This is our 300th blog post. It’s also our first—posted on MH&L’s newly reengineered website. Goodbye, “Read, React & Respond,” hello “Chain of Thought.”
With our new look MH&L is taking a big step to a more reader-friendly online format. That means easier navigability, prettier and more functional graphics and more intuitive information organization.
MH&L’s monthly magazine content will be made available quicker and will provide links to a wider variety of related resources.
For those who like information fed through your personal communication device, enjoy. But this doesn’t mean an end to the print edition. We know many readers like to take us with them into the bathroom and onto airplanes—maybe both at the same time.
As we reported earlier this year, paper lovers are keeping some publishers from converting completely to online products. McGraw Hill Education, Inc., still prints books for students from K through 12 and beyond. However Michael Torch, vice president of manufacturing and operations for McGraw-Hill Education, told us that while 75% of college kids still prefer hard copy, his company decided to shut down the distribution center supporting its professional and trade markets because most professionals have a computer, and the younger ones like going online to do their reading.
The Wall Street Journal echoed this trend the other day when it reported that HarperCollins Publishing is closing its last two warehouses in the U.S., citing the growth of digital books. It will rely on R.R. Donnelley & Sons to warehouse and distribute its remaining print products in the U.S.
"We want our investments to be in marketing and editorial," Brian Murray, chief executive of HarperCollins, told the WSJ. "Streamlining our physical distribution chain with Donnelley will create a simpler, faster supply chain, and virtually one-stop shopping for retailers."
As an editor, I’m heartened that publishers still value our contribution to their bottom line. As a creator of content for supply chain professionals I’m grateful for the readers following us to MH&L’s redesigned home. Come in and make yourself comfortable.
