Through informative text and a step-by-step workbook section, Benchmarking the Bindery provides graphic arts and bindery managers with a proven approach to continuous process improvement. PARAMUS, N.J., Sept. 30, 2002 – Graphic arts company owners and managers and bindery department supervisors now have a valuable resource designed specifically to help them minimize costs and maximize efficiencies in the bindery. Benchmarking the Bindery, published this month by the National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL), provides an in-depth, step-by-step guide to help bindery leaders effectively implement a benchmarking system to support the continuous process improvement so needed in today’s competitive business environment. Written by Peter Doyle, a printing company operations manager and benchmarking expert, and Robert Diehl, a company owner and noted speaker, writer, and graphic arts consultant, Benchmarking the Bindery is designed to help bindery leaders trade a "fire-fighting" mode of management for a more strategic process-improving leadership mode. Applying the principles found in this comprehensive volume can help printers achieve concrete results in cost-savings and increased efficiencies. The volume contains chapters on all aspects of benchmarking and how it relates to bindery operations, including a look at what makes benchmarking so effective, how to overcome common obstacles to successfully implementing a benchmarking program, achieving accurate measurements, creating benchmarking charts, and understanding numerical data. It also shows managers how to effectively communicate the goals of a benchmarking program to increase employee morale and gain their buy-in. Included are valuable insights from the first-hand experience of printing company owners, plant managers, supervisors, and bindery employees. A comprehensive workbook section enables readers to apply what they’ve learned in previous chapters and features a compilation of proven benchmarking methods that led to significant productivity gains in an actual bindery department. Benchmarking the Bindery (NP 326) is $240 for NAPL members ($320, non-members). To order, call (800) 642-6275, Option #3; email [email protected]; or go to NAPL’s online bookstore at http://store.napl.org. NAPL is committed to helping the graphic arts community succeed within today’s highly competitive communications environment. The level of information provided in Benchmarking the Bindery is a prime example of that commitment. About the Authors: Robert Diehl is a company owner and sought-after speaker, writer and consultant who has achieved high returns within the printing industry. Diehl’s success has been the result of his seeking, training, and retaining "Impact Managers" for the corporations he has headed. In Benchmarking the Bindery, Diehl provides readers with a proven method for acquiring such proactive, successful managers, and for using benchmarking to set and reach new standards for their organizations. Peter Doyle is an operations managers for a printing company with financial margins, waste levels, efficiencies, and a plant safety record that are at industry-leading levels. The company is a three-time recipient of NAPL’s Management Plus Gold Award (1998, 1999, and 2001), which recognizes excellence in management. Doyle’s credits much of his success to his passion for benchmarking and his consistent use of process measurements. Doyle has a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Technology from Eastern Kentucky University, and a Master in Business Administration from Southern Methodist University. About NAPL: Chartered in 1933, the National Association for Printing Leadership is a not-for-profit trade association representing the $88 billion commercial printing industry. NAPL’s mission is "To enable the printing community to profit from change" through a full range of management and educational services to its membership, including conferences, seminars, periodicals, books, consulting, and economic information and analysis.