Pursuit of Performance Excellence: Business Success through Effective Plant Operations Metrics

Published in Process & Control Engineering, pacetoday.com.au

Manufacturing and production are acknowledged as the foundation industries to cause a shift in the global economy. Leaders in these industries have a proven ability to improve performance in their operations – but are they improving what really matters to the success of their business overall?

To find out, Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA) International and its research partner Cambashi are now inviting producers and manufacturers to respond to a new industry survey, Pursuit of Performance Excellence: Business Success through Effective Plant Operations Metrics.

MESA is seeking responses from companies in every country in the world, and across all production industries - discrete, batch, continuous process and mixed mode - in multiple industry segments.

This on-line survey is available for industry response now, and will be available through November 14. Manufacturers and producers interested in participating can access the survey.

MESA is giving away the recently-released Second Edition MESA Metrics Guidebook and Framework to five of the first 50 respondents to the survey. This is in addition to the two reports that all respondents to the survey will receive: Metrics that Matter Revisited and the final report from this study, Pursuit of Performance Excellence: Business Success through Effective Plant Operations Metrics.

Each response is kept confidential, with contact information used only to verify that the response is from a manufacturer or producer company representative. Every verified respondent will receive a copy of the exclusive comprehensive findings report, due out in early 2012. This report is otherwise available only to MESA Premium members and study sponsors.

The questionnaire asks about business priorities and shifts in the industry network, employee demographics, and customer requirements. As in previous MESA Metrics studies, it asks about improvement to specific operations and business metrics, plus software applications used, and the timeliness and structure of metrics practices.

The study will also focus on what the companies that improved their business performance most are doing differently than others. With adequate response, this information will be available in industry-grouped views for MESA Premium Members as well.

Preliminary findings will be released at the MESA European Conference November 9-10, 2011 in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

The conference, themed "Cloudy with a Chance for Profits," will include a special session on November 10 to provide a sneak peek of the results of this Pursuit of Performance Excellence study, plus an Unconference participant-driven discussion session on Performance Metrics where all delegates are encouraged to share their questions and their experiences and expertise.

"MESA continues to conduct high-value research into performance metrics, as we have over a number of years," according to MESA Chairman John Southcott, CEO of Brock Solutions.

"This study will probe for best practices and consider new angles on how to ensure that plant improvement programs are focused to result in business and financial gains for the company. It's another aspect of MESA's commitment to educating and bolstering the success of the manufacturing and production community worldwide."

Six co-sponsor companies underwriting the effort provide deep and diverse expertise in plant operations, effective metrics practices, plus manufacturing and business software and change management services.

Premium funding sponsors for the study are: Rockwell Automation, SAP AG, Solarsoft Business Systems and Tata Consultancy Services.

Camstar is a premium sponsor for semiconductor and medical device industry verticals. IQity Solutions is a supporting sponsor.

In conjunction with MESA, these companies seek to increase the manufacturing market's understanding of the role plant performance and operations metrics play in corporate performance improvement.