The initiative has been developed and pioneered by industry consultant Mike Fairley and B2B media company Tarsus Group to provide a set of e-learning modules for employees in the label industry.
Also working on the scheme will be a team from training course provider 4impression and Netherlands-based firm Converting Technology International that has been piloting training material and courses on label substrates and tooling.
"I would say that the label industry, particularly self-adhesive labels, is the most complex of all the printing sectors," said Fairley.
"It has more printing processes than any other area of the industry, the widest range of material types and adhesive types to understand and more inline and offline finishing. It is also at the forefront of new interactive technology usage."
The Academy has been set up to give training to people just starting out in the industry who will take over from current skilled and knowledgeable people as they reach retirement.
"Label technology has few, if any, dedicated training resources in the world capable of training and educating the industry for the future," said Fairley.
"The aim of the Academy is to provide standardised resource material that can be used worldwide by any college, individual, company or training organisation, ether downloadable or in hard-copy format, plus provide testing and certification."
Over the coming months the team will be working on finishing the first six education and training e-learning and support modules out of a proposed list of 20.
Initial modules will cover topics including label printing processes, die-cutting and tooling, origination and pre-press, digital label printing, environment and sustainability, the history of the label industry and label substrates.
These modules are scheduled to be available later this year for purchase or download through the new Label Academy website, currently in development.
"We're still working out prices because not all of the topics will be exactly the same length. When somebody wishing to study a module accesses the system, they'll have a detailed synopsis of that topic, what they'll be expected to understand after studying it and links to related articles and videos," said Tarsus Group marketing director Michael Hatton.
"All of that is free of charge but we will charge for two things; the related textbook for that module and the exam at the end of each module so that they can get a certificate to show that they've completed that."
An accreditation scheme is also planned that will allow existing industry suppliers, associations and colleges to become certified training organisations of Label Academy modules.
The initiative will be officially launched at LabelExpo Americas 2014 in Illinois in September.
"We'll have a dedicated press conference at the show and on the first two days during the lunch break there'll be an open session for anybody to attend where we'll be talking through the modules, explaining how it works and showing a live demo," said Hatton.
"By that point we expect to have the online system and the textbooks ready. We'll have physical copies and a dedicated stand at the show and people will be able to buy e-books for a Kindle from that point onwards as well."
