PRODPP303 – Maintain digital printers in a serviceable condition

Overview

This standard covers the maintenance of the digital equipment used in printing. This can apply to the maintenance of traditional digital black and white or colour printing machines as well as those used for 3D printing.

It applies to you if you work in a studio, engineering company, university, architects bureau or digital printing environment and you are responsible for the maintenance of digital systems or printing equipment.

Performance criteria

You must be able to:

1. follow the manufacturer's instructions for cleaning and maintenance at recommended intervals
2. identify faults which affect the quality or quantity of outputs or create risks to health and safety
3. carry out analysis of what is causing faults in line with organisational requirements
4. correct machine faults which it is your job to deal with in line with manufacturers' instructions
5. obtain assistance for machine problems that you are unable or unauthorised to correct and in line with organisational requirements
6. check that any required calibration or profiling is carried out in line with agreed procedures at the recommended intervals
7. check that any profiles required by a management system are installed in line with organisational requirements
8. check that workflow is configured and operated so that outputs are reproduced

Knowledge and understanding

You need to know and understand

1. your duties and responsibilities for health and safety as defined by any specific legislation covering your job role
2. the hazards and risks in your own job, their assessment and the action to take to deal with them
3. manufacturers' and suppliers' health and safety instructions/advice
4. what kinds of customer materials are likely to be handled, including original photographs or artwork, samples, files, disks, raw materials
5. techniques for protecting customer materials the potential for loss or damage
6. computer system security and virus protection
7. the print with time-sensitive or restricted release dates
8. the high value products or print with a high risk of theft
9. how to securely archive digital and conventional artwork
10. how to communicate with colleagues, customers and suppliers
11. workplace objectives, priorities, standards and procedures
12. the way you actually do your job, more particularly the activities and techniques and the way that materials and equipment are used
13. the set-up of digital communications equipment and software
14. the operation of digital communications equipment and software
15. file conversion techniques
16. file compression and decompression techniques
17. how to transmit digital files
18. file management procedures
19. the causes and treatment of common faults: raw material faults, processing faults, machine faults
20. administrative procedures: planning and scheduling, recording and reporting
21. product labelling
22. the legal requirements for the classification, storage, carriage and disposal of waste
23. the main features of quality assurance and quality control systems
24. techniques for controlling quality
25. equipment for controlling quality in printing
26. light standards for viewing and assessing print
27. types of problems that may need to be solved
28. sources of information
29. techniques for solving complex problems
30. techniques for assessing machine faults
31. the types and characteristics of photopolymers, thermoplastics and wax support materials
32. the types and characteristics of inks, toners and coatings
33. maintaining the quality of materials during storage and handling
34. the principal activities involved with machine cleaning, lubrication and maintenance
35. roles and responsibilities for cleaning, lubrication and maintenance
36. machine faults and how they can be rectified
37. the maintenance plans for machines which you operate
38. which components wear or become degraded over time
39. what is meant by the phrase 'safe system of work' and how it applies to cleaning, lubrication and maintenance activities
40. the choice and use of suitable cleaning agents and lubricants
41. the parts of the machine you are expected to clean, lubricate and maintain including nozzles from which debris must be removed, rods or couplers that need greasing, belts that need tightening, fans and casing from which dust must be removed
42. preventive versus predictive maintenance

Keywords: digital, print, pre-press, maintenance, service