Five in one swoop: New media occupations for a digitised working world

Work processes in the printing and media sector are becoming increasingly complex. Most production processes have changed radically in the wake of the intermeshing of print and electronic media, growing digitisation, and new control technologies. Technologists are needed for running and controlling these processes - which is also the designation of four of the five revised training occupations (recognised occupations which require completion of formal vocational training) which the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) developed in conjunction with the social partners and representatives of Germany's state governments on behalf of the federal government.

The training occupations Print Media Technologist, Media Technologist in Print Processing, Screen Print Media Technologist, Bookbinder and Packaging Materials Technologist will take effect with the start of the new training year on 1 August, giving the sector modern occupations with up-to-date training content and designations.

For future print media technologists (former designation: printer), skills relating to the mechanics, electronics and maintenance of printing presses will be increasingly important, alongside the planning and control of printing processes. For this reason, the training content for this occupation was expanded. A special feature of the training regulations for this new occupation is the option of acquiring supplementary qualification in an additional type of printing process. This option is particularly offered as an added incentive for high-achieving youths.

In addition to typical screen printing qualifications - such as standardised screen printing, print finishing and cutting-plotter technology (computer-aided cutting technology) future screen print media technologists (former designation: screen printer) can now choose the optional Customer Advisory Service qualification. Trainees who do not choose pad printing (method for printing on plastic objects) or large-format digital printing as part of their regular training can opt for additional training in pad printing as a supplementary qualification.

The former occupation Bookbinder was split into two occupations: Vocational training for the occupation Bookbinder will have two occupational profiles in future: "One-off and Custom Production" and "Machine Production". To give training companies a channel for training qualified skilled workers, particularly with an eye to developing personnel for the next management generation, optional qualifications were also created which incorporate commercial content such as order processing and entrepreneurship into the training.

In addition to the bookbinder craft, the new occupation Media Technologist in Print Processing was created in response to the growing process-orientation and machine-aided production in the area of industrial print processing. Trainees in this field decide together with the company providing their training which area they will focus on: newspaper production, commercial printing (production of leaflets, brochures, business cards, admission tickets) or book production. Qualification in mailroom technology was additionally incorporated into the training. This qualification revolves around the logistical processes involved in the dispatch of newspapers.

Control technology is becoming increasingly important in the paper-processing industry as well. For this reason, the use of control station technology for planning, controlling and monitoring production processes will play a growing role in vocational training in this area in the future. The new training regulations for the occupation Packaging Materials Technologist (former designation: packaging mechanic) provide for specialisation before the interim examination in the direction of the production processes used by the enterprise conducting the individual's training.