MESA and Industry Directions Launch 2007 Study "Metrics for Major Initiatives"

MESA and Industry Directions' 2007 research study titled "Metrics for Major Initiatives" will gauge the success of Lean, Real-time Enterprise and Total Quality.

Chandler, Ariz. and Cummaquid, Mass. (PRWEB) July 5, 2007 -- Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA) International and Industry Directions Inc. today invited manufacturers to respond to the Metrics for Major Initiatives industry survey. This survey asks about key performance metrics (KPIs) and the structure of metrics programs in relationship to major corporate initiatives. Specific areas included are Lean (manufacturing and/or enterprise), Real-time Enterprise, and Total Quality. This study focuses on several of the five initiatives MESA includes in its new vision for creating an end user view of how plant-to-enterprise solutions support major initiatives.

MESA and Industry Directions are seeking responses from all companies in the production industries - discrete, batch, process and mixed mode in any vertical industry segment. This on-line survey is open for industry response now, and will be open into mid-July.

The results of this survey will be released at the MESA Conference Sept. 16-18 in Orlando, FL. The conference, themed "Plant to Enterprise: Integration to Innovation," will include a special session on the results of this "Metrics for Major Initiatives" survey. Results will include the degree to which multi-plant or global manufacturers have standardized practices, who is responsible for various aspects, and whether metrics are visualized in an actionable way.

"Most manufacturers undertake major initiatives with a goal to improve operations and business performance. The question we are setting out to answer is whether the mechanisms are in place for them to gauge that improvement accurately. This project will fuel the community's knowledge and form a foundation for ongoing progress by the MESA Metrics Working Groups," according to MESA Metrics Committee Chairman Jonathon Siudut of IBM.

The online survey is available at: www.industrydirections.com/show_survey.php?show1=59d16f&p1=JulieF14&r1=1
or through www.MESA.org or www.industrydirections.com. The survey is open to manufacturing and production companies in all segments and of all sizes worldwide. All respondents to the survey will receive a copy of the public findings report as soon as it is released this fall.

All co-sponsor companies underwriting the effort provide deep and diverse expertise in plant operations, operational metrics, and plant dashboards and software. These companies are working together to increase the manufacturing market's understanding of the role metrics play in corporate performance improvement and operational data management. Funding sponsors for the study are: Apriso Corporation (www.apriso.com), Camstar Systems (www.camstar.com ), GE Fanuc Automation (www.gefanuc.com ), Rockwell Automation (http://www.rockwellautomation.com), SAP (www.sap.com ) and Wonderware business unit of Invensys (www.wonderware.com).

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