Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Printing Industries of America is pleased to announce the arrival of Materials Handling for the Printer, Third Edition by A. John Geis. This is the de facto handbook on running an efficient printing plant while ensuring that you’re not wasting time and money mishandling products.

Materials handling, or the movement of material and product through the plant, accounts for up to 60% of all direct and indirect manufacturing labor costs. That 60% could easily be the difference between a profiting printing plant and one that is on the financial brink.

Poor materials handling leads to high labor cost requirements, product damage, material waste, production and shipping delays, and wasted floor space; all of these add up to high cost and dissatisfied customers. Few printers are concerned about material handling, but in an industry that gets leaner by the day, it's something that deserves to be in the spotlight.

Some of the cost-saving methods explored in Materials Handling for the Printer include:

-The use of dock seals or shelters in receiving and shipping to keep out weather
-Purchasing standard-size pallets to permit reuse
-Stacking methods to ensure optimal use of storage space
-The most efficient means of organizing a pick-and-pack operation
-New to the third edition, an in-depth examination of ways to further automate the materials handling process
-Materials handling is a fact of life for every printer, there's no way around it. If you’re going to handle this equipment, you might as well do it in a way that maximizes profits.

Materials Handling for the Printer, 3rd edition (ISBN: 9780883626504), can be purchased from the Printing Industries of America bookstore by members for $75 and $99 for non-members.