List of competency standards with curriculums and other training materials that can be used to achieve the
units of competency.
Key Competencies
Enumeration of key competencies appropriate to each competency unit.

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NPITC Australian Printing and Graphic Arts Industry Training Package March 1999

About the Training Package

This package has been developed by the National Printing Industry Training Council which is part of
InfoComP Training. It contains the endorsed component of the printing industry training package.

NPITC has been the competency standards body for the printing industry for a number of years and has
previously produced sets of standards for screen printing, pre–press and press and post–press. These
standards have been revised and incorporated into an overall structure that covers the whole printing
industry in this package.

The endorsed part of the training package consists of the following sections:
* competency standards, complete with evidence of competency
* assessment guidelines
* qualifications and titles at different levels.

A non–endorsed component of the training package is also being developed.

Under the new training framework competency standards represent the measurable outcomes on which
qualifications and certification will be based. Traditional training curriculum and modules become simply one
means to the end of achieving competency. These are still considered by the industry to be important and
will be identified as part of the non–endorsed component of the package.

The industry's approach to qualifications is that criteria for the award of certification at any level should be as
flexible as possible and based on the achievement of groupings of competency standards at defined levels.
Suggested pathways and groupings for individual industry sectors have however been developed.

The endorsed parts of this training package should be subject to continued review and revision to ensure
that their currency in a rapidly changing environment is maintained.

Industry Coverage
The Printing and Graphic Arts Industry competency standards cover all aspects of the industry from paper
merchanting and ink manufacture through to the production of all kinds of printed or paper products. In
addition they recognise the development and convergence of new technologies and so competencies
relating to the compiling of multimedia products are also included. Competencies cover all job functions from
basic production functions (AQF I/II) through trade level work (AQF III/IV) to technician and supervisory
functions (AQF V/VI).

This training package covers the following training and certification pathways in the printing industry:
Graphics sector
Desktop Publishing (Certificate II only)
Print Design (Certificate II only)
Graphic Pre–press (Certificate III/IV, Diploma, Advanced Diploma)
Multimedia (Certificate III/IV, Diploma, Advanced Diploma)
Printing and finishing sector
Small Offset (Certificate II only)
Print Production Support (Certificate II only)
Printing (Certificate III/IV, Diploma, Advanced Diploma)
Print Finishing (Certificate III/IV, Diploma, Advanced Diploma)
Screen Printing sector
Screen Printing (Certificate II/III/IV, Diploma, Advanced Diploma)
Carton sector
Cardboard box, Container and Carton (Certificate II/III/IV, Diploma, Advanced Diploma)
Corrugating – solid fibreboard sector
under consideration (Certificate II/III/IV, Diploma, Advanced Diploma)
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NPITC Australian Printing and Graphic Arts Industry Training Package March 1999
Services/merchants sector
Graphic Arts Services (Certificate II only)
Certificate III in Engineering (Mechanical – Graphic Arts Service Technician)
Graphic Arts Services Technician (Certificate IV, Diploma, Advanced Diploma)
Other sectors
Ink Manufacture (Certificate II/III/IV, Diploma, Advanced Diploma)
Mail house (Certificate II/III/IV, Diploma, Advanced Diploma)
General Pathways
Pre–vocational pathway
Management/Sales (Certificate IV, Diploma, Advanced Diploma)
General (Certificate II/III/IV, Diploma, Advanced Diploma)

Prepared by:
National Printing Industry Training Council
PO Box 505
Engadine NSW 2233
phone: [phone]
fax: [phone]
Enquiries: John Jarvis
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NPITC Australian Printing and Graphic Arts Industry Training Package March 1999

C S S
OMPETENCY TANDARDS ECTION

Contents of Competency Standards Section:

Introduction
Assessment Guidelines

Support Units
Pre–press Units
Multimedia Units
Printing Units
Screen Printing Units
Converting Binding and Finishing Units
Printing Engineering
Ink Manufacture
Holistic Knowledge Components
National Generic Standards

Training Pathways in the Printing and Graphic Arts Industry

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NPITC Australian Printing and Graphic Arts Industry Training Package March 1999
Introduction

Competency standards are skills that you may use in the workforce. They have been identified and endorsed
by the industry across Australia.

Structure of competency standards

Each unit of competency has a number of parts.

Unit number and title.
The unit number identifies the general sector of the unit and gives it a number and level (see below for
details). The title gives a general description of the content of the unit.

