"How does my business compare to other, similar businesses?” is the central question we set out to ask over 10 years ago with our first Top Shops benchmarking survey. We’re still answering that question.
Know how your business compares to other, similar businesses. Gardner Intelligence's 5 (and counting!) Top Shops programs are the only source of benchmarking data covering operations, technology, business strategy, and human resources.
2024 MMS Top Shops Benchmarking Standards Report
2024 PT Top Shops Injection Molding Benchmarking Standards Report
2024 CW Top Shops Benchmarking Standards Report
2024 PF Top Shops Liquid, Powder & Electrocoating Benchmarking Standards Report
2024 PF Top Shops Plating & Anodizing Benchmarking Standards Report
Benchmarking Standards Reports show what typical industrial facility behavior really is. Click here to go to our purchase page.
Take the Top Shops Benchmarking Survey and receive a custom report in return for your effort. Here's a glimpse at what that report looks like.
Top Shops is a benchmarking and recognition program designed to help shops build their business. Data is collected across categories including operations, technology, business strategy, and human resources. Select measures are scored and summed to total scores that serve as the basis for honoring certain shops as Top Shops.The program also supports the annual Top Shops Expo, an event that connects all levels of the manufacturing community.
"In looking across the landscape of your business, you want to find metrics where you can evaluate how your operations compare and contrast to others."
– HERB HOMEYER. PRESIDENT, HOMEYER PRECISION MACHINE
"Being a Top Shop carries a lot of weight with the supply chain."
– DAVE TILSTONE, PRESIDENT, NTMA
Benchmarking your manufacturing business is a way to see how different aspects of your operation – from quoting and profitability to training and HR practices – compare with other businesses. The Tops Shops Benchmarking Survey and Report is designed to show how you stack up both overall, and specifically relative to the businesses we classify as being “Top Shops.” Participating in the Top Shops Benchmarking Survey earns your company a customized report plotting where your shop falls on individual measures. You receive a Performance Summary that lists areas of relative strengths, areas your business is on track, and opportunities for improvement. Consistent benchmarking can demonstrate your shop’s improvement over time, and provide data that can be used in your sales and marketing strategy or to aid your management team in yearly goal setting. Top Shops benchmarking has proven invaluable to companies committed to improvement and growth.
The Top Shops survey is emailed to large numbers of Gardner Business Media subscribers (readers of brands like Modern Machine Shop, CompositesWorld, Plastics Technology and Products Finishing) and posted to various Gardner digital media websites to gather broad survey participation.
Field dates for Top Shops surveys vary across our media brands. All are conducted on an annual basis with updated surveys available in January. Top Shops surveys for Modern Machine Shop and Product Finishing are available throughout the year, but must be completed by April 30 to be considered for a magazine profile. Surveys for Plastics Technology and CompositesWorld are only available until March 31.
A high level, one-page executive summary is broadly available and can be accessed here. In addition, survey participants receive a free custom report in return for their effort. Participants can also purchase additional custom reports, which can be accessed here.
While the most comprehensive and actionable Top Shops data are provided to participating companies via custom reports, there is also the option to purchase a Benchmarking Standards Report. The Benchmarking Standards Report is a custom report populated by a ‘statistically typical’ shop which is compared to the same benchmarks as a participating shop. “Your shop” in the report is equivalent to a shop providing the median answer for every question in the survey. The useful perspective provided by the BSR is not available elsewhere and provides a baseline for determining what is important to a successful shop. The Benchmarking Standards Report is available for purchase here.
The World Machine Tool Survey is a comprehensive study of the global machine tool economy, conducted on an annual basis by Gardner Intelligence.
The Capital Spending Survey is the leading tool for understanding projected spending on capital equipment in the Metalworking, Plastics Processing, and Additive Manufacturing industries.
The Gardner Business Index (GBI) is a diffusion index measuring month-to-month changes in activity at durable goods and discrete parts manufacturing facilities.
Top Shops is a benchmarking and recognition program designed to help manufacturers build their business.
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