In a move that capitalizes on technology’s ability to provide written works through mobile devices and financially supports community philanthropies, The Optimization Trap has been recently released exclusively in digital format. Written by inventory management expert Phillip Slater, the book is now available on Kindle, Kobo, Nook, iPad, Sony, and other e-readers. Mr. Slater’s previous books were published in hard copy by Industrial Press, New York, the world’s oldest industrial education publisher.

Mr. Slater will donate 100% of the proceeds from this e-Book to the Initiate Action Community Fund, a sub fund of The Australian Communities Foundation (ACF), that Phillip and Mercedes Slater established in 2011 to support educational initiatives and causes.  The Australian Community Foundation (previously Melbourne Community Foundation) aims to generate and distribute philanthropic resources to address emerging social issues and to meet the needs of its communities.

“Digitally publishing The Optimization Trap achieves many goals for me: the digital format not only provides readers with more accessibility, but it costs less to purchase. Using a digital format also allows us to channel 100% of the proceeds into our Initiate Action Community Fund which supports various educational causes through ACF,” said Mr. Slater.

Following years of helping companies improve their profit and reduce working capital, Mr. Slater wrote The Optimization Trap to help managers understand why optimization programs often fail to achieve their intended results. The book exposes the pitfalls of optimization programs while offering viable solutions. Based on Mr. Slater’s years of experience in inventory management, he identifies optimization traps and illustrates how to remedy these and achieve peak performance in operations.

“Improving operational outcomes typically involves optimization. It is what managers do. However, sometimes when seeking to optimize, people take actions that, without realizing it, limit both their options and their results. This is what I call the Optimization Trap,” stated Mr. Slater. “How do you make sure that you don’t get caught in the optimization trap and, if you do, how do you get free? This book identifies the key principles to both identify and be free of the ‘trap’.”

Similar to best selling management books such as The Goal, Who Moved My Cheese, and Fish!, The Optimization Trap uses an easy to read narrative style. By using inventory management as the example, Mr. Slater is able to address familiar, realistic everyday scenarios faced by managers and discuss how to apply the principles for avoiding the Optimization Trap. This book speaks not just to inventory managers; its tips and principles are applicable to any situation where managers are seeking to achieve optimal performance in its operations.

For Kindle users, please access the ebook The Optimization Trap via Phillip Slater author’s page at Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/L9npFE

For PDF (PC or Mac), EPUB (iPad, Nook and most ebook readers) please visit:http://bit.ly/L9nusU

For more information about the Initiate Action Community Fund, go to:http://bit.ly/MhynZ1

For video of Mr. Slater summarizing a number of his books, including The Optimization Trap, please visit http://youtu.be/q762uyFFjWs

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