NIST MEP Information Reporting Guidelines (Quarterly)

NIST MEP
Information Reporting
Guidelines

OMB Control No. 0693-0032

A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with an information collection subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 unless the information collection has a currently valid OMB Control Number. The approved OMB Control Number for this information collection is 0693-0032. Without this approval, we could not conduct this survey/information collection. Public reporting for this information collection is estimated to be approximately 20 hours for the Quarterly Review, 4 hours for the Semi-Annual Review, 30 hours for the Annual Review and 80 hours for the Panel Review, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the information collection. All responses to this information collection are required to obtain benefits. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this information collection, including suggestions for reducing this burden to NIST MEP Attn: Melissa Davis, melissa.davis@nist.gov.

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Why is Reporting Necessary?

• •Used for CAR performance management, annual/panel reviews and reporting the program’s performance to Congress 

• •Generate standard sets of reports 

• •Cooperative Agreement Requirement 

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Reporting is necessary for CAR performance management, conducting reviews and reporting the program’s performance to Congress.  From the data submitted, we generate a lot of reports for Centers and the National Network.

And… it’s a cooperative agreement requirement.

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NIST MEP Reporting, Survey Confirmation and Survey process is a continuous cycle.

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NIST MEP Reporting, Survey Confirmation and Survey Process is a continual cycle starting with:

Reporting which is the submission of Client Information Files or (CIFs) and Project Information Files or (PIFs) into the MEIS system either manually, via CSV file submission or Salesforce.  Reporting also includes updating staff, locations, contacts, roles, etc. at anytime.

Survey Confirmation occurs one month prior to the Survey being conducted,  When the Survey Confirmation period opens Centers will have the ability to review the clients that will be surveyed in the next month.  This will be your opportunity to:

1.  Change the Estimated Impact Span (EIS)

2.  Change CAR Key Personnel

1. 3.Change Client Contact Information 

2. 4.Check to confirm projects are correctly assigned to client 

During the Survey period Clients will be surveyed by a third party contractor.

After survey results are returned from the third party contactor, the data is analyzed to identify very large impacts, this is known as Outlier Verification and Centers will be notified to confirm any outliers within MEIS.

Once all of the data has been validated, both NIST MEP and centers can perform Data Analysis and Knowledge Sharing.  Center IMPACT Metrics are published approximately two weeks after the MEP Client Survey results have been imported into MEIS.

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Reporting Schedule

                               

	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4
Period	January 1 – March 31	April 1 – June 30	July 1 – September 30	October 1 – December 31
Deadline	January 31	April 30	July 31	October 31

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After the system refresh in 2016 and the shift to semi-annual reporting for Progress Plans and especially the Special Project awards, we have had to redefine “quarterly reporting”.  Instead of thinking of reporting as being open for one month each quarter when everything is due, centers need to think of reporting as being a reporting period that is a 3-month span.  For example: Reporting will be open from April 1 through April 30, however you can report at any time and as many times between April 1 through June 30 for any reporting element with the exception of Progress Plans and Progress Data.

NIST MEP is expecting to see that all reporting elements are reported on at least once during the reporting month but updated throughout the quarter as necessary.  But there are nuances….

Progress Plans are due no later than 30 days after the end of the time period covered in the report.  The time period and date are determined by Grants and are detailed in your Special Award Conditions (SACs).  It is up to you to know when it is due; and the date may or may not fall nicely into the traditional “reporting month”.

 NIST MEP expects to see at least one Success Story submitted per quarter.

Progress Data reports are all tied directly to a year/quarter and can only be submitted once per quarter.

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2021 Calendar Cycle

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This is the 2021 Calendar showing the Reporting, Survey and Survey Confirmation, Outlier Verification and IMPACT Metrics periods.  

Please note that either reporting, survey confirmation or survey is happening with very little time where there is a lull in the process.  This calendar is revised as dates change.  Current version can be found on MEIS under the MEP Documents widget.

