Students study Konica Minolta at university

RMIT and Konica Minolta enter into partnership to train students on its digital presses.

Konica Minolta's Billy Atta announced the up-coming plans at the PODi Appforum this Wednesday which will see product training on Konica Minolta's digital presses be credited towards the Certificate II in printing and graphic arts (digital print).

Speaking from his own experience, Atta believes that this will do much to enhance student's practical knowledge. "I've been a recipient of a lot of product training, but it has never meant anything in the qualifications area," he said.

Konica Minolta's commitment to customer education is an attempt to address the lack of qualified, skilled workers in the print and graphic arts industries. Under this new initiative, product training completed on Konica Minolta's digital machines will get trainees one third of the way closer to their qualification. Atta believes that this link between product training and qualification is a first for the Australian industry.

"Konica Minolta is hoping to raise the bar and challenge other print service providers to make their training more meaningful and industry standard," he said.

"We want to get trainees on an education pathway, identify their skills gaps and plug them."