IN DEVELOPMENT | LEVEL 4 APPRENTICESHIP
AI and automation practitioner
for print and packaging
Take the manual work out of the working day. Develop someone who can find the bottlenecks, fix them with AI and automation, and bring your people with them.
We’re developing this programme now and inviting expressions of interest for a first pilot cohort, which we’re aiming to start in February 2027.
Level 4
Standard ST1512
Pilot cohort
Planned for February 2027
Ongoing + independent
Assessment
Funded
Apprenticeship funding available
The opportunity
Why this, why now
Print and packaging businesses are under pressure from tight margins, rising costs, shorter lead times and a shrinking pool of skilled people. An ageing workforce means years of hard-won know-how could leave with the people who hold it.
Many sites still run on a mix of MIS, spreadsheets, email and paper job bags, and the same job details get typed in again and again.
AI and automation tools can now do much of that routine work. Knowing which tools to use, where to use them, and how to introduce them without upsetting the team is harder. That is what this apprenticeship develops.
Your apprentice learns to spot inefficiencies, design practical fixes with AI and low-code or no-code tools, and put them in place safely, with the people who do the job involved from the start.
No programming background needed.
In practice
Where it can make a difference in print and packaging
Examples of improvement projects an apprentice could work on. We’d help you choose ones that fit your processes, systems and priorities.
Estimating and quoting
The problem: Specs arrive by email, PDF and phone, then get re-keyed into the MIS. Quotes queue up.
The fix: AI pulls job specs from enquiries into a draft estimate for an estimator to check, with automatic chasers on open quotes.
Faster quotes, fewer keying errors
Order entry and job tickets
The problem: The same job details are typed into email, the MIS, spreadsheets and the job bag.
The fix: A no-code flow creates the job once and sends it to every system that needs it.
Less admin, fewer jobs going wrong at the start
Prepress and artwork
The problem: Files arrive incomplete. Proof approvals get lost in inboxes.
The fix: Automated file intake, preflight triage and proof tracking. A person still signs off every proof.
Quicker to press, fewer reprints
Packaging compliance
The problem: Barcodes, legal, allergen and recycling text checked by eye, version after version.
The fix: AI compares new artwork with the approved copy and flags differences for a person to review.
Fewer costly errors reaching customers
Production and OEE
The problem: Downtime reasons and shift notes live on paper. Nobody has time to analyse them.
The fix: Digital shift logs feed a live dashboard, with AI summaries of recurring stoppages.
Clearer view of lost make-ready and downtime
Waste and sustainability
The problem: Material and waste data are hard to pull together for customers, ISO or packaging EPR.
The fix: Automatic collection of material and waste data into one reporting workbook.
Less time on reporting
Customer service
The problem: “Where’s my job?” calls and emails take up hours every week.
The fix: Automatic status and despatch updates, and a chatbot that answers routine questions from live job data.
More time for customers who need a person
Quality, H&S and people
The problem: Complaints, near-miss reports and SOPs sit in folders and take too long to update.
The fix: Incident triage, AI-drafted SOP updates and plain-language or translated work instructions, checked before use.
Faster action, clearer shop-floor instructions
Spotlight | Succession and knowledge transfer
Capture decades of know-how before it walks out the door
Many print businesses rely on a few long-serving people who keep the presses and finishing lines running, and much of what they know isn’t written down.
An apprentice could lead the creation of a factory knowledge hub: one place where colleagues can search for, or ask an AI assistant about, fault finding, set-ups and procedures.
STEP 1
Capture
Experienced operators and engineers explain how they find and fix faults. AI turns this into clear guides, and the expert checks each one.
STEP 2
Organise
SOPs, manuals, fault logs, maintenance history and training materials go into one searchable hub.
STEP 3
Ask
An AI assistant answers questions such as “Registration is drifting on unit 3. What should I check first?” and shows its source.
STEP 4
Improve
Each new fault and fix is added. User feedback and regular reviews keep the hub accurate.
