Larry Sison- Ugra Certified Expert

On October 15, 2009, Filipino Laurence (Larry) Sison received his Ugra Certified Expert Certification in St. Gallen, Switzerland. Larry is the 2nd Filipino UCE* and, currently, the only certified PSO (Process Standard Offset) expert in the Middle East. At present, he is the Quality Engineer for Alyaum Printing Complex in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Ugra is the Swiss Centre of Competence for Media and Printing Technology and has been doing research for the Printing Industry since more than 50 years. The Ugra Certified Expert (UCE) consults printing companies at the introduction of standardized printing and prepares them for the audit by Ugra. They help Ugra to accomplish the audits for eventual certification of the company. Basically, the UCE certification covers three topics: quality, prepress & printing standards, and audit procedures.

Prior to his stint in the Middle East, Larry worked in various printing companies in the Philippines, such as Money Asia, Kamahalan Publishing (Manila Standard newspaper), Business World Publishing and Tribune Publishing, where as Prepress Supervisor, he handled the day to day film production and monitored the daily press production of the newspaper and tabloid from start to finish. 

In Alyaum Printing Complex, he assumed his position of Resident Quality Engineer in 2006 and handles a team of quality controllers in both web and commercial departments. He is responsible for analyzing and reporting of data regarding waste, downtime, and product quality, coordinates with department managers on how to improve our key performance indicators (KPI) to ensure targets are always met and is responsible for maintaining and updating the printing plant's quality management system(ISO 9001). He also conducts regular training of Alyaum prepress personnel in all 5 publishing offices in Saudi Arabia and travels all over the kingdom to train clients on color management and PDF/X workflow. 

Regarding his work in Saudi Arabia, this is what Larry has to say: ” Working in Saudi Arabia is very difficult. Not only is language a barrier, but also their custom is very different from ours. If we don't adapt to our new environment we will have difficulty making friends here. And if we don't make friends, most especially in our workplace, then we don't get the cooperation we expect from our colleagues.  One important thing in quality assurance is that if you want to get good results, you have to get the process owners agree to the systems you are trying to implement. I'm blessed to have good bosses since they are quality conscious. Management prioritizes staff training at the print site and also at our editorial offices. The company has budget but they use it very wisely.” 

Larry’s observations based on his ISO 12647 and PSO (Process Standards Offset) experience are: “Learning and applying the standards on your own is not advisable. That's why our company has heavily invested on technical consultants for newspaper and commercial sheet-fed productions. Unlike in newspaper production, learning the PSO-ISO 12647-2 standards (sheet-fed/ heatset) is more complex than I thought since we have so many different paper types to use and every single one has a specific aim points. The key is to start improvement projects from the press side first, and then you work backwards to set your plate curves in the CTP, and then finally load the appropriate ICC profiles on all graphic stations in our editorial offices. “ 

Larry is eternally grateful to his mentors who helped him succeed in his chosen career. “In the late 90's, I was in a crisis and didn't know what to do with my life. But Caloy Gaston literally dragged me into prepress. That's where it all began. Papa Boy Kitane was very instrumental in my life. Back then, he used to challenge me to read all the 14 technical books in our prepress office in BusinessWorld. Being with Caloy and Papa Boy was one of the best moments in my life; for I have learned many things from them. Quite fondly, I can still recall them telling me to study and to study real hard. Secondly, I'm extremely grateful to my bosses in Alyaum Media House for providing so many technical trainings to their employees; and lastly, to Erwin Widmer and Guy Fluelli of Ugra.” 

Larry is married to Farrah Doronila-Sison of BacolodCity. They have 3 boys: Robert (12), Gabriel (9), and Uriel (3). 

For inquiries he can be reached thru: ask4press@gmail.com; and larrys@alyaum.com . 

* Another Filipino UCE is Ariel S. Reyes, who we hope to feature in a future issue.