At its foundations, The Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) is an educational body with a broad mission to impart packaging expertise to the wider industry. So, early in 2013, the AIP worked with the World Packaging Organisation (WPO) board to develop an opportunity of fostering education in developing countries.
Nigeria leapt at the offer and completed its first Packaging Technology residential training program (RTP) in Lagos in August last year. The success of this first undertaking to address a serious need in Africa then prompted the African Packaging Organisation (APO) and WPO to continue providing education and support throughout developing countries. The AIP committed to offering similar training over the next 12 months in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, China and Bangladesh. The job is complex and has only just begun, stated AIP education director, Pierre Pienaar, “but the rewards along the way for ALL involved will be big and long lasting".
Pienaar is the spearhead of the AIP's first 2014 international packaging workshops and training course, which have been organised in conjunction with the Indonesian Packaging Federation and the WPO and will take place in Indonesia in March.
The event comprises two parallel workshops in Bali - class discussions from 5-7 March and a visit on 8 March to the Food, Hotel & Tourism Expo in Bali Nusa Dua Convention Centre.
The workshops aim to equip participants with greater in-depth knowledge to tackle the challenges facing the packaging industry in the current environment and to prepare them for competitive advantages emerging in the Asean Economic Community market. The packaging training course will help to strengthen participants in packaging capabilities, providing a level of insight and understanding of the packaging industry that adds real and measurable value to careers and businesses. Packaging Workshop A has a focus on paper board, rigid plastic packaging and labels, while Packaging Workshop B covers flexible packaging, tubes and paper board packaging. The packaging training course focuses on packaging technology and will be run by the AIP.
PKN: What benefit does the AIP bring to this program?
Pienaar: On-going education is required at all levels of the global packaging spectrum, i.e. formal and informal sector. The AIP, in collaboration with WPO, has the knowledge, the resources, the first world experience and the ability to share information and expertise. In fact, the AIP, as an educational institute, has an obligation to help further and foster packaging education and training in developing countries.
PKN: Why Indonesia?
Pienaar: Developing countries need assistance in making things happen. Indonesia is keen to hold a RTP in Packaging Technology but do not have the means and resources, so it makes good sense for the AIP to help our neighbours achieve their goals. It really is a win-win scenario, the packaging people of Indonesia get training in their desired field and the AIP broadens their training program internationally and lends a helping hand to our global packaging family.
PKN: And after Indonesia?
Pienaar: The AIP and the WPO are committed to furthering education in countries that in the past have not had the privilege of educational opportunities delivered on their doorstep and designed to suit their needs. These include China, Nigeria, Ghana and Vietnam in 2014.
In China, the WPO is holding an RTP in Packaging Technology for those keen students who otherwise would not have had the opportunity of furthering their education in packaging. This will be a five-day program held from 14 –18 April in Hangzhou, which is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Hangzhou has an urban population of 6.2 million people. The course will include project work which must be presented on the final day of training to a panel of experienced packaging judges.
After a most successful Packaging Technology training program held last year in Lagos, the Institute of Packaging Nigeria has now requested an RTP in Pharmaceutical Packaging where it is confident it can attract 50-60 students from the industry. The program will again take place over five days from 14 – 18 July in Lagos and will include visits to at least two pharmaceutical manufacturers for on-site training and exposure. This training will be delivered by the Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) and supported by the WPO as well as the African Packaging Organisation (APO).
Ghana will be offering RTP Packaging Technology training to members of the Institute of Packaging Ghana (IOPG) in Accra from 22 – 26 September. The course, to take place over five days, includes a visit to some converters and end users of packaging, where students will be shown practically how to apply that which they will have learned in the classroom. Class discussions will be encouraged and students are requested to bring packaging examples and challenges they are experiencing in their place of employment. After day one, students will be divided into teams and given a packaging project where they will need to look at all aspects of design, marketing, distribution, material science, engineering and sample creation of bringing a concept to market which includes costed data. This project will be presented by the team to a panel on the final day and winners will be awarded for their diligent and focused presentations.
An RTP in Vietnam is a first for WPO and a first for the Vietnamese Packaging Association where a five-day program will be held at the Trà Vinh University in Trà Vinh Town from 20 – 24 October. Trà Vinh is a province in the Mekong Delta. What a fantastic opportunity for the AIP to offer students in Vietnam this opportunity of learning in a classroom more about their industry and chosen field of work. The plan is to include some visits to converters and end users of packaging. This will be a unique opportunity for students to see and learn how to apply the theory of Packaging Technology. Lectures will include the packaging specific items associated with the Vietnamese industry, for example textiles and clothing.
