Jonathan Murkin, Lead Hand Platemaker

Organize and Prepare

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"I'm the Lead Hand Platemaker. Instead of just doing plates I get the jobs ready in order for the platemakers to do them, so that when they come in it's laid out and they're ready. They can just do the plates on it."

Film To Plate

I use a light table to mount the film, tape it to a clear plastic carrier. I register it colour to colour, so that each layer is in the exact same position.

The platemaker then uses this to shoot the plates, which are like rubber stamps.

Since most colours in printing are made up of combinations of the 4 process colours - cyan, magenta, yellow and black, the press uses a "rubber stamp" or plate for each colour.

Calculating Combinations

We print about 10 jobs a day and I decide the layout for each one.

For instance, our waffle carton customers have 100 different types of cartons so a typical order would be 20 different cartons in quantities of 10,000 or 5,000.

The press can only run 4 process colours and 2 special colours, at a time, so I use quantities ordered and the number of colours in each carton to determine how many we can run on one layout, or sheet.

Deciding the Layout

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"Every job that we print, I have decided how it's going to be laid out on the sheet, if we're running things in combination.

"And so when I do the layouts I have to take into account the look of the cartons along with the quantities that they've ordered to make sure everything works out."

Where I Work

Cascades prints boxboard cartons, which is basically thick paper. They print boxes for products like Old Dutch chips, frozen waffles/pancakes and bottle carriers for Growers, Vex cider and Smirnoff vodka coolers as well as cartons for American micro breweries.

Cascades' containers go all throughout Canada and the U.S. including eighty percent of bacon folders sold in Canada.

Standards and Samples

I make colour proofs so that the printing department can have a colour standard and a die-cutting proof or sample that's exactly like the finished carton will be.

That way the finishing department knows the die-cutting and gluing requirements.

Made By Hand

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"My dad was a biologist and we grew up out on a research station, and we were right next door to the garage where they fixed lots of machines. I was always in there poking around.

"And my grandfather was a welder for CN Rail and he was always building things. Everything in my family's made by hand so I just found that really interesting."

Snow and Hills

I like to go down to Frostfire in North Dakota to go snowboarding.

And when I fly out to Calgary to visit my Mom every year, I go on the big hills there.

Work Flexibility

I like the flexibility of where I work. I can come in late or I can leave early and makeup my time another day.

Sometimes I have to work late or on weekends if there's a problem but I'll get time off to make up for it.

It really makes it easy to balancing my work life with my home life.

Lots of Interests

I grew up in the country so I really like fishing and camping and anything to do outside. I do a lot of sports too, like soccer and hockey.

I'm also very computers oriented. I like working on web sites and searching out good video games and things like that.

Winnipeg vs. Calgary

I've been to Calgary and it's a big happening town.

But I like Winnipeg because it's not so small that you're bored, but it's not so big that you're driving for hours to get somewhere.

It's kind of a happy medium. You don't know everybody in the city but you definitely aren't just a nobody.

Spring Rush

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"In the springtime companies seem to revamp all their designs and everything. So it's an existing customer and existing carton but it's going to have new designs and a new look to it.

"So in the springtime it's definitely a lot of work for me, where I have to do a lot of work to the film."

On My Own

There's nobody making my schedule for the day. It's totally up to me to decide on what I have to do that day.

Something I've had to learn is how to judge what work I have to get done and how far ahead I have to get. I just have to get a feel for the presses, when they're going to need a job and how quickly they're going to get through a job.

Quiet To Hectic

The pace goes from quiet to hectic. There are a lot of deadlines involved.

Also, the presses run through the weekend even though we aren't here, so near the end of the week the pace picks up. I have to prepare work to make sure we have enough plates to keep the weekend shift busy.

When I started here, I had all the skills but one thing school didn't teach me was how to deal with the pressure and deadlines. I learned that on the job.

Internal Customers

The Pre-Press Department customers are the three printing presses. Each one has a unique schedule managed by a scheduler.

We have to plan and schedule our work well ahead to keep them supplied with plates.

As Lead Hand, my customers are the platemakers. I supply them with film layouts and scheduling information so they can shoot the printing plates.

It's really a case of supply and demand.

Proud of My Team

I'm really proud to work on the pre-press team, and of being an integral part of that team.

We work unsupervised and make our own decisions and everybody works to gets everything done in order to get the job printed. It's a lot of things to put together.

My supervisor trusts that we're going to get the work done. He knows we can take care of ourselves and that's what we do.

Spring Rush

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"In the springtime companies seem to revamp all their designs and everything. So it's an existing customer and existing carton but it's going to have new designs and a new look to it.

"So in the springtime it's definitely a lot of work for me, where I have to do a lot of work to the film."

Close Communication

The Pre-Press Department has three electronic pre-press workers and there are 3 platemakers in the "Misomex" Department.

The electronic pre-press is in the room right next door and I work right in the room with the platemakers so we're all in direct communication with each other. We can just turn around and talk to each other to discuss any problems or share ideas.

Like Building Bicycles

I like the challenge of making decisions and problem solving. Printing problems come back to the pre-press and we have to figure out what's gone wrong with it.

I learned problem-solving by working with my grandfather building things. I used to like to build bicycles and other things when I was a kid. It took a lot of problem solving and always thinking for yourself.

Circle of Communication

I work with people who depend on me to help them solve their problems as the leader, but I depend on a lot of people for help too.

