For any business, gaining a competitive advantage and sustaining long-term success starts with quantifiable data measures and metrics that reveal critical trends. At MPI Group, our proven research enables clients to not only benchmark their organizations versus peers and competitors, but to also discover the strategies, tactics and investments ideal for their industries unleashing productivity and profitability. MPI Group collaborates with each client, determining the organizations overarching objectives and customizing a benchmark solution to plot the most effective course of action. In addition to customized benchmarks and the white papers we produce, MPI Group also conducts annual proprietary research projects on manufacturing best practices, including the Census of Manufacturers for the U.S., China, Mexico and Canada and the Census of Distribution. In fact, we maintain one of the largest databases on performance metrics in the world, and MPI has surveyed more manufacturers than any other research firm in the last five years. MPI Group also offers significant experience in the areas of strategic planning, research, and conference and keynote speaking. John Brandt John Brandt, CEO and founder of MPI Group, has devoted more than two decades to studying leadership in effective, purpose-driven organizations. An expert on how companies can adapt themselves to the realities of new markets, new corporate structures and new customer expectations, Brandt is an accomplished management innovator and an internationally recognized expert on manufacturing and technology. Before founding MPI Group in 2003, Brandt followed a unique career path combining two decades of experience in marketing, management and consulting with a passion for journalism that has earned him more than 20 awards for reporting, writing and editing. He was publisher and editor-in-chief of IndustryWeek ( IW ) magazine, which garnered more than 70 editorial awards for excellence and doubled its revenues under his leadership. While at IW, Brandt led the development of several pioneering research efforts, including the IW Value Chain Survey; the World-Class Communities Project; the IndustryWeek 1000; the Worlds Best Managed Companies Program; and the IW Census of Manufacturers, which was co-sponsored by MPI Group. He continues to write an award-winning column for the publication. Additionally, Brandt served as president, publisher and editorial director of the Chief Executive Group, publisher of Chief Executive, where his leadership transformed the magazine into one of publishings most surprising comebacks. A frequent lecturer around the globe on topics ranging from leadership and customer value to management best practices and building world-class communities, Brandts access to and relationships with leading executive teams gives him a unique perspective on how organizations can reinvent themselves through the application of proven management best practices. In both his speech presentations and advisory activities, Brandt combines these assets with his wit, research and insights to help organizations position themselves for long-term profitability. A recipient of the prestigious Neal Award in 1998, Brandt has also served as a Neal Awards judge. He has also served as a member of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership National Advisory Board; judge for the National Association of Manufacturers Awards for Workforce Excellence; co-chair of the Northeast Ohio Product Innovation Initiative; advisory board member of both SupplierInsight.com and Ken-Tool Manufacturing; director of the Work in Northeast Ohio Council; and president of The Press Club Of Cleveland. Brandt is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Case Western Reserve University, where he held the James Dysart Magee Economics Fellowship. George Taninecz As vice president of research for MPI Group, George Taninecz applies more than 20 years of experience in studying manufacturing and management to develop