Welcome to the web portal of the
Center for Screen, Digital and Pad printing - CeSDT

The CeSDT was founded to encourage and promote initiatives in Slovenian Primorska and North Italian region and make them strong and competitive. The project has expanded over whole Europe and more. Our main initiative is to help companies with establishment and development of good working environments, which will promote quality and service in particular branches.

Major goals of the project:

• To establish a large database of companies which use screen, digital or pad printing techniques (SDT).
• To establish a web portal as a central information point for communication:
  • Between companies on both sides of the border
  • Between companies and suppliers
  • Between companies and buyers
    
• To analyse the database and organise:
  • Mutual recognition
  • Mutual cooperation
  • The exchange of knowldege and experience between companies
  • Additional education in the years 2004 and 2005.
  • Cooperation with existing educational institutions
  • Conduct 3 workshops for companies who will express the desire for contacts
  • Prepare a business plan for the functioning of an information-education center for SDT printing
  • Proliferate the use of environmentally friendly materials
  • To establish a connection with FESPA and national SDT printing associations
    

The project is carried out by:

Razvojna agencija Rod Ajdovscina Gregorciceva 20

Project partners:

The project is financially supported by the EU PHARE CBC programme.

Reasons for the project

The ROD Development agency has commited itself to supporting ideas that increase the recognisability and competitiveness of the regions. In other words it means help with start-up activities and development of future cores, which enlarge the excellence of particular branches. There are roughly over 150 companies and independent manufactories, which use SDT printing in the borderland regions. Basically it is hard to find a business in the contemporary world that does not use printing in some way. Although many important achievements are being made in this area, knowledge and experiences are varied, printing plants remain unconnected and without the adequate technical education and qualifications.

There is an existing need for enlargement of qualified human resources, which will enable excellence in this activity and contribute to higher competitiveness in neighbouring regions of both countries. Both sides have expressed an interest in expert and economic cooperation in this area.
The CeSDT will enable new contacts, exchange of opinions, knowledge and experiences, support, and additional technical education, with special attention paid to (in cooperation with existing educational institutions, the European association of screen, pad and digital printing – FESPA and other branches and expert associations) the transfer of state of the art know-how and expertise. New knowledge and technologies enable the implementation of environment friendly materials and more effective technological procedures, which will enlarge the competitive level of the region in European space.

Project goals:

• To establish cooperation between SDT printing plants in neighbouring regions and establish conditions for common actions on the world markets which will lead to economic growth
• To ease and accelerate the transition to the use of environment friendly materials and technologies
• To increase effectiveness and competitiveness in companies
• To increase technical expertise of SDT printers
• To create new ideas with mutual cooperation and develop new strategies for locating market niches.
• To create new and keep current employments and create new work opportunities
• To increase the culture of cooperation and unified acting
• To increase the development and growth of small and medium sized companies
• To mediate information to education units, so they will be able to pass on the knowledge in accordance with the needs of the branch and the region
• To establish conditions for organisation of clusters
• To produce an analysis of the current state and a large database of companies which use SDT printing techniques
• To establish a web portal for the use of the database, which will serve as means for finding partners, organisation of additional technical education, transffering knowledge between companies, transffering state of the art knowledge in cooperation with FESPA, providing resources for environmental and government regulation issues, connecting the existing education system, fast and easy access to basic data for customers
• To prepare a business plan for establishing an Information-education center for screen, digital and pad printing.
• To prepare a plan for additional technical education for the years 2004 and 2005 for both neighbouring areas
• To establish cooperation with educational institutions and expert associations

Problem analysis

The policy of the Ajdovscina municipality supports and encourages business ideas which, in accordance with the goals of the IN-PRIME programme, would lead to technological breakthrough. The municipality is proving that by providing financial support for innovations and providing property for technological centers. There are over 10 companies which use SDT printing techniques just in the Ajdovscina region. Many of them have expertise that are on the level of other EU countries.
The technique of screen, digital and pad printing is extremely widely used as it is a part of the production process in basically all economic activities (steel, automotive, wood, plastic, rubber, glass, fabric, paper, glass, packaging, electrics, electronics, home appliance and other industries).
Independent SDT printing plants are an exemption to the rule. The consequence of wide use of SDT printing in companies from different branches is that these companies do not have any existing connections to each other. On the other side, they are all faced with similar problems. Everybody solves these problems in their own way. With every new day, a badly printed product translates into loss in the market.

