Frequently asked questions

The Factory Excellence Index (FEI) is a free assessment of how a manufacturing plant is managed day to day. Thirty questions cover six pillars: performance visibility; daily management and shift routines; loss and downtime problem-solving; the improvement engine; people and frontline ownership; and data and connectivity foundations. Each plant gets a score from 0 to 1000, a level from 1 to 5 and a report listing its three biggest gaps. Plants at Level 3 or above can go further and request verification.

No. It measures management practice: how losses are captured, how meetings and escalation run, how problems are solved and whether improvements last. OEE is a result of that practice, not the practice itself. The profile asks for an OEE band, in ranges only, and it plays no part in the score. For OEE benchmarks, see oee-benchmark.org; for guides to monitoring, see factorymetrics.org.

Any manufacturing plant, in any sector and of any size, whether it runs on a monitoring system, on spreadsheets or on paper. The questions are written for plant managers, operations directors, continuous improvement leads and production managers, but anyone who knows the shop floor well can answer them. Each question describes practice you can observe on the floor, so the answers do not depend on company vocabulary.

No. The assessment, the report and verification are free, and taking part requires no purchase of any product or service. The Index is open to plants using any system, or none. It is run by TEEPTRAK SAS, a company that sells production-monitoring software. We disclose that on every page, and the about page explains how judging is kept separate from sales.

Between 12 and 15 minutes for 30 questions, five per pillar. Each question has five anchored answers describing observable practice, from the most basic to the most advanced. Answer for your bottleneck line on a normal week, not your best one, and choose the answer that describes what happens today rather than what a procedure says should happen. You can start the assessment now.

One person can complete it. The answers are more reliable when two or three people who see the floor every day agree them together, for example the plant manager with a production manager and a team leader. A disagreement over an answer is useful information in itself. If you cannot settle it, pick the lower answer; verification would test it against evidence anyway.

Each answer counts from 1 to 5. The FEI score is (average answer − 1) ÷ 4 × 1000, which gives a number from 0 to 1000. Each pillar gets its own 0–1000 index, calculated the same way from its five questions. The score maps to five levels: 0–199 Reactive, 200–399 Aware, 400–599 Structured, 600–799 Proactive and 800–1000 Excellent. The methodology and levels pages give the detail.

Your overall level cannot be more than one level above your weakest pillar's level. A plant with an overall score of 650, which falls in the Level 4 range, but with its data pillar at Level 2 is shown at Level 3. The rule exists because a strong average can hide one pillar weak enough to hold back the others. The report shows every pillar index, so you can see which one sets the limit.

The report appears as soon as you finish and can be printed. It gives your score, your level, a radar chart of the six pillars, each pillar index, a profile pattern and your three biggest gaps, each with a specific 90-day move. The profile pattern names a recognisable shape, such as 'Strong routines, blind data' or 'Firefighting', and suggests where to start.

Beyond the 30 answers, a short profile: sector, headcount band, number of lines, shift pattern, your role, and bands for OEE and first-pass yield, where 'we don't measure it' and 'I don't know' are valid answers. Ratios are collected only as ranges. The assessment never asks for production volumes or capacities. How any personal data is handled is set out in the privacy notice.

No. Benchmarks are aggregated and no plant can be identified. A cohort comparison, by region, sector and plant size, is shown only once that cohort holds at least 5 plants from at least 3 different companies, so that no figure can be traced back to one company. Only ranges are collected for ratios, never volumes or capacities.

Because your cohort has not yet reached the threshold of at least 5 plants from at least 3 different companies in the same region, sector and size band. Until it does, the report says so plainly rather than comparing you with a sample too small to mean anything. Your score, level, pillar indices and 90-day moves do not depend on the cohort and are complete from the start.

No. Self-assessment results are not published, and benchmarks never show an individual plant. The only public list is the register, which shows plants that have been verified and have consented to appear in it. A verified plant that does not give its consent is not listed.

An optional, free check of your self-assessment. The plant uploads evidence, for example a photo of the line board, a loss Pareto, an action log or a skills matrix, and then holds a 45-minute video interview with two jurors. Verified status is dated and valid for 12 months, and verified plants can appear in the public register if they consent. The verification page sets out the steps.

Plants at Level 3, 4 or 5. Level 1 and Level 2 plants are not eligible for recognition; they receive the full report and its 90-day moves, and can request verification once an assessment places them at Level 3 or above. The weakest-pillar rule applies, so the level that counts is the one shown in your report, not the range your raw score falls in.

Evidence that your routines run, taken from normal work rather than produced for the occasion: a dated photo of a line board, a recent loss Pareto, an action log showing opened and closed items, a skills matrix. The interview is where jurors check how each item is used, so choose items your team leaders can explain. The detailed evidence requirements will be published on the rules page.

Verified status is dated and valid for 12 months from that date. A plant that wants to keep its verified status beyond that point needs to be verified again. The renewal process and its timing will be published on the rules page. The self-assessment and its report remain available to the plant whether or not it is verified.

Twice a year, in each regional league, the league jury reviews verified plants and grants Factory Excellence Recognition at Level 3, Level 4 or Level 5. Only verified plants are considered, and the self-assessment on its own does not lead to recognition. The jury also grants two distinctions. The recognition page describes the cycle.

Most Improved is for plants with two verified assessments at least six months apart, and looks at the progress between them. Frontline Team recognises a team within a plant rather than the plant as a whole; it works through team nominations, which open in Q2 2027. Both are granted by the league jury in the same cycles as Factory Excellence Recognition.

Five regional leagues: France and Western Europe; Americas; Central and Eastern Europe; Greater China; and India, Middle East and Türkiye. Each league has its own jury, which reviews verified plants twice a year. The assessment and the report are available to plants in every league now, whether or not recognition has opened there.

The first cycle runs in two leagues, France and Western Europe, and Americas, with a cut-off of 31 March 2027. Plants in those leagues that want to be considered in the first cycle should plan their verification with that date in mind. What must be complete by the cut-off, and the dates of later cycles, will be published on the rules page.

Yes. Plants in Central and Eastern Europe, Greater China, and India, Middle East and Türkiye can take the assessment and receive the full report now. Recognition opens in each of these leagues once its jury is in place. Taking the assessment now gives you a baseline and a 90-day plan to work on in the meantime.

TEEPTRAK SAS, a company based in Paris, France, that sells production-monitoring software. We disclose this on every page of the site. Taking part requires no purchase, the assessment is open to plants using any system or none, and no question asks which software you use. More on the about page.

Jurors are independent practitioners, such as former plant directors, academics and members of industry associations. No TEEPTRAK employee sits on a jury, and sales staff never take part in judging. Jurors declare conflicts of interest and recuse themselves where one exists. Juror names are published only once they have signed the jury charter, which has not yet happened. The jury page sets out the arrangements.

No. The questions describe practices, and each can be met with paper, spreadsheets or any system. Some higher answers describe automatic capture, for example stops detected from a machine signal, but the model scores whether the practice exists, not which product delivers it. No question asks which vendor you use, and the pillar pages show exactly what each answer requires.