Manufacturing Survey

NAME OF ORGANISATION
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

OVERVIEW
The Manufacturing Survey/Census is an annual collection which collects information about the operation and financial performance of all businesses which earn the majority of their income from trading in goods which they produce. Manufacturing publishes annually detailed income and expenditure data at industry class level for Australia together with key variables (employment, wages and salaries, sales and service income (formerly turnover) and Industry Value Added (IVA) (formerly Industry Gross Product (IGP)) for states and territories at industry subdivision level. Similar data are published for states and territories at industry class level (as available due to confidentiality constraints) in the (now) quinquennial census years (of which the most recent is the 2001-02 collection). Value of sales of commodities is also produced, at the Australian level, from the Manufacturing Survey/Census.

PURPOSE
The Manufacturing Survey/Census provides key measures of the performance of the Australian manufacturing industry. Data are used by analysts in both the private and public sector. In addition to the key measures which indicate the general health of the manufacturing sector, the survey also provides a great deal of detailed data for use by public and private sector users (detailed data items about business performance, individual manufactured commodities, fine-level industry and geographical classifications) and also a great deal of data for use by various ABS users - principally National Accounts Branch but also Prices and Labour areas.

SCOPE
Scope is all manufacturing business units operating within Australian with an active Australian Business Number. Non-employing businesses were added to the scope of the collection commencing with the 2001-02 reference year.

Coverage for a reference year is all manufacturing business units in operation at 30 June of that year, plus significant manufacturers which operated during the financial year but which had ceased operations prior to 30 June.

DATA DETAIL

Conceptual framework
Standard ABS integrated economic statistics framework. Prior to the 2000-01 reference year, statistical units were the Establishment and the Management Unit. For the 2000-01 reference year, the statistical unit was only the Management Unit . From the 2001-02 reference year, the Management Unit has been replaced/renamed with Australian Business Number (ABN)/Type of Activity (TAU) units. A number of other substantial changes have also been introduced with the 2001-02 collection. The scope of the collection has been expanded to include non-employers, substantial use is also now being made of business income tax (BIT) data to supplement directly collected data, and the basis for industry coding has changed.

Main outputs
Data relating to Manufacturing Establishments (only available until 1999-2000 reference year)

• Statistics of employment, wages and salaries, turnover and Industry Gross Product/Industry Value Added for Australia and states by Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) class; data for territories at ANZSIC subdivision level in sample years.
• Estimates of components of income and expenses and capital expenditure by ANZSIC Group for Australia. National estimates by ANZSIC Class can be produced, but would generally be subject to high sampling errors.
  

• Statistics of employment, wages and salaries, sales and service income and Industry Value Added (IVA) for Australia by ANZSIC class (available all years from 2000-01 but by ANZSIC subdivision only for years up to 1999-2000); data for states and territories at ANZSIC subdivision level available in sample years. In census years, the latest being 2001-02 reference year, state and territory data are available by ANZSIC class and sub-state data (at SLA) are available by ANZSIC subdivision level.
• Financial data, ie profit and loss and balance sheet items, by ANZSIC class for Australia and ANZSIC subdivision for state level estimates, although not published, are available.
• Up to 1999-2000 reference year, Management Unit was available but not published as the main output was Establishment data. From 2000-01 reference year, data are only available at Management Unit level.
• From the 1994-95 reference year, manufacturing data also became an input into the Annual Economy Wide Survey published in Business Operations and Industry Performance Australia (ABS catalogue no. 8140.0)

Classifications
The Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) is used for industry classification. Scope of the survey is all units in ANZSIC Division C (Manufacturing). From the 2001-02 reference year, the scope has been increased to include non employing units.

Structural data items are as per standard Economic Activity Survey (EAS) definitions.

Commodity data items are as per the Manufacturing Input-Output Commodity Classification (MIOCC), which is an aggregation of Australian and New Zealand Standard Commodity Classification (ANZSCC) items.