Elements and performance criteria.
These break each unit down into smaller parts and say what has to be done and how it should be done.

Range of variables.
This describes the context in which the competency is carried out.

Evidence guide.
This says what must be demonstrated in order to be assessed as competent. In most cases the required
evidence has two parts: a description of a job that must be done a certain number of times and a list of areas
of underpinning knowledge that will show that the workers being assessed know why they are doing what
they are doing. In some cases further guidance to assessors is given in brief descriptions of context and
critical aspects of assessment. This has not been considered necessary in all cases.

Sample questions for underpinning knowledge.
This is a set of questions related to the areas of underpinning knowledge in the evidence guide. They were
developed to assist workplace assessors and are designed to test whether workers being assessed know
why they do things in a particular way and if they can cope with problems. They are indicative only and not
intended to define the full scope of required knowledge. It is expected that other questions would also be
asked. Assessors may need to seek alternative assessment methods if language and literacy difficulties
prevent candidates from demonstrating underpinning knowledge by answering questions.

The standards are divided into several different groupings or sectors.

Support units
(indicated by SU). These are generic skills that support production processes found in all sectors of the
industry.
Pre–press
(indicated by PP) These cover all pre–press functions.
Multimedia
(indicated by MM) These cover multimedia applications relevant to the printing industry.
Printing
(indicated by PR) These cover all printing functions.
Screen printing
(indicated by SP) These cover all screen printing functions.
Converting binding and finishing
(indicated by CF) These cover all finishing functions including paper converting, etc.
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NPITC Australian Printing and Graphic Arts Industry Training Package March 1999

Printing engineering
(indicated by PE) These cover the installation, servicing and decommissioning of equipment.
Ink manufacture
(indicated by IM) These cover the manufacture of inks and varnishes.
Holistic knowledge components
(indicated by KN) These cover knowledge required to work in particular industry sectors. They do not have
an "a" to "e" rating and do not count as units towards certification. They are designed as a quality assurance
tool to ensure that workers gaining Certificate III or above have a broad knowledge of their industry and
related industry sectors. They also define a knowledge base about the industry for people entering the
industry without a technical background.
For people in technical areas most of the knowledge would be acquired through technical units, however
because of the flexibility of electives it is possible that some parts of the required broad overview may be
missed and these components ensure that coverage. Because of this overlap however, it is not appropriate
for them to be counted like production related units towards certification.
National generic standards
(indicated by BSX) These include Frontline Management Standards and Workplace Training and
Assessment Standards.

Most jobs would involve competencies from the support units and at least one other group. Screen printers
for instance would use competencies from pre–press and converting, binding and finishing as well as screen
printing and the support units, and printers may well acquire some pre–press and finishing units.

It should be noted that at the basic level some standards are embedded in others. For instance
ICPSU07bA Prepare machine for operation (basic) contains skills that are included in all basic set up
units, and would be achieved and counted towards qualifications if those units were also achieved. The
assessment for both units could take place at the same time.

The position of the printing industry is that relevant standards developed by other standards bodies can also
be imported and used towards printing industry qualifications. In such cases the assessment criteria defined
by those bodies would be accepted.

Each unit of competency has a number.
The first two letters indicate the sector. The next two numbers identify the competency. The final letter (a–e)
indicates the level of difficulty or complexity.
Closely related competencies (for instance producing basic and complex products) will tend to have the
same middle number but a different level of difficulty.

A rough guide to the levels is:
a skills needed to function in the workplace
b basic production skills (achieved after up to a year's experience perhaps)
c basic trade level or equivalent.
d advanced trade level
e post trade, technician, supervisor.

When standards developed by other standards bodies are imported the general rule to be applied is that
standards written at AQF II are "b"; those written at AQF III are "c"; those written at AQF IV are "d" and those
written at AQF V or VI are "e".

Customising Competency Standards
The Printing and Graphic Arts Industry Competency Standards have been written in terms of generic skills.
They do not reflect specific machine types, and, particularly in the finishing area, many machines may
incorporate several different standards. The standards also do not specify times and tolerances. The reason
for both these features is the diversity of the industry and the need to have standards that are relevant
across the whole industry.

