CLEVELAND, OH -- The Marble Institute of America (MIA) has launched its free 2013 Fabricator Benchmarking Survey, the fifth such survey conducted by the MIA. The 2013 study commences in early November and was made possible by a grant received from Cosentino USA.

Free 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.

Several benefits are available to fabricators who participate:

• Fabricators can answer several simple questions and get 30+ facts about their fabrication business and competitors
• The survey is free and confidential (no individual company responses are shared/sold)
• Fabricators can leverage this data when working with their bank and creditors
• Using this information, shop owners can find out how they compare against other fabricators

Data are to be collected in the survey includes:

• Information on the size of the industry
• Import/export data for natural stone and man-made quartz materials
• Housing permits issued by region of the country
• Material usage (natural stone, glass, quartz, etc)

This information will help:

• Identify trends in natural versus manmade quartz materials
• Assist lobbying efforts conducted by the industry and its members
• Regionalize data points rather than just relying on national numbers
• Offer a better picture of the U.S. market
• Offer suppliers to the trade a better picture of fabricator performance

"The survey questions are straightforward," explained 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."