The Marquette ISM Manufacturing Survey is shutting down due to months of declining participation from employers.
“We just had to say the trend is not good, and we can’t produce statistically valid results,” said Doug Fischer, director of Marquette’s Center for Supply Chain Management.
The survey of employers covered manufacturing in the Milwaukee area and northeastern Illinois, one of a handful of regional indices that are similar to the national survey from the Institute for Supply Management.
Fischer called it “a sign of the times.” Among the changes, Fischer said, were more publicly traded companies refusing to share internal information or managers who “didn’t have enough hours in the day” to participate in voluntary surveys.
“Perhaps in the absence of it, people will say, ‘That was a good index,’” Fischer said. “We’re more than willing to do so. I just need to make sure it’s statistically valid.”
— By Polo Rocha,
WisBusiness.com