Enterprises may however wish to customise the standards for their own workplace. This can be done by
specifying tolerances and constraints or by adapting standards to a particular machine type in order to
facilitate assessment. An example would be to develop a standard for a gatherer / stitcher / trimmer in which
the common elements of loading and delivering substrate occurs once and the operation specific elements
for each process are included within the one standard.

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NPITC Australian Printing and Graphic Arts Industry Training Package March 1999
The industry supports both types of customisation. When tolerances and constraints are included, so long as
they are not incompatible with the written evidence guides, this simply provides an enterprise benchmark for
assessment. When several standards are combined, or a standard is split into two because of specific work
practices, the new enterprise standard(s) should be mapped against the industry standards for certification
purposes. For example:
Completion of enterprise standard "Operate a gatherer/stitcher/trimmer" is equivalent of the three
national standards
ICPCF24bA Produce cut (trimmed) product
ICPCF44bA Produce basic collated (sheet / section) product
ICPCF62bA Produce basic fastened (adhesive / mechanical / thermal) product
Care will need to be taken to ensure that all requirements of the national standards are met.

Certification will still be based on the achievement of the national standards.

Literacy and Numeracy
The standards have been written and checked to ensure that any requirements for literacy and numeracy are
clear and appropriate. NPITC consulted about these issues, and how they could be incorporated in the
standards, with a representative from Language Australia (The National Language and Literacy Institute of
Australia).

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NPITC Australian Printing and Graphic Arts Industry Training Package March 1999

Assessment Guidelines

Assessments against the competencies in the Training Package will be carried out in accordance with these
endorsed guidelines. The guidelines include the necessary qualifications for those conducting assessments
and provide for those situations where more than one person may contribute to the assessment and where
the required technical and assessment competencies may not all be held by one person.

What is assessed?
Printing and Graphic Arts Industry competencies (1999 revision) cover a full range of competencies used in
the printing industry in Australia. Some parts of the industry also use competencies that have been
developed by other competency standards bodies and provision has been made to access these standards
as required.

Printing and Graphic Arts Industry competencies are based on performance to production standards and
under production conditions and therefore need to be assessed in the workplace to maintain validity.

In certain circumstances part of an assessment may be done off the job in an environment that closely
replicates a real production situation. This environment will vary according to the Unit of Competence and
the area from which the Unit is selected. For example, demonstrating skills in Units addressed at high speed,
high volume large scale print production will require a different setting from those in the multimedia area

The training provider must replicate a production environment: that is, equipment and materials match
industry standards, time and wastage constraints meet industry norms and job specifications match an
actual industry job consistent with the Unit of Competence being assessed. Such assessments must be
supplemented with evidence of on–the–job performance before Units are achieved and qualifications
awarded. Suitable evidence need not necessarily involve re–assessment on the job and could include simply
a letter from an employer stating that the competency or relevant work is being satisfactorily performed.
Training organisations are free to issue interim Statements of Attainment that can be confirmed (and used for
AQF qualifications) once the skills have been used in the workplace.

To be assessed as competent, a worker must demonstrate a specified operation a certain number of times
(details and contexts are included in evidence guides) and also demonstrate that they have certain specified
underpinning knowledge. To assist in the assessment of underpinning knowledge lists of indicative questions
have been prepared. These lists are intended to provide examples of the type of questions that could be
asked; they are not obligatory or exhaustive.

Role of Registered Training Organisations
In accordance with the Australian Recognition Framework (ARF) Registered Training Organisations (RTOs)
must be responsible the issuing of qualifications under the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). In
carrying out this role RTOs will also be involved in validating workplace assessments in partnership with
enterprises. The industry will seek an assessment only service from RTOs since about half the production
workforce does not access off the job training. Further details of the role of RTOs are incorporated in the
following sections.

Who assesses? (Assessor qualifications)
All assessment for national recognition must be conducted by or auspiced through a Registered Training
Organisation (RTO) which will be responsible for issuing each qualification and Statements of Attainment.

Assessment must involve a person or persons with the following skills:
1. Technical competence within the area at least to the level being assessed;
2. Knowledge of current practices within the industry;
3. Workplace assessor competencies from the Training Package for Assessment and Workplace Training:
BSZ401A Plan Assessment; BSZ402A Conduct Assessment, and BSZ403A Review Assessment, which
are deemed equivalent to: "Conduct assessment in accordance with established assessment procedure"
and the extension unit "Plan and review assessment" from the former Assessor and Workplace Trainer
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