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Training : Benefit from sign skills
The Roland Academy is endorsed by associate industry leaders Gretag-Macbeth, GMP and Cadlink
The dedicated premises at the College’s Green Lane Campus brings together a combination of cutting edge industrial technology and leading training provision. The Academy has taken delivery of equipment including an AJ-1000 which prints at up to 90m2/h.
Written by technicians, the training courses are designed to provide trainees and lecture staff with the skills required to benefit from advancing technology.
A series of workshops organised for the opening of the Academy showed the equipment working in practice and offered opportunities to discuss course content. Illustrating the quality, speed and finish of production, vinyl graphics of the College’s new livery were manufactured on machines operating during the morning and applied to its newest delivery vehicle.
Walsall College principal and chief executive, Chris Ball, said: “One of the major benefits of the partnership between Walsall College and Roland is that we are able to give trainees and lecture staff at the Academy the opportunity to upgrade their skills on some of the most advanced technology available. Furthermore, with on-going investment from both parties in training and equipment, we can offer a product that will never stand still and that can be relied upon to keep abreast of developments in a competitive marketplace.”
The Roland Academy is a partnership between Walsall College and Roland DG, committed to providing industry-based training for business. Endorsed by associate industry leaders Gretag-Macbeth, GMP and Cadlink, the course programme provides the first industry-accredited training for display graphics and sign making in the UK.
Roland launched the concept with Walsall College at the industry’s annual international forum in May this year. Singled out by Sir Richard Needham, vice chairman of Dyson International, it was described as a scheme that is making diamonds that work.
Workforce training is assuming greater commercial importance as competition from abroad becomes more aggressive.
Director for employers at the Learning and Skills Council, David Greer, said: “Skills training has never been more important for businesses, with skills gaps costing a typical 50-employee business an estimated £165,000 in lost revenue each year.”
