Pittsburgh, Pa., March 1, 2006 -- PIA/GATF announces the availability of the sixth edition of its Sheetfed Offset Press Training Curriculum. For over a decade, this curriculum has been an important resource for lithographic printing companies seeking to boost performance through structured training of their press crews that can be conducted on site. Several hundred companies and colleges have used the curriculum since its initial introduction. “It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that printers with well-trained workforces tend to do better financially,” said Jim Workman, director of training programs for PIA/GATF. “With this introduction we’ve made it easier than ever for printers to deliver technical content, teach standard operating procedures, and measure trainee learning and performance in the convenience of their own facility.” The sixth edition of the PIA/GATF Sheetfed Offset Press Training Curriculum expands coverage in such areas as reducing makeready, ink and water balance, color theory, and running alcohol-free, while continuing to cover the eleven core subject areas essential to today’s sheetfed press operator. In addition, problem-solving activities were added throughout to help operators quickly assess and properly react to the many situations that can develop on press. An instructional CD-ROM with movie clips, illustrations, and customizable SOP templates is also new. The four key curriculum elements—Instructor’s Training Manual, Instructional CD-ROM, Trainee’s Workbook, and Instructional Textbooks—work in conjunction with each other to make a complete course. Companies typically invest 60–90 minutes per week teaching the program. A certificate of completion is granted by PIA/GATF to those sheetfed press trainees completing the knowledge and SOP sections of all eleven core subjects in the course and successfully passing a final examination. For additional information on the sixth edition of the PIA/GATF Sheetfed Offset Training Curriculum, or any of the other press, postpress, industry orientation, or customer education packages available through PIA/GATF, visit www.gain.net (Search: Kits/Curriculums) or contact Ricardo Vila-Roger, training curriculums manager, at 412-259-1715 or [email protected].