MPLA scouts for land for training centre

The Madras Printers' and Lithographers' Association (MPLA) is scouting for a property of close to one acre in the suburbs of Chennai for setting up a training centre in printing with testing facilities.

Anu Varghese of Lokavani-Hall Mark Press Private Limited, said that the company was on the lookout for a property where it plans to house the training centre of 10,000 sq ft at an investment of Rs 1 crore.

He pointed out that the objective to set up the training centre is mainly to capture the changes in technology and trends in the printing industry that can be immediately adapted by students.

A few of the latest machineries will be provided by the suppliers so that students can work on them and gain experience.

With wider scope for printing technology used by multinational companies, there is a much larger potential for students taking up careers in printing. Earlier, corporates used to outsource their printing work to advertising companies that have been declining in the last few years, said another printer P Chander.

MPLA will be organising an 'eAge Print 2006' from February 10 to 14, 2006. The exhibition will have delegations and exhibitors from Germany and the US.

Latest developments in printing technology from companies such as Hewlitt Packard, Adobe, Xerox, EFI, Mitsubishi, TechNova, Autoprint, Wellbound among others will be showcased during the five-day exhibition.

Varghese said there are two distinct aspects to the conference. "At one end of the spectrum we have the exhibitors with their products on display. We also have speakers from these companies talking on the advantages their products bring to the industry," Anu Varghese added.