Pittsburgh, PA, May 12, 2008—In order to help printers realize their full potential, PIA/GAFTPress is pleased to announce the release of the latest edition of Total Production Maintenance: A Guide for the Printing Industry, by Kenneth E. Rizzo.

This third edition of Total Production Maintenance contains updated and additional material, particularly in the area of lean manufacturing as it applies to graphic arts processes and addresses a wide variety of topics, including:

- Total productive maintenance
- Equipment maintenance
- Prepress maintenance
- Statistical process control and Six Sigma tools
- Recognizing production workflow bottlenecks
- Best practices for lean printing
- Quality assurance of print materials
- TPM analysis: the press
- Process control
- Quick-response makeready
Most printers have realized they must achieve the very best their processes can produce in quality and productivity to stay competitive. That means optimizing and maintaining all components of the process.

“Ken’s book is a milestone in assisting printers with going lean,” says James Workman, PIA/GATF vice president of training. “Now printers have a guidebook, complete with checklists and other resources, to help them implement a formal program for achieving optimum equipment effectiveness.”

These checklists and resources are a valuable aspect of this handy reference book. Providing you with the tools to institute this program, the book includes instructions to access maintenance, calibration, and process control checklists, both blank and as templates, which PIA/GATF uses for its own TPM program.

Ken Rizzo is PIA/GATF’s director of consulting as well as the director of PIA/GATF’s Center for Lean Practices. An experienced process improvement specialist, certified in Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, and ISO 9000, Rizzo has over 36 years of commercial, label, and folding carton industry experience, including offset press operator and various production management roles. He is a best-selling author and has written dozens of articles for leading industry publications. Rizzo is a frequent seminar speaker at major industry events and noted lecturer and trainer.

Total Production Maintenance, Third Edition (Item #15433) is available for $99; PIA/GATF members pay just $75. This and all of PIA/GATFPress’s nearly 200 publications are available online at www.gain.net , or by phone (toll-free 866-855-4283), fax (301-393-2555), or mail (200 Deer Run Road, Sewickley, PA 15143).