Other concepts (summary)
Not Applicable

GEOGRAPHIC DETAIL
Australia
New South Wales
Victoria
Queensland
South Australia
Western Australia
Tasmania
Northern Territory
ACT
Statistical Division
Statistical Subdivision
Statistical Local Area

Comments and/or Other Regions
Statistical Division, Statistical Subdivision and Statistical Local Area are only relevant in census years.

COLLECTION FREQUENCY
Annually

Frequency comments
Up to and including the 1991-92 reference year, the collection was conducted as a census. Since then, censuses have been conducted for the following reference years: 1993-94, 1996-97, 2001-02 and the 2006-07 reference year. In the intervening years, the collection was conducted as a sample survey. From 2007-08 and onwards the manufacturing collection has been rolled into the Economic Activity Survey and will not be conducted separately.

COLLECTION HISTORY
Below is a summary of the main changes in chronological order from 1968-69:

1968-69: Manufacturing Census is one of the original integrated economic collections adopting standard units rules and the 1969 version of the Australian Standard Industry Classification (ASIC).

1970-71: No Manufacturing Census was conducted.

1974-75: First census subject to size cut offs for single establishment enterprises with fewer than four persons employed. Only a limited range of data is collected (ie employment and wages and salaries). For all other units, no change in data requirements.

1977-78: From 1977-78, the classification of census units to industry is based on the 1978 edition of the ASIC.

1978-79: Introduction of tailored commodity forms

1979-80: Improved coverage as a result of information from the Retail and Selected Services Census.

1981-82: Improved coverage as a result of information from Wholesale Trade Survey and access to Tax Stamp Book Applications.

1983-84: From 1983-84, the classification of census units to industry is based on the 1983 edition of ASIC. For manufacturing, this version was virtually identical to the 1978 version.

1985-86: Due to Commonwealth Budget considerations for 1986-87, it was decided not to proceed with the 1985-86 Manufacturing Census.

1986-87: A sample component was introduced for single establishment enterprises with from four to nineteen persons employed, other than those located in Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.

For those establishments selected in the sample, for multi-establishment enterprises and for single establishment enterprises with more than nineteen persons employed, the full range of census detail was collected. For those single establishment enterprises employing from four to nineteen persons which were not selected in the sample (of which there are approximately 10,000), details relating to employment at 30 June 1987, wages and salaries, turnover, quantities and values of commodities produced were sought.

Single establishment enterprises employing fewer than four persons were asked to supply turnover figures in addition to employment and wages data.

1987-88: First small scale census, which collected from single establishments employing fewer than four persons: employment (males/females), gross wages and salaries paid, sales and other income.

Other establishments: employment (males/females, and working proprietors, employees), wages and salaries paid, turnover (dissected income from manufacturing of goods/income from provision of services).

Data were sought for each in-scope enterprise, establishment and ancillary unit. The purpose of seeking enterprise data for multi-establishment enterprises is to ensure the integrity of establishment and ancillary unit data.

1988-89: All manufacturers other than those employing fewer than four persons also received a tick box commodity form on which they were asked to indicate the commodities they produce. This variation to the triennial strategy was necessary to advise manufacturers of a new commodity classification and to further test data availability for the 1989-90 Census.

Data for separately located administrative offices and ancillary units which maintain separate accounting records were no longer included in manufacturing establishment statistics.

Single establishment manufacturing enterprises not employing staff were excluded from the collection.

Scope of collection changed to exclude non employing businesses.

New units rules (ie Management Unit) were progressively implemented. One implication was that ancillary units ceased to exist as such and became establishments or management units in their own right.

1989-90: Single establishments employing fewer than four persons asked to provide only employment (males/females), gross wages and salaries paid, sales and other income.

A sample component was introduced for single establishment enterprises with from four to nineteen persons employed, other than those located in Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. Also, businesses employing fewer than 20 persons were exempted from providing data for materials used and commodities produced.

For (a) those establishments employing 4 to 19 persons which were selected in the sample, (b) multi-establishment enterprises and (c) single establishment enterprises with more than nineteen persons employed, the full range of census detail was collected. For those single establishment enterprises employing from four to nineteen persons which were not selected in the sample (of which there are approximately 10,000), details relating to employment at 30 June 1990 wages and salaries, turnover, quantities and values of commodities produced were sought.