What it could mean
New starters get up to speed faster, fewer faults wait for one person, and experienced staff have more time to coach.
Safeguards built in
Answers come from approved content. Safety-critical work still follows your procedures and sign-offs.
Start small, then build
Pilot it on one machine, line or process first, then extend it across the site.
The standard covers this directly, including chat-based guidance, interactive wikis, conversational AI and human oversight.
More time for your leaders
- Take routine reporting, chasing and admin off supervisors and managers
- Cut the repeat questions that pull experienced staff away from their own work
- Give managers clearer, up-to-date information for decisions
- Turn improvement ideas into working, tested solutions
Stronger succession and future leaders
- Record critical know-how so the business depends less on a few key people
- Build a consistent onboarding route for new starters
- Develop your apprentice’s own leadership skills: owning projects, running workshops and leading change
- Help senior leaders weigh up the effect of AI on people, not just costs
The role doesn’t involve managing a team, but it builds the skills later leadership roles depend on, and can lead on to our leadership and management programmes.
The programme
What your apprentice will learn
Six themes from the national standard, taught with print and packaging examples.
01
Responsible adoption
The business case, managing change, and the effect on roles, morale and reputation.
02
Solution design
Low-code and no-code tools, AI assistants, chatbots, integrations and prompts.
03
Testing and improvement
Data quality, pilots, user testing and improving based on feedback.
04
Governance and risk
GDPR, cyber security, bias, audit trails and risk assessment.
05
Engaging the workforce
Workshops, user guides and training colleagues, from office to shop floor.
06
Continuous improvement
Process mapping, finding waste, costs versus benefits and reporting savings.
Who it’s for
People who know how your business works
…and want to improve it. They don’t need a background in IT. Typical candidates in print and packaging include:
Office and commercial
- Estimators and estimating assistants
- Account managers and sales support
- Customer service coordinators
- MIS and systems administrators
- Finance, purchasing and stock controllers
Studio and production
- Prepress, repro and artwork technicians
- Packaging designers and technologists
- Production planners and schedulers
- Press, digital and finishing operators
- Warehouse and despatch coordinators
Technical and leadership
- Maintenance engineers and technicians
- Quality, compliance and H&S coordinators
- Continuous improvement leads
- Shift leaders and production managers
- Experienced staff moving into a knowledge or training role
Assessment
How it’s assessed
Start
Programme begins
Ongoing assessment
Assessed as they go
Workplace project
A real improvement for your site
Independent assessment
Independent at the end
Ongoing assessment: your apprentice is assessed as they go. A central part of this is a workplace project, so your business gets a working improvement as well as a qualified apprentice.
Independent assessment at the end: the standard ends with an independent end-point assessment. We’re confirming the detail of those arrangements as part of developing the programme.
Responsible by design
The standard puts people and ethics at its centre. Your apprentice learns to:
- design automation that supports people, not replaces them
- keep a person in charge of decisions that matter
- protect customer artwork and data in line with GDPR
- assess risk, bias and the effect on your workforce
- record decisions so they can be audited
- raise concerns with confidence
Where we are up to
In development, and we’d like your input
We’re developing this programme for the print and packaging industry and exploring the best way to deliver it, including working with specialist partners.
We’re now inviting employers to register their interest in a first pilot cohort, which we’re aiming to start in February 2027. Registering doesn’t commit you to anything. It tells us the demand is there, and it gives you a say in how the programme is shaped.
If you’d like to be part of it, or you simply want to be kept up to date, get in touch.
Registering your interest means:
- You hear first when dates and details are confirmed
- You can help shape the content around the problems you face
- We can talk through funding and who in your team might suit it
- No commitment at this stage
Register your interest
Tell us about your business
It takes two minutes. We’ll come back to you to talk through what the programme could look like for you, and we’ll keep you posted as dates are confirmed. Registering doesn’t commit you to anything.
Interested in the first cohort?
Register your interest and we’ll keep you updated as the programme takes shape. Tell us where the manual work piles up in your business, and we can talk through funding and who in your team might suit it.