SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY

The Catalina Report on Builders' and Cabinet Hardware is a guide to the growth- and profit-oriented opportunities in this industry.  This comprehensive database covers U.S. shipments, imports, exports, end-use market purchases, factors affecting demand, the cost structure of domestic plants, the Canadian market situation, and the competitive environment.  In addition, manufacturers and marketers are profiled in order to review competitor strategies.

Overall industry trends are analyzed in the Executive Summary Section (Section 1).  U.S. market sales are calculated from U.S. Department of Commerce statistics by collecting data on domestic plant shipments, adding imports, and subtracting exports.  Price trends are also evaluated from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index.  Catalina provides a comparative analysis of this industry's various product sectors in order to pinpoint the important and growing sectors.

A similar analysis is conducted for each of the industry's major product sectors - Locks, Other Door and Builders' Hardware, and Cabinet and Furniture Hardware (Sections 2, 3, and 4).  Each section provides further segmentation by product line.  The shipment data is for all domestic manufacturers, whether plants are owned by U.S.- or foreign-based companies and whether or not plants specialize (50% or more of total facility revenues) in one of the above market sectors.  Import data is derived from U.S. Custom records by product and major countries of origin.  Catalina computed imports' share of total market sales in order to evaluate the competitive position of foreign manufacturers.  A similar analysis is provided for Plastic Hardware products and Automatic Door Openers (Sections 5 and 8).  Each market sector section also includes U.S. export shipments by product.  Export shipments are compiled from the Department of Commerce and includes data on major countries of destination.  Canadian shipments, imports, and exports are analyzed from Statistics Canada data (Section 11).

Market sales are also segmented by end-use market.  Section 6 analyzes new and remodeling residential construction markets, new and remodeling nonresidential markets, do-it-yourself (D-I-Y) and buy-it-yourself (B-I-Y) markets, manufactured housing markets, and door and window manufacturer markets.  Catalina also analyzes metal hardware purchases by furniture, fixture, and cabinet plants (Section 9).  These data trends were supplemented with an investigation of the factors affecting domestic demand.  Catalina analyzed spending on new building construction, housing resales and starts, new housing characteristics, homeowner remodeling spending, personal income and mortgage interest rates, and household demographics to uncover the key determinants of demand.

In addition, Catalina Research also supplies data on the cost structure and profitability of U.S. plants specializing (50% or more of total plant revenues) in the manufacture and sale of builders' and cabinet hardware (Section 10).  U.S. Department of Commerce data covering these plants are supplemented with individual company sales data in order to calculate company market share.  Company sales statistics are compiled as part of an exhaustive effort to provide competitor intelligence (Section 12).  Annual reports, databases, and trade journals were searched for growth- and profit-oriented strategies.

Action-oriented executives are urged to use this comprehensive statistical database and competitive information to develop new products, expand foreign market sales, and initiate profitable operating strategies.  Executives are urged to compute your own company's market share and compare your company's operating ratios to the industry averages as part of this process.