Demonstrations
Accueil > News and Events > Previous contests > North American Print Skills Contest
North American Print Skills Contest
and to use them FREE during the contest
USA and CANADA in finals
After months of intense competition, the finalists from the North American Print Skills contest are Sunny Turner, from Appalachian State University, North Carolina, USA and Sylvia Xiaoying Ma from Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
- Sunny Turner, Appalachian State University
- Sylvia Xiaoying Ma, Ryerson University
They have consistently solved print problems on the SHOTS simulator at the lowest production cost- and have thus outscored their competitors.
The Final round will be held ’live by projection’ at California Polytechnic State University, Ca, USA, July 8th 2015, during the International Circle (IC) Conference. The winner will be prequalified for the competition rounds of the DRUPA contest next year (and will not have to go through the qualifying rounds).
Using cloud-based simulators, the contestants could SEE the problems, ANALYSE the possible causes, DECIDE how to solve the problems and see RESULTS and COST of their action (or inaction).
Dates to remember :
REGISTRATION EXTENDED TO MARCH 31, 2015
- 1. Entry period : December 2014- March 31st, 2015
- 2. Competition period : April 23 -June 2015
- 3. Finals : Shown ’Live by projection’ at IC Conference at California Polytechnic State University, Ca, USA, July 8th 2015
Rules of the contest
A 2015 Sheetfed Print Skills Contest is being organized for North America - and for all International Circle members on a worldwide basis.
The PIA, who integrate SHOTS into training programs, and support it in North America, will be the coordinator for this contest.
Contestant
All North American training institutions and printing companies can, without charge, enter the contest and use the Sheetfed print simulator (SHOTS) from Sinapse to solve print problems. This will be available in all current simulator languages.
Yes – this is also true for all IC members around the world.
This is the same simulator used in the Worldskills contests and in many national skills contests.
You win by solving printing problems and having the lowest production cost – just like in the real world.
You will have time to practice running the press and solving problems on the simulator before doing the contest.
To participate, you just need a PC connected to the internet, it’s that simple !
The Finals shown “live” at Calpoly conference on July 8th, 2015
Registration is open from December 15th 2014 to March 31, 2015 :join us and have fun !
1 - Who Can Enter, How do I Enter, How do I Win ? 2 - When will this Happen ? Contest Timing and Organisation 3 - How do I play (compete using the simulator) ? 4 - How is the Contest Scored ? 5 - Where do I see Rankings for all contestants ? 6 - What can I Win – What can my organization win ? 7 - Help is available
1 - Who Can Enter, How do I Enter, How do I Win ?
Who Can Enter ?
Open to all North American training institutions and printing companies, and of course, to all IC & GCEA members.
It is not necessary to already be a simulator user to participate in the contest. Participants can download the software and manuals, install it on their PCs and use it for the duration of the contest.
You just need a PC connected to the internet. Communications will go through our cloud server. Results will be published on our website.
Each school or company can enter one team. A team is composed of any number of contestants.
Competitors can use any of the available languages of the simulator : Arabic, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Finnish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish
After semifinals, each team will choose one member to represent it.
How Do I Enter ?
Registration is done by the team coordinator (the instructor or trainer) on our website.
Register here for the Print Skills Contest
After validation of your registration, Sinapse will contact the coordinator to get the names of the team members and will assign a login and user id for each person
How do I Win ?
The winner will be the contestant who has consistently solved the print problems with the lowest production cost, least waste and best methodology.
This information is tracked by the simulator as the users solve problems. It gives the overall “score” and is used to rank the contestants.
This is the same way the simulator scores are calculated in the WorldSkills Competition
2 - When will this Happen ? Contest Timing and Organisation
Agenda : What happens and When
| Signing up | December 15 2014 – March 31, 2015 |
| First round | 23rd of April to 5th of May, 2015. Three Exercises done at your site and at your rhythm Best scores selected Mid-May for Quarter final round |
| Quarter final | May 18-20, 2015 Exercises done at your site. Best scores selected at end of May for Semi-final round |
| Semi final | May 28 to June 5, 2015. One exercise done at your site. Best scores selected for final |
| Final | Shown “live” at CALPOLY 2015 conference-July 8th, 7:30 to 8:30 AM California time |
3- How do I play (compete using the simulator) ?
Install the simulator
Installation instructions :
- The coordinator will download the SHOTS simulator and the documentation and install it at their site.
- The link for this download will be sent after registration.
- All computers used must be connected to the internet.
The software runs on PCs (windows 7 or 8). The PCs running the simulators MUST be connected to the internet :
- To receive the contest problems to be solved by the competitors
- To send the results for each competitor to the DLMS
- Practice with the Simulator & Solve the Competition Exercises
Using the simulator
Each team member will have their own log-on and userID (assigned by their coordinator), they use these to start the simulator session through the cloud server.
Computers must be connected to the internet.
Practicing with the simulator
The simulator comes with a “user workbook” that can be given to each team member. This is part of the download.
The workbook describes the simulator and the press, and shows how to use the simulator with a number of practice exercises.
Each user will have the same set of practice exercises and the coordinator can review and compare results from these and discuss them with the users.
New users should do the practice exercises before trying the competition exercises.
You can do the practice exercises as often as you want.
You can only try the competition exercises ONCE.
Doing the Contest Exercises with the Simulator
Sinapse will deliver 4 competition exercises in March.
These exercises will be ranked from easy to difficult and competitors can solve them any time during the first round.
Quarter final : Two exercises will be delivered in April and will have to be solved within the three week time frame.
Semifinal : Two exercises will be delivered in May and will have to be solved within the three week time frame.
Finalists will be announced in early June and will compete “live” (via internet or at the conference) at the IC/GCEA conference at CalPoly (best out of 5 rounds)
- all rankings are displayed on the contest web site
Important : Only one solution will be accepted for each exercise.
Note : If you were using the simulator as part of a regular training program, you could do the exercises as often as you like – but in the competition you only get to submit one solution.
4 – How is the Contest Scored ?
Ranking will be done by Sinapse based on the exercise results of contestants.
As mentioned above, this will be based on methodology (good working practice), lowest production cost, least waste and lowest production time.
Rankings are done by team and individuals until the end of the first round, then by the individual representing the team in the following rounds.
The finalists will be chosen from among the best individuals, with not more than one finalist per organization
5 - Where do I see Rankings for all contestants ?
Rankings will be posted on the contest web site, and will be updated regularly. They will change often as new sets of results are received.
Results are shown here
6 – What can I Win – What can my organization win ?
All participants receive an official Certificate of Participation.
This is awarded to all competitors who submit solutions for all competition problems at their level of participation.
SemiFinalists :
Finalists :
Individual Winner and Runner-up receive : Certificate of Recognition, Engraved Trophy, Special Mention on Sinapse web site
Instructors for Winner and Runner-up receive : Certificate of Recognition, Special Mention on Sinapse web site
Organisations of Finalists :
7 – Help is available
Webinars will be scheduled to help contestants with any installation or usage problems.
