MESA moves metrics framework to the next level of operational improvements

The challenge inherent to manufacturing performance management is in knowing what drives improvement and delivers strategic business benefit—next comes how to track and measure it.

MESA International, in conjunction with Cummaquid, Mass.-based Industry Directions, recently completed the first phase of its Metrics that Matter project, launched in June 2006. A survey report, Uncovering KPIs that Justify Operational Improvements, was released at the Plant2Enterprise Conference in Orlando last October; plans for digging deeper were outlined the following month.

"We want to make sure that what we do is on target and useful to members," says Julie Fraser, principal at Industry Directions, and one of the leads on the initiative. The issue of foremost interest, she adds, is "metrics-based diagnostics for supporting continuous improvement."

Another priority calls for development of a high-level framework of metrics for separate enterprise functional areas, identifying linkages and potential cross-purpose conflicts between metrics.

MESA is enlisting members to participate in various working groups to explore these and other topics as deeper and fuller extensions of the work begun in 2006, ultimately to be developed as substantive deliverables throughout 2007. One potential project entails working with the Material Handling Institute of America, a trade association that has done similar work in distribution with the intent of linking manufacturing and supply chain performance measurements.

"A metric is just a number," Fraser says. "The question involves how to use data from the metric to diagnose processes and make improvements over time."

MESA is looking for members to participate in the working groups, and for manufacturers that aren't yet members to join the organization to identify and articulate key performance indicators that drive business performance improvement.