HIGHLIGHTS OF CHANGES AND ENHANCEMENTS

The conversion of the M3 survey from the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)

system to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) will result in

many changes in the composition of the categories for which we collect and publish data.

In addition, we will take this opportunity to introduce other enhancements to the content

of our publications. Following are some of the highlights of these changes and

enhancements:

• The new M3 survey will reflect the fact that under NAICS some activities are

classified as manufacturing that were classified outside the manufacturing sector

under the old SIC. Examples of these activities are Retail Bakeries, Bottled Spring

Water, Custom Drapes, Custom Tailors, Tire Retreading, Software Reproduction,

Custom Wood Cabinets, and Dental Laboratories. For a more complete list of

incoming manufacturing activities, go to the Census Bureau NAICS site at

http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html and click on the option for correspondence

between the NAICS and SIC.

• The new M3 survey will reflect the fact that under NAICS some activities that were

previously classified as manufacturing under the old SIC are now assigned to sectors

outside manufacturing. Examples of these activities are Logging, Publishing, and

some Research and Development. For a more complete list of outgoing activities,

refer to the NAICS site listed in the previous bullet.

• The NAICS creates a new subsector, 334 (Computers and Electronic Products), that

brings together industries producing Electronic Products and their Components. The

manufacturing of Computers, Communications Equipment, and Semiconductors, for

example, are grouped in the same subsector because of the technological similarities

in their production processes. Under the SIC system, Computers was classified in

Major Group 35 (Industrial Machinery) while Communications Equipment and

Semiconductors were classified in Major Group 36 (Electronic and Other Electrical

Equipment).

• When we first issue NAICS-based press releases data (May 25, 2001), we will

modify their content. For the first time, we will publish inventories data on the

Advance Report on Durable Goods.

• The Advance Report on Durable Goods will provide more detail than before. Data

provided on the report will include Computers and Related Products,

Communications Equipment, Semiconductors, Motor Vehicles and Parts, and Aircraft

and Parts. All of these subcategories were previously not published until the

Preliminary Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders which is

usually released about a week after the advance report.
• The Preliminary Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders will

provide more detail for key industries than before. For example, instead of

publishing a single Motor Vehicles and Parts figure, we will publish separate data for

Automobiles, Light Trucks and Utility Vehicles, Heavy Duty Trucks, and Motor

Vehicle Bodies, Parts, and Trailers.

• Another example of more detailed data we will provide on the revised Preliminary

Report is in the Computer industry. Instead of publishing a single number for

Computers and Office Products, we will publish separate data for Electronic

Computers and Computer Storage Devices.

• On the revised Preliminary Report, we will publish separate data for Semiconductors

and Electronic Components. Previously Semiconductors was included in the

Electronic Components category.

• Some new aggregate series will be published in the Preliminary Report for the first

time and others will be discontinued, at least temporarily. The new aggregates will be

Consumer Durable Goods, Consumer Nondurable Goods, and their sum, Consumer

Goods. We will discontinue the publishing of the aggregates for Automotive

Equipment, Home Goods and Apparel, Consumer Staples, Machinery and

Equipment, Business Supplies, Other Materials, Supplies, and Intermediate Products,

Producers’ Durable Equipment, Household Durable Goods, and Health Care

Equipment and Products. Most of the discontinued series were originally created to

allow comparison with production data produced by the Federal Reserve Board. In

fact, we allocated data from our collected SIC category levels to the aggregated series

based on weights used in the Federal Reserve Board’s market categories. We will

consider reintroducing the discontinued aggregates after the production series is

converted to the NAICS.