U.S. Department of Commerce

Current Industrial Reports

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Definitions

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  • Capacity - The maximum quantity of a product that can be produced in a plant in 1 day if operating for 24 hours. Includes the capacity of idle plants until the plant is reported to be destroyed, dismantled, or abandoned.
  • Consumption - Materials used in producing or processing a product or otherwise removing the product from the inventory.
  • Exports - Includes all types of products shipped to foreign countries, or to agents or exporters for reshipment to foreign countries.
  • Gross shipments - The quantity or value of physical shipments from domestic establishments of all products sold, transferred to other establishments of the same company, or shipped on consignment, whether for domestic or export sale or use. Shipments of products purchased for resale are omitted. Shipments of products made under toll arrangements are included. Interplant transfers. Shipments to other domestic plants within a company for further assembly, fabrication, or manufacture.
  • Inventories - The quantity or value of finished goods, work in progress, and materials on hand.
  • Machinery in place - The number of machines of a particular type in place as of a particular date whether the machinery was used for production, prototype, or sampling, or was idle. Machinery in place includes all machinery set up in operating positions.
  • Net receipts - Derived by subtracting the materials held at the end of the previous month from the sum of materials used during the current month.
  • Production - The total volume of products produced, including: products sold; products transferred or added to inventory after adjustments for breakage, shrinkage, and obsolescence, plus any other inventory adjustment; and products that undergo further manufacture at the same establishment.
  • Quantities produced and consumed - Quantities of each type of product produced by a company for internal consumption within that same company.
  • Quantity and value of new orders - The sales value of orders received during the current reporting period for products and services to be delivered immediately or at some future date. Also represents the net sales value of contract change documents that increase or decrease the sales value of the orders to which they are related, when the parties concerned are in substantial agreement as to the amount involved. Included as orders are only those that are supported by binding legal documents such as signed contracts or letter contracts.
  • Quantity and value of shipments - The figures on quantity and value of shipments represent physical shipments of all products sold, transferred to other establishments of the same company, or shipped on consignment, whether for domestic or export sale. The value represents the net sales price, f.o.b. plant, to the customer or branch to which the products are shipped, net of discounts, allowances, freight charges, and returns. Shipments to a company's own branches are assigned the same value as comparable appropriate allocation of company overhead and profit. Products bought and resold without further manufacture are excluded.
  • Stocks - Total quantity of ending finished inventory.
  • Unfilled orders (backlog) - Calculated by adding net new orders and subtracting net sales from the backlog at the end of the preceding year.

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Source: U.S. Census Bureau | Current Industrial Reports | (301) 763-4673 |  Last Revised: July 12, 2012