Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, 63151-63152 [2018-26537]

Agencies

• Census Bureau
• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 235 (Friday, December 7, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63151-63152]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-26537]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

 Census Bureau


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of 
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act.
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
    Title: Annual Survey of Manufactures.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0449.
    Form Number(s): MA-10000.
    Type of Request: Reinstatement, with change of an expired 
collection.
    Number of Respondents: 55,000.
    Average Hours per Response: 3.5 hours.
    Burden Hours: 192,500.
    Needs and Uses: The Census Bureau is requesting a reinstatement 
with changes of the expired collection for the Annual Survey of 
Manufactures (ASM). The Census Bureau has conducted the ASM since 1949 
to provide key measures of manufacturing activity during intercensal 
periods. In census years ending in ``2'' and ``7,'' we mail and collect 
the ASM as part of the Economic Census covering the Manufacturing 
Sector.
    The Census Bureau allowed the previous clearance to lapse since ASM 
inquiries for survey year 2017 (collected in 2018) are cleared as part 
of the 2017 Economic Census (0607-0998). The Census Bureau is 
requesting reinstatement to continue annual collection of the ASM for 
survey years 2018, 2019, and 2020.
    The ASM collects data on employment, payroll, hours, wages of 
production workers, value added by manufacture, cost of materials, 
value of shipments by North American Product Classification System 
(NAPCS) product code, inventories, cost of employer's fringe benefits, 
operating expenses, and expenditures for new and used plant and 
equipment. The Census Bureau tabulates and publishes data for most of 
these items by two-digit through six-digit North American Industry 
Classification System (NAICS) levels. The Census Bureau also publishes 
ASM data by state at the two-through four-digit NAICS levels.
    Federal agencies use ASM data as benchmarks for their statistical 
programs, including the Federal Reserve Board's Index of Industrial 
Production and the Bureau of Economic Analysis' (BEA) National Income 
and Product Accounts. The Department of Energy relies on ASM estimates 
on the use of energy during production in the manufacturing sector. 
These data also are used as benchmark data for the Manufacturing Energy 
Consumption Survey, which is conducted for the Department of Energy by 
the Census Bureau. Within the Census Bureau, the ASM data are used to 
benchmark and reconcile monthly and quarterly estimates of 
manufacturing production and inventories.
    The survey also provides valuable information to private companies, 
research organizations, and trade associations. Industry makes 
extensive use of the annual figures on NAPCS product shipments for 
market analysis, product planning, and investment planning. State 
development and planning agencies rely on ASM data for policymaking, 
planning, and administration.
    The Census Bureau plans to make the following changes to the ASM 
data collection:

a. Elimination of the MA-10000(S)

    The MA-10000(S) questionnaire will be eliminated. Historically, all 
locations of multiple-establishment firms and large single-
establishment firms in the sample were asked to report on the MA-
10000(L) questionnaire. The remaining

[[Page 63152]]

single-establishment firms in the sample were asked to report on the 
MA-10000(S). In 2014, approximately 3,000 out of 51,000 sampled 
establishments received the MA-10000(S). This change will impact less 
than 6% of respondents. The MA-10000(S) was an abbreviated version of 
the MA-10000(L), and collected significantly less detailed data. Data 
not collected on the MA-10000(S) were imputed. Imputation rates and 
estimates will improve by eliminating the MA-10000(S). The MA-10000(L) 
will be renamed MA-10000 and all ASM establishments will be required to 
complete the MA-10000.
    The 2018 ASM will include two paths. The multiple-establishment 
firms will receive a questionnaire path that includes spreadsheet 
functionality. Firms will be able to enter data for their locations in 
a form view or select the spreadsheet option. Respondents have the 
ability to download, export, and import their spreadsheets. Respondents 
will have the option to ``add locations'' if there are establishments 
not listed for their firm. The path for single-establishment firms does 
not include spreadsheet functionality, or the ability to ``add 
locations''. The multiple-establishment path includes instructions and 
a question related to interplant transfers; single-establishment firms 
do not have interplant transfers.

b. Elimination of Item 5B, Exports and Item 11, Inventories Outside the 
U.S.

