Alliance Updates, Expands iLEARNING+ Training Platform

In a recent update, the PRINTING United Alliance professionals associated with the organization’s iLEARNING+ training platform, which is currently used by more than 4,000 people in over 35 countries, described the growing success of the platform and its industry value. They also highlighted new and updated modules that will continue the platform’s strong growth trajectory.

James Martin, Alliance group president, described the current training gap in the printing industry, which includes many inexperienced employees entering the workforce and the lack of viable college programs focused on the graphic arts. iLEARNING+, he says, helps to fill that gap, noting industry CEOs are both seeking to create learning opportunities for their employees and prevent voluntary employee turnover. Further, Martin said the printing industry, which is comprised of more than 40,000 businesses and more than 400,000 employees, needs training that stays relevant to meet its employee development needs. iLEARNING+, from PRINTING United Alliance, he says, is the solution, adding that Alliance members get 20% off the cost of this valuable training program.

The Value of iLEARNING+

Describing the iLEARNING+ platform, Joe Marin, Alliance senior vice-president, member services, shared the program is built to provide real-world training, presented and developed by trainers who are experts in their field. “We work closely,” he says, “to get the best out of them.” He further described how the modules are broken down into short, easy-to-digest lessons that help promote knowledge retention. An additional option Marin highlighted is the ability for companies to track the progress of employees using the platform, which is available “24/7/365” and offers multi-device support. “There’s something here for everyone,” Marin adds, regardless of position or print segment.

Color Management

Providing an update on color management-focused training and certifications, including the just-released G7+ calibration standard, Jordan Gorski, executive director at Idealliance, highlighted that the revised standard offers significant enhancements including improved tonality, color balance for non-white substrates, and high-density smoothing. He also shared that G7+ is a better fit for digital printing technologies because it was designed to work across technologies, whereas its predecessor, G7, was designed specifically for offset printing. Among the certification opportunities offered from Idealliance are those focused on G7+ definitions and algorithms, color expert training and certification, and master facility and system certifications, which will be launched later this year.

New Modules, Opportunities

Ray Weiss, vice-president, eLearning and certifications at PRINTING United Alliance provided an update on new iLEARNING+ modules to be launched this spring. They include:
• Expanded Color Gamut (Joe Ellis, Instructor)
• Print 101 (Updated & Revised)
• Creating PDFs for Print Production (Joe Marin, Instructor)
• Hazard Communication (Gary Jones, Instructor)
• Color Management Professional – Spanish Language (Fabian Ruiz)

A Color Management Professional module focusing specifically on Dye-Sublimation and Textile printing (Jim Raffel, Instructor), will launch later this year.