NFDA Unveils iLumen Benchmarking Program
NFDA Unveils iLumen Benchmarking Program
John Wolz
The National Fastener Distributors Association unveiled an online financial analysis and benchmarking service for receivables, inventory turns and other company comparisons.
More than 20 members signed up during the NFDA autumn meeting for the service provided by Atlanta-based iLumen. Financial analysis will begin in January 2008. Non-financial and quality benchmarking will be rolled out in June 2008 and a compensation comparison in January 2009.
Benchmarking can be by geography, product codes, peer groups and other categories. “Labor rates on the West Coast can be different from the Southeast,” iLumen senior vice president Mark Miles explained.
The program is for both distributors and manufacturers.
“We focus on the drivers of your business with metrics relevant to your industry,” Miles told FastenerNews.com.
Financial dashboards specific to NFDA members will be developed. A Midwest automotive fastener distributor can seek comparative benchmarking as long as there are enough other participants to protect anonymity, Miles explained.
iLumen already measures 15 major industries, from manufacturing to construction and health care. More than 15,000 private companies participate.
Participating distributors and manufacturers can share the information with bankers or potential investors. The system can notify key people in a company if results “are outside” industry trends.
All company information is submitted anonymously and there will be continuously updated information.
iLumen was founded in 2000 by an accounting firm executive who noticed auditing partners received information from clients but comparisons weren’t getting back to client CPAs, director Stephen Culp explained.
For NFDA information contact executive vice president John Hausoul. Tel: 312 527-6671 Fax 312 673-6740 E-mail: nfda@nfda-fastener.org Web: nfda-fastener.org
iLumnen is located at 1375 Spring St., Atlanta, GA 30309. Tel: 404 446-1609 Fax 404 446-1635 Web: iLumen.com
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