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Reporting Elements - Minimal Required Reporting Frequency

Quarterly and When Changes Occur

• •Center Information 

• •Center Locations 

• •Center Staff 

• •Center Contacts 

• •Center Partners 

• •Center Board of Directors 

• •Center State Funding Partners 

• •Projects and Events 

• • –Title 

  • –Description 

  • –Project type and delivery mode 

  • –Intensity (hours) 

  • –Center vs. Third party delivery distribution (hours) 

  • –Total project value 

Semi Annually

• •Progress Plan/Technical Report 

  • –Narrative update on progress under awards 

• •Budget Actuals 

Quarterly

• •Client Success Stories (Min One) 

• •Progress Data 

• • –FTE Count 

  • –Manufacturers Interacted with 

• •Third Party Client Survey 

  • –New Sales & Retained Sales 

  • –Jobs Created and Retained 

  • –New Investment 

  • –Cost Savings 

  • –Client Challenges 

  • –Reasons for engaging with MEP Center 

As Needed

• •Operating Outcomes 

  • –Interactions with very small, rural, start-up manufacturers 

• •Clients 

  • –Client Name & Location 

  • –Client Size & Industry 

  • –Client Contacts (including phone & e-mail) 

  • –C-Level Engagement 

  • –Transformational Engagement 

  • –Participates in DOD 

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This is a list of the required reporting elements and their frequency.  Some are reported quarterly some semi-annually and others as needed.  

However we encourage centers to update the information in MEIS whenever a change occurs.  For example, if you have a staff member that has left the center, you will want to archive their account so they will no longer have access to Center data.

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Funding Programs

• •Center Operations (Base Award) 

• •Manufacturing USA Institutes - Embedding  

• •Rolling Competitive Award Program (RCAP) 

• •Manufacturing Disaster Assistance Program (MDAP) 

• •Supplemental Competitive Award Program (SCAP) 

• •DefenseCyber 

• •Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) 

• •Advanced Manufacturing Technical Services (AMTS) 

• •Each award has its own requirements 

• • –Center Operations typically has the most extensive requirements 

NOTE:  Special Funding Program reporting is detailed separately, please see Special Funding Programs in the Table of Contents.

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In addition to the Center Operations (base award) NIST MEP has made available some additional funding.  

Manufacturing U.S.A. Embedding funding was awarded to several centers as a pilot project that embeds staff from MEP centers at fourteen institutes within The Manufacturing USA (f/k/a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation or NNMI) network.

Rolling Competitive Award Program (RCAP) is a performance-based rolling Notice of Funding Opportunity for pilot projects to allow MEP Centers to submit proposals on an on-going basis throughout a given fiscal year.

Manufacturing Disaster Assistance Program (MDAP) funding was awarded to a few centers after the devastation of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.  

The Supplemental Competitive Award Program  (SCAP) funding was awarded to one center Oklahoma and was a unique funding opportunity based on some supplemental funds provided to MEP.

DefenseCyber award went to the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center to provide outreach, education, and technical assistance to U.S. manufacturers who supply products within DoD supply chains and who must implement adequate cybersecurity protections as required by DoD.

Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES) funding was awarded to all Centers to assist manufacturing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Advanced Manufacturing Services (AMTS) funding was provided

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Reporting Elements by Award Type

Reporting Element	Center Operations	Embedding	RCAP	MDAP	SCAP	DefenseCyber	CARES Act	AMTS
Board of Directors	Shared Across All Awards
CAR Information	Shared Across All Awards
Clients	Yes	Yes *	Yes *	Yes *	Yes *	Yes *	Yes *	Yes *
Contacts	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Locations	Shared Across All Awards
Partners	Shared Across All Awards
Progress Plan	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Projects	Yes	Yes *	Yes *	Yes *	Yes *	Yes *	Yes *	Yes *
State Funding Partners	Shared Across All Awards
Staff	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sub-Recipient	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Success Stories	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No

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Each funding program has their own reporting requirements that you need to be aware of.

This slide shows the reporting elements required for each award type.  Note that the Board of Directors, CAR Information, Location, Partners and State Funding Partner elements are shared with the Center Operations “base” funding agreements.  Each other element MUST maintain separate reporting.