    Item 5B, Exports and Item 11, Inventories Outside the U.S. are no 
longer needed by either the International Trade Administration (ITA) or 
the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The elimination of these items was not 
documented in the ASM pre-submission notice dated July 13, 2018, 
because the decision was made after the notice was published in the 
Federal Register. Eliminating collection of these items has no impact 
on data users since these data items were not published as part of the 
ASM. Historically, exports data was used to publish the Exports from 
Manufacturing report, funded by ITA. This report was published by the 
U.S. Census Bureau and sponsored by ITA. https://www.census.gov/manufacturing/exports/. The Exports from Manufacturing report was 
discontinued by ITA in 2012, due to lack of funding.

c. Addition of Item 17, Principal Business Activity

    Item 17, Principal Business Activity on the MA-10000 will ask the 
respondent to identify their principal kind of business or activity. 
The question will pre-list suggested six-digit NAICS codes and 
descriptions for each establishment. The respondent will have the 
option to select the pre-listed NAICS that describes their principal 
business activity or to ``write-in'' their principal business activity 
if the pre-listed NAICS does not apply. Adding this question will help 
the Census Bureau identify out-of-scope establishments that do not 
conduct manufacturing activities and establishments which are 
classified in an incorrect manufacturing industry.

d. Change in Item 22, Product Classification

    Previously, Item 22, Details of Sales Shipments Receipts or Revenue 
was collected on a NAICS basis. Beginning with the 2018 ASM, the 
collection of Item 22 will be based on the North American Product 
Classification System (NAPCS). NAPCS is a comprehensive demand-based 
hierarchical classification system for products that is not industry-
of-origin based, but can be linked to the NAICS industry structure, and 
is consistent across the three North American countries. The primary 
objective of this product classification change is to identify, define, 
and classify the outputs produced and transacted (sold, transferred, or 
placed in inventory) by the reporting units within each industry 
regardless of their designation (intermediate or final). https://www.census.gov/eos/www/napcs/.

e. Elimination of Item 22, Miscellaneous Receipts

    Due to the implementation of NAPCS, it is unnecessary to collect 
Miscellaneous Receipts. In previous ASM survey years, products were 
collected using only manufacturing sector NAICS codes. Non-
manufacturing sector products, produced by manufacturing establishments 
were classified as Miscellaneous Receipts, which included contract 
work, resales, and other. NAPCS is an economy-wide solution, which 
allows ASM respondents to classify out of sector products in valid 
NAPCS codes.

f. Addition of Item 28, Special Inquiry on Robotic Use

    Add a new Special Inquiry, Item 28 on basic robotic use in 
manufacturing to gauge the prevalence of robotics use in the 
manufacturing sector across different geographies and by firm size. 
Questions will be added to collect the number of industrial robots in 
operation, the number of industrial robots purchased, and the value of 
capital expenditures for robotic equipment.

g. Item 29, Burden Estimate

    Firms will be asked to provide an estimate of how long it took to 
complete the MA-10000 questionnaire. Responses to this question will be 
used to re-evaluate the burden hours we impose on respondents, given 
the various question additions, changes and deletions we are making. 
The Census Bureau will submit a nonsubstantive change request to revise 
the burden of this collection if analysis indicates a change. Efforts 
to analyze paradata to assess burden are currently being evaluated. ASM 
instrument paradata shows time logged-in and patterns of movement 
through the instrument, but not time spent reviewing instructions and 
gathering the necessary data. Nor does it provide an indication of idle 
time while the respondent is logged in. Paradata can help the Census 
Bureau calculate the time spent in the instrument but may not be a true 
reflection of respondent burden.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Sections 131 and 182.
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce 
collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to [email protected] or fax to (202)395-5806.

Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental Lead PRA Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer, 
Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2018-26537 Filed 12-6-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-07-P