Methodology

IndustryWeek partnered with Mergent Inc. to produce the 2003 IW 1000, the eighth annual ranking of the world's largest publicly held manufacturing companies. Located in New York and Charlotte, N.C., Mergent acquired the Financial Information Services division of Moody's Investors Service in 1998. The organization has been collecting and delivering financial information since 1900. Mergent's global data-bases were used to identify all publicly held manufacturing firms meeting IndustryWeek's industry criteria. The actual cutoff for inclusion on the 2003 IW1000 list was just over $1.6 billion in revenues. Mergent obtained the latest financial information on these companies. This process was supplemented with substantial additional research. Erik L. Fine, a Charlotte, N.C.-based information consultant, managed the data project. The manufacturing companies in the IW 1000 included: companies with a majority of their business in a manufacturing industry; companies that generated less than 50% of revenues from manufacturing, but more revenue from manufacturing than the lowest-revenue-producing companies on this year's list; computer software companies whose primary business is the manufacture of software programs; oil and gas companies that derive at least 50% of their revenues from the refining of oil and gas products; and companies that derive at least 50% of their revenues from the manufacture of mined materials. Because all publicly held manufacturing companies were eligible, a number of subsidiaries and associate companies that are publicly traded separately from their parent company made the list along with the parent. Mergent collected the financial data elements directly from reports distributed by the corporations in their native currencies as reported in their home countries according to national accounting standards. To more accurately reflect the companies' core business, only revenue numbers from continuing operations were used. Currency valuations in U.S. dollars were made using exchange rates as of Dec. 31, 2002. Where 2002 data are not available, 2001 data are provided. An asterisk next to the company name on the IW 1000 list indicates that 2001 data are used. Where 2001 figures are given, revenue growth is for 2000-2001. An "NA" appears where data were not available. A final word of caution: Accounting standards and terminology vary from country to country. Direct comparison of figures, even when terms appear to be the same, may be misleading.