Ceramic Industry's 2011-2012 Data Book & Buyers Guide contains the most comprehensive information available for the manufacture of traditional and advanced ceramics, pottery, structural clay products, refractories, and glass. The Buyers' Guide is divided into eight sections, each devoted to major operations within the ceramic industry. For your convenience, each section is indexed for easy referral, and advertisements from the industry's leading suppliers are placed within the appropriate sections.

To Find a Product/Service

If you know the manufacturer/supplier(s), check the Display Advertisers' Index (p. 146) for the page number of their ad. Each Buyers' Guide section also features its own display advertiser index at the beginning of the section. To obtain more information from these advertisers, contact them directly using the information in their advertisement, flip to the Address Index (pp. 28-46), or refer to the Display Advertisers' Index to find their website address.

If you do not know the manufacturer/supplier, consult the Master Product Index (pp. 15-23), which provides an alphabetical listing of the more than 1500 products listed in the Buyers' Guide. Turn to the page number indicated to the left of the product heading.

In the Buyers' Guide sections, an alphabetical listing of manufacturers/suppliers appears under each product heading. Subcategories are broken out so you can quickly and easily locate the product you're interested in. Companies listed in boldface type are display advertisers in this edition.

Up-to-Date Information

The alphabetical Address Index provides addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and email and website addresses, as well as a brief description of the firms represented in the thousands of company listings found in the Buyers' Guide. In addition, product specification sheets are available online at www.ceramicindustry.com/databook for companies with a blue star symbol next to their names. Plus, mobile tags link readers directly to supplier websites (download the free app at http://gettag.mobi).

For information about the latest events and news announcements, turn to the International Calendar (p. 8), Ceramics in the News (pp. 9-12), and People in the News (p. 12) departments. In addition, be sure to browse through our exclusive New Product Highlights (pp. 13-14) to discover the latest technologies designed to help you improve your manufacturing processes and product quality.

Keep this useful reference book for use as a year-long resource for ceramic materials, products, supplies and services. You can also find the Data Book & Buyers' Guide in a fully searchable format-complete with additional details and hotlinks for many of the suppliers and trade associations listed in this issue-on Ceramic Industry's website at www.ceramicindustry.com/databook.

P.S. Your suggestions for making this book more useful are always welcome. Contact Susan Sutton, editor-in-chief, Integrated Media, at suttons@bnpmedia.com, (330) 336-4098 or fax (248) 502-2033.