Another year, another Buyers Guide.

    July 2013 marks the 23^rd consecutive year that Industrial Heating has published this issue. Some details may have changed over the years, but one thing has stayed the same: the Buyers Guide is the foremost information resource the industry has to offer. It exists to help you, the reader.

    If you’re new to our Buyers Guide, or if you just want a refresher course, let’s take a minute to review what is in the pages that follow. We provide two main directories, Manufacturers and Product.

    The Manufacturers Directory is relatively straightforward. This section provides an alphabetical listing of companies that manufacture equipment for the thermal-processing industry. Each company listing includes contact information. Our goal is to make it as easy as possible for you to get in touch with the businesses you need to contact.

    The Products Directory is more detailed and comprehensive. This is where you can find the products you need and the companies that provide them. The section is broken down into four main categories and two smaller sub-categories for convenience (see p. 5 for details). You can begin your product search at our Product Index page, which lists every product and service in the directory by page number. This index is color-coded so that the product categories correspond with the color of the tabs at the top of each page. The process is simple: find the product you want, go to the page where it’s listed and see a list of companies that offer that product for sale. You can then go back to our Manufacturers Directory to find the companies’ contact information.

    Industrial Heating’s Buyers Guide has existed for over two decades because it provides readers with a simple way to find the products they need and gives them an opportunity to get in touch with the manufacturers they need to talk to. This year’s edition will include 8,402 product listings in 609 categories, with close to 200 manufacturer listings. A good thing just keeps getting better when you visit the online Buyers Guide – www.industrialheating.com/buyersguide – which functions much the same as its print counterpart. You can search by company or product. Each product search result will provide you with a list of companies that can easily be contacted from that page.

    Just like our Buyers Guide, www.industrialheating.com can be used as an information resource. Redesigned in late 2012, the new look offers better functionality and makes it easier for visitors to find what they’re looking for.

    For example, our “Topics” tab in the top navigation bar lists 11 editorial subjects we cover. Simply visit any of these topics for a list of feature articles dealing specifically with that subject matter. A recent poll question on our website asked visitors what topic they would like to see covered more in our magazine? The winning topic was Heat & Corrosion Resistant Materials/Composites.

    Features like poll questions allow us to interact with you and get your opinion on what we can do better. For example, our current query asks what website feature you utilize the most? Among the answer options is Web Exclusives, which is an article that does not appear anywhere in the magazine itself. We regularly update our web-only content with technical articles and our monthly Everyday Metallurgy feature.

    Another way our website interacts with the reader is through our Image Galleries, which include additional photos that didn’t make it into the issue. We also use this section to highlight special features from the issue, like May’s “What Does it Take to Make a Bearing?” and June’s Product Roundup.

    When you visit our website, be sure to check out two of our most popular features: The Experts Speak (www.industrialheating.com/blogs) and Podcasts (www.industrialheating.com/podcasts).  Our blog network features five industry professionals, each focused on their area of expertise: Debbie Aliya, failure analysis; Dan Herring, heat treatment; Dan Kay, brazing; David Pye, metallurgy; George Vander Voort, metallography. We have two featured podcasts that provide informative content about important industry-related issues. IH Monthly Rx is a technical discussion between Editor Reed Miller and Dan Herring, The Heat Treat Doctor. Vacuum Heat Treat Minute is a bimonthly podcast, sponsored by Solar Manufacturing, that features debate of pertinent issues related to vacuum heat treatment.

      To get the most out of what we have to offer, I suggest following us on Facebook and Twitter and joining us on LinkedIn. The bottom line is that whether it’s our annual Buyers Guide, social media or www.industrialheating.com, Industrial Heating is doing our best to keep you informed and help you make the best decisions for your company. IH