Using PMPA Business Trends Report to Understand Your Business
Here are a few takeaways from the PMPA March 2016 Business Trends Report.
The PMPA Business Trends Report is published monthly and provides a credible means for our member shops to compare their performance with the performances of other precision machining shops. Actual net sales and hours of fi rst shift scheduled are the two performance indicators tracked, while three-month outlook for net sales, lead times, employment and profi tability document the forward-looking sentiment of your peers. Participating member companies get the index calculated for their company, which they can compare with the index for the industry.
Here are a few takeaways from the PMPA March 2016 Business Trends Report.
Industry sales jump 12 percent in March, “PMPA Business Trends Report.”
• With 80 companies responding, the PMPA Business Trends Index in March climbed 14 points,
or 12 percent, to 131, only the third time the index has been above 130 in its history.
• Up 12 percent over prior two months; down 4 percent from March 2015.
• The decline in sales outlook is not at all surprising, given the March high. The sentiment for profi tability increases, while the lead time and employment remain the same.
Opinions for the next three months compared with today:
• Net sales: The outlook for sales of precision machined products has declined. Seventy-six percent of
respondents expect the level of sales to remain the same or increase over the next three months.
• Lead times: Ninety-four percent of respondents expect lead times to remain the same or decrease.
• Employment: Eighty-seven percent of respondents expect employment prospects to increase or remain
the same for the next three months, a positive assessment. Sentiment is unchanged from last month.
• Profi tability: Prospects for profi tability have moved to the positive, after remaining level for three months.
To participate in PMPA Business Trends reporting, contact Mari Kirchenbauer at mkirchenbauer@pmpa.org.
For information about joining PMPA, contact Monte Guitar at mguitar@pmpa.org.
View the entire report at short.productionmachining.com/March16.
All Craftsman’s Cribsheets are available for viewing and download at short.productionmachining.com/cribsheets.