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Reporting Dashboard

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This slide shows the Reporting Dashboard in MEIS and the status of each reporting element for the chosen reporting period.

There is a color-coded key at the bottom of the page for the meaning of each colored status icon.

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Reporting Elements – Information
(Quarterly and When Changes Occur)

Purpose:

1. • –Intended to provide NIST MEP with general CAR contact information such as address, telephone, fax number, and email address 

   • –MEP will use this information in communications with stakeholders and for publishing CAR information in marketing materials and web sites, Center Performance Management and Reviews.  

   • –Feeds MEP Public Site – Center Near You , MEP Quick List, State One Pager 

How to Report:

1. • –Click CIP, hover over Information, Submit Quarterly Reports, review data on the various tabs, click Actions Submit for Reporting to submit your changes to NIST MEP. 

1. • • •Highly recommend that you update this information as soon as something changes, no need to wait for a reporting month. 

     • •Center’s cannot change CAR Name or Organization Type 

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The CAR Information reporting element is intended to provide NIST MEP with general contact information such as address, telephone number, email address, etc.  

This information feeds into the MEP Public Site for the Center Near You Map, MEP Quick List and your State One Pagers so you want to make sure this information is current and accurate.

From the MEIS dashboard, click on CIP, hover over Information, then click Submit Quarterly Reports.  Make the necessary changes or updates, then click Actions, Submit for Reporting.  Given that MEIS follows a similar pattern for each reporting element, I will not go over the detailed instructions for submitting although the instructions are included for each element in this presentation.

You do not need to wait until a Reporting period is open to make these changes.

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Reporting Elements – Information
(Quarterly and When Changes Occur)

Related Reports: Either data used in report or clickable from page

1. • –CAR Information 

   • –CAR List 

   • –BIR Report (clickable from Information Tab) 

   • –One Pager Fact Sheet, Covid-19 Response and Distinctive Practice (clickable from One Pager Tab) 

   • –County Business Pattern Data (Export from Counties Tab) 

   • –CBP Information 

   • –MEP Quick List (Center contact information) 

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There are several related reports  that include data from the CAR Information module.  Some reports are available under Reports, CAR Reports and others are clickable from the CAR Information page.

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Reporting Elements – Information
(Quarterly and When Changes Occur)       

Did you know:

1. • –Information Tab – you can view your D&B BIR if already created by your FPO as well as cohort characteristics 

   • –One Pager Tab – each one-pager has the ability to have a Success Story – centers can choose the Success Story that show in the Success Story module 

1. • • •Fact Sheet 

     • •Covid-19 MEP Response  

     • •Distinctive Practice   

   • –Staff Tab – edit other user account records with the Reporting Role.  Useful when - new center email addresses, center moved. 

   • –Counties Tab – CBP data and rural export 

   • –Dun & Bradstreet Tab – your center record is there; we use this information for renewal packages.  Have you ever looked at this record?   

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Did you know…

You can view your D&B BIR report from the Information page, by clicking on the document link.  And you can view your center’s cohort characteristics by clicking on the arrows.

The one-pager fact sheet, COVID-19 response and Distinctive Practice can be viewed from the Information page, one-pager tab.

 

By clicking on the “Staff” tab, you can edit other user account records, if you have been assigned the reporting role.

On the Counties tab you can view and export Census County Business Pattern  data and rural continuum codes by county.  

You can also view your Center’s Dun & Bradstreet record by clicking on the D&B Tab.

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CAR Information Resources – Information Tab

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Here is a screenshot of the General Information Tab.

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One Pager Tab
Fact Sheet

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Here is a screenshot of the One Pager Tab defaulting to the Fact Sheet.

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One Pager Tab
COVID-19 MEP Response

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We have created a one pager in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

In MEIS, click on Information, click on the One Pager tab, change the One Pager Type dropdown to COVID-19 MEP Response.  Centers can edit the CAR Description, Second Narrative Title, Second Narrative, Reference URL, as well as the images used (Center Image, Center Logo, Impact Image).  Centers can also choose to display the Fiscal Year Impacts, upload a custom image or select one of the standard images provided.  Click the checkbox to regenerate the One Pager.  Make sure the information in your CAR Information tab is current, as this information is pulled into the One Pager. 