Needs and obstacles in target groups

A common existing obstacle is the lacking technical expertise of employees which are involved in SDT printing. Only the basics of these printing techniques are being taught in existing educational institutions in Slovenia and Italy. But the extremely wide usability of these techniques demands a bundle of specific knowledge and expertise. Everybody is left on his own when searching for proficiency. A lot of money is wasted in this process and the results are questionable, at best. The result is more dependable on practical experiences than on theoretical knowledge.

Because of non-existing cooperation and recognition the transfer of expertise and experiences is not possible and capabilites are not optimally used. The exchange of practical experience is of vital importance for success. New technological approaches open up new employment opportunities.

Similar interests are expressed in Slovenian and Italian borderland regions.

Target groups

Direct target groups are employed in:

• Companies which use SDT techniques in their work process: graphics companies and all companies which use these printing techniques in producing their products on both sides of the border
• Companies for graphical preparation of prints, manufacturing of screens and cliches on both sides of the border
• Expert associations (Regional chamber of commerce and Regional chamber of manufactory)
• Educational institutions: High school for paper and printing, Nature-technical faculty the department for textile, information and graphics technology
• Similiar insitutions in Italy
  

Indirect target groups:

• Employee families
• Local communities where these companies are located
  

After this project the CeSDT will continue its activities in a larger scale. It will spread out to the entire area of Slovenia and will contribute to the include the Primorska region.

Why we chose this particular target group

It turns out that many companies use two or even all three SDT printing technologies, that is why we put them in one unified target group. The problem analysis shows that there is a growing need on both sides of the border to start using systematical approaches to enabling conditions for cooperation, support and additional technical education of Slovenian and Italian SDT printers. Besides the need in the region an important reason for the project is that we have a group of expert coworkers that excel in this area and possess enough knowledge and expertise and have connections to all centers and persons that currently represent the peak of expertise in this area in Europe. With existing and newly acquired connections we will assure a long term transfer and exchange of knowledge from Europe and mutual exchange of experience in both regions.

The importance of the project for target groups

Companies and their employees will gain access to databases through the portal. They will be able to solve their, until now, more troublesome problems and overcome unavoidable obstacles, but mostly the portal will enable mutual recognition, contact and cooperation. A business plan for the information-education center for SDT printing will be prepared during this project. The center will provide excatly what these companies need the most: An information point, coordination, exchange of knowledge and experience, mutual cooperation, additional technical education of management and employees which will lead to increase in the quality of products, savings by production expenses, competitive ability and economic stability.
The center will bring the newest accomplishments in this area through seminars, which will be lead by leading domestic and foreign experts.
Currently there is no such center in Slovenia or Italy in the FVG region!

The importance of the project according to the SPF programme

The project is in accordance with the priorities of the Small projects fund. It connects people in regions, it takes upon common problems in borderland region, which offer innovative solutions (the transfer of innovative practice from Slovenia), new dimensions of cross border cooperation and common activity. Besides that the project represents the startup phase of longterm international cooperation, in accordance with the Common program document Slovenia Italy 2001 2006, includes elements of good practice and model cases, which are transferable to other environments.
The project accelerates the forming of permanent ways of cooperation between local and regional agents, establishes partnerships and produces the foundations on which permanent institutions of cooperation can be formed.

The importance of the project according to the priorities of the SPF programme.

The project actualises the first of the stated priorities of the SPF programme: local economic development, strengthening of the economic base in neighbouring regions, incentive of development of small business in connection with market incentives.
The project accounts to the realisation of other SPF priorities. It strengthens the flow of information and supports common structures of the Phare / Interreg programmes. Our Italian pa rtners are preparing a mirror project, which will upgrade and increase the effects of this project (It will not double its activities). The project is also directed at strengthening education and local employment, which is one of the advantage contents of SPF.
The goals of the project are in accordance with the priorities of the Regional development programme for the Primorska region, mostly with the innovative breakthrough of Primorska – the IN-PRIME programme.

Transnational influence

Permanent expert and business connections between SDT printers, companies, educational institutions and economic associations

will be assured in the neighbouring regions with the results of the project. The competitive level of the region will be higher. Exchange of knowledge, work and human resources will be established. The project will also provide the foundations for solving problems regarding education in this area. After a successful start-up phase, similar approaches can be used in other branches. Future