Why (and How) to Benchmark Your Machining Business

Continuous improvement should be a goal for any machining business, but “unless you know what you’re shooting against, unless you have some frame of reference, it’s hard to do that,” says Doug Woods, president of AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology. That’s why shops need benchmarks, standards by which to measure not just one company’s progress, but its progress compared to other shops.

How can you get that information? Participating in Modern Machine Shop’s Top Shops program is one way. For the past six years, this anonymous survey has provided a means for participating shops to gage their own operations in comparison to their peers’. As Mr. Woods explains in the video embedded in this post, the data collected also helps advance the manufacturing industry at large by providing insight into how the best-in-class shops nationwide are using technology.

New this year, the Top Shops program is also hosting a conference where Top Shops winners and other manufacturing professionals will share tips, tools and technologies that have helped them succeed. The event takes place September 5-7 in Indianapolis, Indiana.