MIA Seeks Stone Market’s Measure

CLEVELAND — If you’re a stone fabricator in North America, it’s time to stand up and be counted … and the Marble Institute of America is making the tally.

The MIA is inviting all fabricators — regardless of membership in the industry group — to participate in the 2013 Fabricator Benchmarking Survey through Dec. 1.

The confidential, web-based survey will allow fabrication companies to compare with firms of similar size and provide suggestions for improving the firm’s profitability.

The study also allows for a better scoping of the stone industry’s size and production. The recent study accompanying proposed OSHA rule changes, which claimed less than 2,000 U.S. fabricators and questionable production data, illustrates the real need for better information based on real-world reactions.

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 stone and quartz surfaces.

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.

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.

“The survey questions are straightforward,” said Mike Loflin, MIA industry research and information manager. “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.”

For additional information about the survey or the forthcoming web portal, contact the MIA at miainfo@marble-institute.com.

This is the fifth benchmarking survey conducted by the MIA. The 2013 study is made possible by a grant received from Cosentino USA and KOHLER CO.

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