Typical performance measures in Supply Chain favor Consumer Goods companies. For example, each year, AMR Research ranks large corporations and creates a "Top 25" based on a combination of financial accounting metrics along with expert input and opinion. However, the "Top 25" excludes certain industries from their rankings (Telecom, Construction, Energy, Banking, and Utilities). The best reason a typical reader would surmise could be based on the sheer difficulty in measuring supply chain contributions in these industries. For many companies in service industries, the eventual product is an outcome from a successful, yet capital-intensive, project. Leaving out certain industries can be unquestionably disappointing to Supply Chain Managers who slug it out every day in the trenches of these asset intense companies.

The ability for supply chain managers to extend their reach beyond procurement in service companies can be a challenge. Timing and logistics decisions often remain with field Project Managers who see materials as a secondary function to managing the various trades it may take to drill a well, assemble a cell tower, or add power generation capacity. In other words, "don't run out".

Chainnovations believes that by improving the ability to measure supply chain contribution in asset based industries, supply chain expanse and overall company contribution can be improved.

Enter CIP/Q™:

For a majority of businesses, fixed assets are a key component of delivering products and services. Construction-in-Progress (CIP) is used to accumulate the costs associated with building or improving fixed assets and is reported on a company's balance sheet. This includes costs to design, procure, build, and place into service (i.e. plan, source, make, deliver). With CIP, the supply chain plays a critical role in ensuring prompt timing of non-deployed capital.

Chainnovations developed the Construction in Progress Quotient (CIP/Q™) as a Patent Pending measure of supply chain effectiveness in service companies. The CIP/Q™ is heavily influenced by supply chain managers and their efforts to plan, source and deliver assets in an effective and timely manner.  The CIP/Q™ is calculated for companies and yields medians that are in line with expectations for each industry; thus, identifying potential supply chain issues for companies within an industry.