Graphic Products Drills It With New Continuous Improvement Guide for Mining Industry


Beaverton, Oregon - March 24, 2010 - Continuous Improvement for the Mining Industry, a new industrial workplace guide from Graphic Products, delves into elements of Continuous Improvement (CI) and explores key benefits of applying CI methods to business practices.

"The overarching concept behind Continuous Improvement is a sense of teamwork between executives, managers and employees," said Daniel Evans, assistant marketing manager at Graphic Products, a leading provider of industrial label printers and labeling supplies for the safe workplace. "This concept benefits not only the bottom line, but it benefits employees as they find work easier and more enjoyable when allowed direct involvement in implementing ideas for improvement."

As stressed in the guide, when CI is applied, companies experience several other key benefits: improved productivity, improved quality, faster deliveries, increased customer satisfaction, fewer safety issues and lower costs.

The guide recommends embedding successfully implemented ideas into a work area's standard operating procedure as quickly as possible. This is done by properly documenting procedures so employees have easy-to-read visual references, like labels and signs for start-up procedures in work areas, for example.

While the Continuous Improvement guide is targeted toward the mining industry, the principles discussed within the guide apply to management processes in a myriad of industrial business organizations and environments.

The following is taken from the index page of Continuous Improvement for the Mining Industry:

o Origination of Continuous Improvement (CI)
o Traditional Business Practices
- Traditional Philosophies
o CI is Different
- Basic CI Methods
o Benefits & Applications of CI
- Success Stories
- Application Elements
- Ranking
- Establishing Procedures
- Incentives & Rewards
- Customer Focus
o Standardizing & Sustaining CI
- Integration
- Issue Resolution
- CI Leaders

Continuous Improvement for the Mining Industry concludes by reiterating that when CI is properly applied, a business's many goals-growth, financial, customer satisfaction, safety, employee morale or otherwise-stand a much greater likelihood of being reached. Concurrently, workplace issues that previously discouraged or inhibited employees can then be resolved.

"The key element of Continuous Improvement in a business is empowering the employee," said Evans. "Continuous Improvement means employee suggestions are not only valued; it means suggestions are actually implemented and recognized with monetary incentives and rewards for employees so they continue offering their best work."

Continuous Improvement for the Mining Industry is available, free of charge, from Graphic Products. It may be requested by visiting www.graphicproducts.com/free-gifts/free-ci-mining-guide.php or by calling Graphic Products at 1-888-326-9244.

Graphic Products is a leading label printer and supplies dealer. It has been supplying industrial label and sign printers and supplies to industries since 1970. It is the manufacturer of the DuraLabel brand of printers that include the handheld DuraLabel 2000 up through the wide format DuraLabel 9000, and it also carries a wide variety of labelers made by other manufacturers. In addition to DuraLabel, it stocks label printer brands such as Brady, Kroy, Brother, K-Sun, Dymo and Varitronics. It also stocks supplies for discontinued label printers. Graphic Products specializes in fast, same-day shipping to meet its customers' just-in-time delivery requirements. The Graphic Products Web site is located at www.graphicproducts.com/. Printers and supplies may be ordered by calling 1-888-326-9244.

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