Technology use surveys catalog the current manufacturing practices of firms in a program's service area. These surveys ask about adoption of various technologies and production system techniques. The results may then be compared to previous surveys or national benchmarks. Program administrators may infer needs by examining the difference between potential client firms' technology use and benchmarks.

Technology use surveys can help build a case for establishing an assistance program by showing that rates of technological adoption among firms in the service area fall below national benchmarks such as the U.S. Department of Commerce, Current Industrial Reports: Manufacturing Technology. These surveys thus yield important information for funding proposals.

Technology use surveys can also indicate the types of services and delivery mechanisms for which manufacturers with various characteristics are ready. For example, programs finding that their manufacturing base does not have a high rate of technology adoption may have to begin with nontechnological process improvements followed by off-the-shelf, generic technologies. Subsequent survey efforts can then determine whether the technology adoption rate has increased with service provision.

West Virginia University researchers conducted surveys of technology use in 1989 and 1993. The purpose of the 1989 survey was to help make the case for establishing an industrial extension service; such a service was instituted in 1991. The 1993 survey was conducted to examine the use and effect of the extension service on technology adoption as well as to update the 1989 survey. For both surveys, the questionnaires included items about:

• use of hardware-based manufacturing technologies
  
• use of production system techniques
  
• future plans for technology use and obstacles inhibiting investment in new technologies
  
• sources of information and assistance
  
• research and development and training programs
  
• workforce educational gaps
  
• plant managers' perceptions of their technological capabilities
  
• type of technology support needed
  
• manufacturer characteristics
  

By comparing 1989 survey data with Census data, the researchers found that manufacturers in the state lagged behind the rest of the nation and other industrialized nations in their adoption of technology and advanced production practices. Results from the 1993 survey suggested that manufacturers had gradually improved their overall technological capabilities-a conclusion based in part on findings for a segment of firms that had participated in the previous survey. Researchers suggested that the program might emphasize assistance in such "soft technology" areas as organization, marketing and shop-floor troubleshooting rather than the purchase of high-tech equipment.

Technology use surveys provide management information directly related to program goals about increased adoption of new technologies. They suggest which services clients will be most ready to use, and can indicate whether companies are better off, from a technology-adoption perspective, as a result of being served by the program.

1. Technology use surveys share the weaknesses of needs surveys.
2. In designing technology use surveys, some questions are likely to be irrelevant to certain industry sectors. For example, asking about the use of statistical sampling for quality assurance makes sense for high-volume shops but not for small-volume custom shops. Similarly, moldmakers don't do tryout molding or extrusion, but diemakers do. Moldmakers use experiments to optimize resins; machine shops do not in specifying steels. Some programs address this problem by conducting surveys tailored to a dominant industry sector.
3. Due to the lack of up-to-date technological benchmarks across industries, inferences about firm needs based on current technology usage are subjective.

About the case example:

1. Rephann, Terance, and Philip Shapira. "1993 Survey of Technology Use in West Virginia Manufacturing: Preliminary Report." Report prepared for the Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown. 1993.

   Terance Rephann
   Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University
   Morgantown, WV 26506-6825
   304-293-3800

Sample instrument:

2. U.S. Bureau of the Census. Current Industrial Reports: Manufacturing Technology: 1988. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1989. For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office (paper); and Bureau of the Census, Data User Services Division (disk).

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