Due to change in accounting practices, a number of business changed to reporting gross value of production. This mainly affected data for the petroleum refining industry.

1990-91: The 1990-91 Manufacturing Census and Economic Activity Survey forms were being used as a test vehicle for the regular inclusion of add-on questions in future short form manufacturing collections. As the environment and greenhouse effects were very topical, questions relating to environmental protection issues were selected as the add-on topic for the 1990-91 Manufacturing Census. Additional data relating to the Textile, Clothing and Footwear industries were conducted as part of the 1990-91 Manufacturing Census.

1991-92: Different treatment for businesses employing fewer than 4 persons was abandoned.

1992-93: Prior to the 1992-93 collection, the ABS operated on a full/short/short census strategy for the manufacturing sector. The 1992-93 collection was the first ever to be run as a number raised sample survey. The 1992-93 collection saw the first use of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), which replaced the ASIC (and with unit records re-coded on an ANZSIC basis back to the 1989-90 reference year).

1993-94: The 1993-94 collection was conducted as a core data census. Quantities and values of commodities produced was sought from a sample of the establishments.

1994-95: The 1994-95 collection consisted of a sample of approximately 22,000 management units and their establishments to collect core data. Detailed questions on income and expenses together with value of commodities sold was asked from a subsample of the core sampled units (approximately 7,500 management units and their establishments). Because of variability in the concept, numbers of Establishments ceased to be published from the collection.

1995-96: The collection was basically a repeat of the 1994-95 collection. The main change was the collection of details of Rent, leasing and hiring expenses and Other operating expenses and details of raw materials, components etc were not asked as part of the main collection, these were collected from a subsample via a supplementary form.

1996-97: A core data census of approximately 64,000 establishments (including a supplementary despatch to Register leakage units). Detailed income and expense data, together with value of commodities sold, were asked from a subsample of the core sampled units (approximately 7,500 management units and their establishments). New questions related to locations from which the business operated, computer software capitalised, a dissection of government funding received, and sponsorship arrangements.

1997-98: A core data sample of approximately 19,000 establishments. Detailed income and expense data, together with value of commodities sold, are being asked from a subsample of the core sampled units (approximately 7,500 management units and their establishments). Questions that were new for the 1996-97 cycle were not repeated.

1998-99: A core data sample of approximately 17,000 establishments. Detailed income and expense data, together with value of commodities sold, are being asked from a subsample of the core sampled units (approximately 7,000 Management Units and their Establishments). New questions relate to delivery charges, freight and cartage expenses, and some balance sheet items.

1999-2000: A repeat of the 1998-99 collection, with one new data item (payments to employment agencies for staff - in Labour costs section)

2000-01: The business unit now being approached is the Management Unit only. Detailed income and expense data, together with value of commodities sold are being asked from a sample of approximately 9,000 Management Units. Data are available at the industry class level for Australia, while data for the states/territories are only available down to the industry subdivision level. Sales and service income replaces turnover as a key output variable.

2001-02: A two population model has now been introduced by the ABS, with units eligible for selection in surveys from only the one population source. Significant complex units (together with certain categories of units eg all government units) are held on the ABS maintained population (ABSMP) list with the balance (the vast majority in numerical terms) on the Australian Taxation Office maintained population list (ATOMP) obtained from the Australian Business Register (ABR), maintained by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Both population sources are now used to select the business population; non-employing units are also now included. The business unit being approached has been aligned to ABR units, which are Australian Business Number (ABN) units for the ATO source, or Type of Activity Unit (TAU) units where the statistical unit comes from the ABS source. The 2001-02 cycle is a census, with about 9,000 units supplying detailed income and expense data, together with the value of commodities sold. A further 6,500 units supply basic data, with the balance of data for non surveyed units (about 133,000), obtained from ATO administrative sources. Data for 2001-02 will be available at the industry class level for Australia and states/territories (subject to confidentiality constraints) and at industry subdivision level at the sub-state level.

DATA AVAILABILITY
Yes