Industry/University Partnerships
Industry support for higher education provides a win/win opportunity for the entire packaging arena.
August 2007
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In today’s economic times, with fierce competition, both domestic and foreign, the packaging industry faces shortages in human resources—that is, skilled packaging professionals who have basic skills in both production processes and management techniques. Few companies have the resources to take unskilled personnel and train them from the ground level.
At the same time, the nation’s university system seems underfunded and unable to equip laboratories with state-of-the-art equipment in technical disciplines. The budgeting formulas are geared more for classes that aren’t as laboratory-oriented as that of the printing and packaging industry.
By 2005, the Department of Graphic Communication Systems and Technological Studies at North Carolina A&T State University (NCA&T) had offered the Printing and Publishing curriculum for more than 10 years and it became apparent more emphasis should be placed on the packaging segment. It was equally obvious the budget would not support the purchase of expensive equipment and software needed to “jump start” the packaging effort.
To address this need, NCA&T submitted a grant request to the International Corrugated Packaging Foundation (ICPF) and made a presentation to key foundation members. This was the beginning of a series of events that gradually evolved into a group of university and industry partners that provided the synergy to make valuable contributions to the packaging industry.
The grant from ICPF allowed NCA&T to install a Kongsberg Plotter Table from Esko to create prototypes of the students’ structural designs and an Epson 9800 inkjet printer to output the graphic designs for their paperboard and corrugated projects. In addition, Esko approved an additional grant of 20 workstations of ArtiosCAD software.
As news about the new equipment at NCA&T began to spread, Tony Marshall, president of Innovative Systems Group, decided to support a grant to install SoftPack-Workflow software that is designed to streamline package-printing workflow. Now, with all the resources in place, NCA&T is positioned to supply the package-printing industry with personnel that possess the production and management skills required to succeed in today’s market.
As a result of this partnership, two new classes in packaging design have been developed. Students from both Printing Production and Computer Assisted Design Drafting curriculums will have the opportunity to develop skills in package design and production.
So who are the winners? In reality, all involved are winners! NCA&T certainly wins by acquiring equipment and resources to offer this new program. The students are winners because they now have very marketable skills. The vendors that donated equipment and software are winners because their products are being used by 300 of tomorrow’s packaging leaders. And the packaging industry certainly is a winner due to the skilled packaging talent this program will produce for years to come.
At the same time, the nation’s university system seems underfunded and unable to equip laboratories with state-of-the-art equipment in technical disciplines. The budgeting formulas are geared more for classes that aren’t as laboratory-oriented as that of the printing and packaging industry.
By 2005, the Department of Graphic Communication Systems and Technological Studies at North Carolina A&T State University (NCA&T) had offered the Printing and Publishing curriculum for more than 10 years and it became apparent more emphasis should be placed on the packaging segment. It was equally obvious the budget would not support the purchase of expensive equipment and software needed to “jump start” the packaging effort.
To address this need, NCA&T submitted a grant request to the International Corrugated Packaging Foundation (ICPF) and made a presentation to key foundation members. This was the beginning of a series of events that gradually evolved into a group of university and industry partners that provided the synergy to make valuable contributions to the packaging industry.
The grant from ICPF allowed NCA&T to install a Kongsberg Plotter Table from Esko to create prototypes of the students’ structural designs and an Epson 9800 inkjet printer to output the graphic designs for their paperboard and corrugated projects. In addition, Esko approved an additional grant of 20 workstations of ArtiosCAD software.
As news about the new equipment at NCA&T began to spread, Tony Marshall, president of Innovative Systems Group, decided to support a grant to install SoftPack-Workflow software that is designed to streamline package-printing workflow. Now, with all the resources in place, NCA&T is positioned to supply the package-printing industry with personnel that possess the production and management skills required to succeed in today’s market.
As a result of this partnership, two new classes in packaging design have been developed. Students from both Printing Production and Computer Assisted Design Drafting curriculums will have the opportunity to develop skills in package design and production.
So who are the winners? In reality, all involved are winners! NCA&T certainly wins by acquiring equipment and resources to offer this new program. The students are winners because they now have very marketable skills. The vendors that donated equipment and software are winners because their products are being used by 300 of tomorrow’s packaging leaders. And the packaging industry certainly is a winner due to the skilled packaging talent this program will produce for years to come.
Companies Mentioned:
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