This comprehensive Pursuit of Performance Excellence report was published in February, 2012 as the primary results of the previous MESA ‘Metrics That Matter’ research project. The associated research was conducted and created by the MESA organization and Cambashi Inc., and, with their permission this report is being provided to the 2013-2014 'Metrics That Matter' survey participants as an interim deliverable, until the new report is issued by MESA and LNS Research in early 2014.

The research covers signifcant improvements in manufacturing financial performance that are the result of multi-faceted efforts. This report focuses on the role of plant performance metrics programs, improvements, and IT applications. Based on a survey of manufacturers and producers, the results illustrate approaches, business processes, and software technologies used – and which ones correlate to dramatic business performance improvement. The strategies and actions of top performing, business movers are compared to their peer manufacturing industry groups.