Issue link: https://mmstopshopsexecsummary.epubxp.com/i/552707
TOP SHOPS OTHER SHOPS ALL SHOPS Executive Summary 2 2015 TOP SHOPS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY mmsonline.com/topshops This year marks the ffth edition of our annual Top Shops benchmarking survey, which enables participants to compare their machining and business metrics and strategies with leading U.S. machine shops. Since 2011, approximately 1,700 shop owners or managers have participated in the survey, with 277 taking part in this year's edition. Participants received three reports that evaluated survey responses based on type of shop (job shop, contract shop or captive operation), number of parts produced in 2014 and number of employees in 2014. This Executive Summary highlights data and key fndings from this year's survey, which is based on shops' 2014 performance. The survey is di- vided into four main categories: machining equipment, shopfoor practices, business strategies and human resources. The following pages compare responses from the Top Shops benchmarking group to other shops that participated in the survey. The benchmarking group represents the top 20 percent of shops as determined by totaling the points as- signed to certain business- and technology-related survey questions. Numeric survey responses are presented as average, median, 80th-percentile and 20th-percentile values. In some cases, it is best to consider the median value for the mid-point fgure. That's because unlike an average, the median is not adversely infuenced by overly high or low values (although data scrubbing is performed to remove obvious low or high outliers in each data set). Our goal in offering this survey is to cull and present the type of information that enables shops to see how they rank against others, determine what their defciencies might possibly be and then decide what actions to take to become better overall machining businesses. As a complement to the survey, we've also set up an exclusive Top Shops LinkedIn group to enable members to share ideas, offer opinions and pose questions to others on a range of topics. I say "exclusive" because it is open only to decision-makers in machining facilities, including shop owners, managers, engineers, programmers and other senior personnel. We've limited the group to only these people (as well our magazine's editors, of course) because we believe this exclusivity is part of what makes the LinkedIn group different and helpful. The group now has nearly 1,800 members, and many of the threads they've created have spurred multiple comments and interesting exchanges. Email me at dkorn@mmsonline.com if you'd like to join, and I'll promptly send an invite your way. Additional information about this year's benchmarking survey can be found in our magazine's online Top Shops Zone at mmsonline.com/topshops . Also, keep your eye out for the 2016 Top Shops bench- marking survey, which goes live in January and runs through February. Derek Korn, Senior Editor Modern Machine Shop dkorn@mmsonline.com