Good communication skills make it easier to solve the problem, to tell people what help you need, and to get and give the right information.

The platemakers talk to me, I talk to the Electronic Pre-Press and then, if there's still a problem, I talk to the pressmen, and the circle goes around.

Quality and Cost

It's cheaper to put several cartons on one layout sheet because less layout means fewer plates to make.

But I have to consider the quality the customer is expecting and balance quality with cost. If a pressman sees something wrong, a quality action request is written up.

Then the quality department comes to me and together we decide the cause and decide how to fix it for next time, still with an eye on the cost.

Creative and Clean

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"When you work in the printing industry, say you're working on a printing press, there's a lot of ink, you get pretty dirty working on a big machine.

"But in the pre-press department it's very clean. It's all just film and we use computers a lot. So I really like that aspect of it where it's more creative and a lot of thinking involved."

Gutenberg Award

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"In Winnipeg Tech I specialized in the computer department with all the computer programs. But then I also excelled at the printing aspect of it. I actually got an international Gutenberg Award for a job I printed there.

"I wanted to specialize in the computer aspect but my knack was the printing aspect. So it's why I think I ended up in Pre-Press."

Real Jobs in School

In the Production Art Certificate course at Winnipeg Tech you design a job on the computer, make the film, make the printing plates and then you print the job. So you have to learn the whole process from beginning to end.

We did "live jobs" for real customers and one of my customers was Winnipeg Tech itself. I printed a brochure that they handed out at high schools and job fairs.

Co-op Work Experience

I was here for my co-op for college and I worked in the pre-press department. I used the skills I learned at school, to make plates and proofs, under supervision.

But what I really learned by being part of the workforce that I didn't learn in school, was about work flow and deadlines.

At school we worked with less pressure; this was working at a different pace and with real deadlines.

Learning For the Future

Often when a designer sends in a file, the Electronic Pre-press department has to make some adjustments to make it printable and they have to use the same program the designer used to create the file.

So Cascades is paying for the Red River courses in Computer Graphics I'm taking so that I can work with those programs as well.

Liked Computers

I took lots of computer courses in high school because I really liked working on computers. I took a year of computer science at U of M learning to write code but it was a little too much about mathematics for me.

That's when I heard about the one-year course at Winnipeg Tech about printing with a computer aspect. Even before I went to Winnipeg Tech I was designing business cards for my dad's friends on our computer at home, so it seemed a good fit.

Where I Want To Be

Electronic pre-press is a fairly new department in our company. In fact, when I started at Cascade some of the platemakers had just moved into the new Electronic Pre-press department.

Now that I have been both a platemaker and a lead hand and understand all aspects of the film, I'd like to move up to the electronic pre-press department.

Supervisor One Day

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"I kind of like being a leader so I would like to be a supervisor one day of maybe the pre-press department. I really like working with people and helping them do their jobs.

"So that's one thing I'm interested in is Supervisor, and just moving up in that."

Technology Evolving

Printing and pre-press technology is really evolving so we have to keep up to date. Presses are getting faster and using more computer technology too.

I still spend most of my day working with film but I do use Quark Express to do print layouts. I try to keep pace with what the designers are using by taking software courses like Photoshop and Illustrator at Red River College.

Job Market Info

The links below take you to federal and regional government information on employment, education, salary ranges and long range prospects for this career.

The official name for Jonathan's occupation is "Platemaker (Lead Hand)" and its *NOC code is 9472

Job Futures

Manitoba Labour Market Information
(Select Manitoba, the Area in Manitoba, enter NOC code 9472, then click Search)

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
*Each occupation has an official name and unique number called the 'National Occupational Classification' code or 'NOC'.

Education

Useful High School Subjects*

- Machine Shop
- Computer Basics
- Graphic Design
- Math

* Source Job Futures.ca

Below are links to various programs and courses that will put you on the path to a career in Platemaking, Electronic Pre-press or other areas in the printing industry

Winnipeg Technical College

Production Art Program

Red River College

Full Time Programs
(click on 'Graphic Design' and 'Graphic Design Advanced')
Continuing Education Programs
(click on 'Graphics Communications Certificate' and 'Graphic Communications Advanced Certificate')

Friesen's Corporation

Graphic Arts Book Manufacturing Course
Friesen's, a Manitoba-based book and yearbook printer, offers its employees a unique opportunity to learn about graphics at their location in Altona.

Related Careers

Some related careers from the Human Resources Development Canada web site:

Supervisor - Printing Occupations (NOC 7218

Graphic Arts Technicians (NOC 5223)

Graphic Designers and Illustrators (NOC 5241)

Professional Associations

The Canadian Printing Industries Sector Council (CPISC) brings together employers, employees, education and government to collaborate on meeting the current and future human resource development needs of the Canadian print and graphic communications industry.

The Canadian Printing Industries Association web site provides general information about the printing industry in Canada.

The Canadian Printing Industries Scholarship Trust Fund was started by the Canadian Printing Industries Association. Its main objective is to attract talented young people to the printing industry by providing them with financial assistance while they're enrolled in a graphic arts management or technical program.

Essential Skills

The most important Essential Skills* for camera, platemaking and other pre-press occupations are:

• Document use
• Oral communication
• Decision making
• Computer skills

*For more information on Essential Skills and their importance to this occupation, go to: Essential Skills NOC 9472