Industry Canada
ic.gc.ca
Common menu bar links
Archived - Charting Our Course — A Skills and Technology Roadmap for the Canadian Printing and Graphic Communications Industry: Executive Summary
Archived Content
Information identified as archived on the Web is for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It has not been altered or updated after the date of archiving. Web pages that are archived on the Web are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats on the "Contact Us" page.
Table of Contents
Charting Our Course
Charting Our Course is a vital planning tool prepared by the Canadian Printing Industries Sector Council (CPISC). Founded in April 2006, CPISC is a national forum that brings together printing and graphic communications industry employers and employees, educators and representatives of unions and governments to create and implement innovative approaches to skills development for current and future industry workers. In doing so, CPISC enables all players in the printing and graphic communications industry to work together in partnership to improve the quality of the industry's labour force.
The Canadian Printing Industries Sector Council (CPISC) obtained funding from Human Resources and Social Development Canada and Industry Canada to spearhead development of a skills and technology roadmap for the printing and graphic communications industry. Unlike conventional technology roadmaps, which help industry stakeholders identify, understand and leverage the technologies that will drive the industry in the next 10 years, this skills and technology roadmap also explores the impact that adopting new technologies will have on human resources issues such as skills development and training. In doing so, it provides industry players with a way to identify the skills-development requirements of the industry and contribute to developing strategies and methods that enable the industry to meet the workforce training needs associated with advances in technology.
To accomplish its objectives, the skills and technology roadmap addresses three fundamental questions: Where is our industry today? Where is our industry going? How do we get there?
Where is our Industry Today?
Describes the current condition of the printing and graphic communications industry and highlights six factors that are exerting a profound influence on industry development.
Where is Our Industry Going?
Identifies significant technological changes in the industry, and links technological changes in the industry to skills development by identifying the training challenges associated with these changes.
How do We Get There?
Provides seven recommendations to help industry players develop and implement human resources strategies and tactics that will enable current and new industry workers to gain the skills they require to thrive and the industry to prosper.
Where is Our Industry Today?
Although relatively stable and prosperous, the printing and graphic communications industry is not unchanging. Business practices are evolving. Competition is intensifying and becoming more global. And productivity is increasing and becoming evermore vital to the overall health of the industry and the companies that make it up.
To gain even greater insight into how the industry is changing, this roadmap carefully examines six factors that are driving change:
- Burgeoning use of the Internet
- Expanding markets
- Shifting customer base
- Progressively more specialized products and services
- Advancing technology
- Increasing need to ensure workers are equipped with new skills
The adoption of new technologies in particular is radically changing the industry's workforce. To be more precise, skills shortages are evident in two major areas: operating complex new print machinery, and understanding and leveraging the benefits spurred by the use of information technologies. A 2007 report prepared by the Canadian Printing Industries Sector Council highlighted some of the printing and graphic communications industry's most glaring challenges related to training:
- Although some 41 percent of new employees have no formal training, most companies find it difficult to release employees for training.
- Although industry suppliers offer a considerable amount of training, little of it is distance learning or technology-assisted learning.
- Training programs meet the needs of only one element of the printing process: pre-press. Little or no attention is given to the press and finishing/bindery aspects of the industry, which leads many businesspeople to think that program graduates are not prepared for jobs in the industry.
- Many educational institutions discontinued programs or parts of programs due to lack of interest, and few institutions offer part-time or continuing education programs.
- More than 90 percent of in-house training is employee-to-employee training.
But for these issues to be addressed, the industry must first define a set of national skill standards that reflects the impact of technology on skills development and the way in which the industry is now organized. To address this need, the Canadian Printing Industries Sector Council is pursuing two goals: first, developing basic, core and operational skill standards and occupational profiles for all three printing process areas (pre-press, press and finishing/bindery); and second, CPISC is adapting and updating skill standards to meet the needs of changing technologies.
Where is Our Industry Going?
The skills and technology roadmap also pinpoints seven specific trends in technology that will have the greatest impact on the industry over the next ten years:
- Enhanced systems integration
- Greater demand for database management services
- Widespread use of customer interface software
- Significant developments in press technologies
- Increased automation and integration of post-press tasks
- Radical new advances in science and technology
- Ever-increasing environmental awareness
In doing so, the roadmap identifies some of the training and skills-development challenges associated with the advanced technologies that will become increasingly apparent throughout the industry. For instance, printers will need to focus sharply on improving customer relations as web-to-print becomes entrenched in the printing and graphic communications industry. With web-to-print, printers will begin to interact with their clients in entirely new ways and will have greater opportunities to develop even stronger business relationships with customers. For printers to prosper, they will have to embrace this reality and appreciate that their businesses are now more service providers than manufacturers. According to one prominent industry observer, however, this new truth is still a barely dawning realization for many industry vendors.
How do We Get There?
The skills and technology roadmap gives industry players a series of sensible, straightforward recommendations to address these technological and related skills-development challenges. To be more precise, seven strategic and tactical moves have been developed and validated through several intensive meetings at which a wide cross-section of industry players modified draft recommendations and suggested new ones. Together, these seven recommendations will help industry players ensure current and new industry workers gain the skills they require to thrive and the industry to prosper.
- Explore development of national training programs and delivery models based on industry-developed skills standards
- Develop management and process training tools
- Create an industry-awareness program
- Improve systems integration capability
- Develop a database management research program
- Enhance industry access to support for training and technology
- Support greater environmental awareness
Some companies, however, have embraced the challenges highlighted in this skills and technology roadmap, and used them as a springboard to achieve even greater performance and profitability. Known as 10 percenters, these businesses do not just eke out a meagre one-percent profit after expenses. They achieve profit margins of at least ten percent.
What Makes These Enterprises Different From Other Businesses in the Industry?
Three attributes of 10 percenters can be identified:
- They focus on improving internal processes and reducing costs.
- They focus on their people.
- They focus on strategically building their markets.
Information on Downloading a PDF Reader
To access the Portable Document Format (PDF) version you must have a PDF reader installed. If you do not already have such a reader, there are numerous PDF readers available for free download or for purchase on the Internet:
