The Marble Institute of America (MIA) has launched their free 2013 Fabricator Benchmarking Survey, the 5th such survey conducted by the MIA. The 2013 study will commence in early November and was made possible by a grant received from Cosentino USA and Kohler.

Available to all fabricators in North America, this confidential survey will allow fabrication companies to compare their firm with firms of similar size and provide suggestions for improving the firm’s profitability. Additionally, the MIA will use the data derived from the survey to create a one-of-a-kind web portal that will ask fabricators for several pieces of information (location, sales info, etc.). The web portal will use that data to calculate numerous pieces of information that fabricators will find indispensable.

Mike Loflin, MIA industry research and information manager, said, “The survey questions are straightforward. They’re about daily operations that an owner will know without having to check with an accountant. For example, we want to know the average number of tops produced per week, the number of full time employees currently employed, the percent of business sold to new residential, remodel residential and commercial, and so on.The answers will be held in the strictest confidence.”

The free study is confidential (no individual company responses will be shared or sold) and MIA membership is not required. The survey will cover the fabrication segment of the stone industry including natural and engineered stone. Companies will be asked to answer several simple questions; in return, they will receive 30+ facts about their fabrication business and their competitors. The data provided will give them leverage when working with banks and creditors.