If you are like most people, you probably do not pay much attention to the shelves in a grocery store except to take the food off of them. The aluminum parts that make up the shelves are part of a product family known as aluminum extrusions. Many aluminum extrusions are manufactured by a company in Clearfield, Utah, called Futura Industries. Futura Industries began in the 1930s producing a product called colfonite. During the late 1940s, it started producing aluminum extrusions. By 1979, the Seattle, Washington-based company had moved its entire company to Clearfield, Utah. Futura’s current president, Sherrie Hayashi, has chosen to pursue her company’s mission (Extraordinary Value through Extrusions) by careful alignment of the company’s measures and tactics. She and the rest of the management staff at Futura have developed a very interesting Balanced Scorecard that has proven to be very successful in helping the company to grow. Strategy of Futura:

Futura strives to insure financial growth and prosperity by developing customer intimacy, providing flawless new products, and identifying new opportunities in products and processes. In addition, it emphasizes speed and quality in operations, planning and delivery accuracy, and continual reduction of costs. Futura is also focused on working to improve its competencies, providing a safe, challenging, and enjoyable workforce, and hiring people who have its same values. The following is an alphabetical list of Futura’s Balanced Scorecard measures along with a definition of each measure:

Balanced Scorecard Measure………..Definition

Accuracy of price quotes ………………Number of correct price quotes ÷ Total price quotes issued

Average job certification levels ………..Total sum of job certification levels ÷ Total employees

Birthday review ………………………..Score based on yearly review on date of employee’s birthday

Cash return on total assets ……………..Cash flow ÷ Total assets

Cost of plant scrap ……………………..Dollar value of scrapped material

Cost of rework …………………………Dollar value of rework before sale

Customer complaints …………………...Number of complaints ÷ Total number of customers

Customer satisfaction …………………..Periodic customer surveys

Dollar value of products 

packaged  per person …………………Total dollar value of product packed ÷ Number of employees working

Employees with one year or more

turnover ratio ……………………………Number of employees employed for one year or more ÷ Total number of employees

Income growth ………………………….(Current year’s income – Previous year’s income) ÷ Previous year’s income

Leadership survey ……………………….Yearly survey score of employees

Leadership turnover ……………………..Number of new employees in leadership positions ÷ Total number of employees in leadership positions

Margins on new products and 

standard products ………………………..Gross profit margin on new products and on standard products

On-time deliveries …………………………Number of on-time deliveries ÷ Total deliveries

Percent of market in commercial retailing …Number of commercial retail customers ÷ Total number of customers

Percent of market in original equipment

manufacturers (OEM) ……………………..Number of OEM customers ÷ Total number of OEM customers

Percent of sales from new products …………Sales revenue from new products ÷ Total sales revenue

Pounds of products packaged per person …....Number of pounds packed ÷ Number of employees 

working

Product returns ……………………………….Number of items returned

Total company employee turnover …………..Number of new employees ÷ Total number of employees

Total finished goods turnover ……………….Total cost of finished goods sold during year ÷ Average finished goods inventory

Total inventory turnover …………………..Total cost of goods sold during the year ÷ Average inventory

Total production cost per direct labor hour …..Total cost of production ÷ Total direct labor hours

Classify Futura’s Balanced Scorecard measures into the four Balanced Scorecard categories: financial measures, customer measures, internal process measures, and learning and growth measures. Use Futura’s strategy to help you determine how to classify each measure.