 

The pdf file of the new One Pager can be found in the MEIS, Document and Communications once it is regenerated. To find, go to CIP, scroll down and hover over Management, click on Documents and Communications. Don’t be too quick to check it out, it will take a minute or two to regenerate.

 

At this time the COVID-19 One Pager does not include a Success Story on the second page but we can change that toggle if necessary.  Eventually, we would also like to offer the ability to modify the Impacts area to include quantifiable impacts specific to COVID.

 

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CAR Information Resources – Staff Tab

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Here is a screenshot of the Staff Tab.

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CAR Information Resources – Counties Tab

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Provided for your convenience in the CIP, Information section under the Counties Tab  is access to Census County Business Pattern data and the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Continuum Code.  The data from these resources is used in several reports including the Center Performance and Profile Report (CPPR), market penetration indicators, and Operating Outcome Client Engagement Goals.  This data can be exported into Excel from this page.

Note – the way census aggregates their data, any county that has 3 establishments or less will show as blank – drill down by clicking the arrow to view those establishments.

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CAR Information Resources – Dun & Bradstreet Tab

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Here is a screenshot of the Dun & Bradstreet Tab showing the D&B record for your center.  If information needs to be updated, you can launch a D&B investigation.

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Reporting Elements – Locations
(Quarterly and When Changes Occur)

Purpose:

1. • –Locations are physical addresses where CAR, sub-recipient, or partner staff are based or deliver services 

   • –The locations are intended to provide NIST MEP with general contact information such as address and phone information 

   • –MEP uses this information to communicate our national coverage area with our various stakeholders, Center Performance Management and Reviews. 

How to Report:

1. • –Click CIP, hover over Locations, Submit Quarterly Reports, review Sub-recipient Agreements, Field Offices, and partners as service delivery locations,  

   • –Click Actions, Add to add a new location.  Complete the form.  Click OK to Save. 

   • –Click Actions Submit for Reporting to submit your changes to NIST MEP 

NOTE:  We need centers to look at Locations closely, remove duplicates.  Some centers have a location as a field office, SRA, and partner.  These locations are being double and triple counted.  Only your FPO can add/edit an SRA.

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Locations are physical addresses where CAR, sub-recipients, field offices, CROs or partners that deliver services are located.  

It is important to keep this information updated as MEP will use this information to communicate our national coverage area with our various stakeholders.

Make sure that you have removed duplicates so locations are not double counted.  For example, you should not have sub-recipients also listed as Locations.

Note that only your Federal Program Officer can add/edit an SRA.

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Reporting Elements – Locations
(Quarterly and When Changes Occur)

Related Reports: Either data used or clickable from page

1. • –CAR Information  

   • –CAR Locations 

   • –CAR Summary (CAR Locations Map) 

Did you Know:

1. • –In order to update Partners as Service Delivery Location, you must do so from the Partners page 

   • –Adding or marking records inactive can be done either from the List or Submit Quarterly Reporting Forms 

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There are a couple of related reports that include data from the CAR Information module.  These reports are available under Reports, CAR Reports.

Did you know…

In order to update Partners as Service Delivery locations, you must do so from the Partners Page.  

Adding or marking records inactive can be accomplished from either the List or Submit Quarterly Reporting Forms.

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Reporting Elements – Staff
(Quarterly and When Changes Occur)

Purpose:

1. • –The staff element provides the CAR a mechanism for reporting on its labor resources 

   • –The staff listing is a compilation of registered users associated with the CAR 

   • –Used for Center Performance Management and Reviews. 

How to report:

1. • –Click CIP, hover over Staff, Submit Quarterly Reports, review data, click Actions Submit for Reporting  

1. • • •Verify that the Staff list is current and complete and that all staff are assigned to the appropriate funding agreements 

     • •To the right on the Staff grid, columns of checkboxes are visible for each Funding Agreement, click the checkbox for each Funding Agreement a staff member is working 

     • •To add a staff member, staff self-register at https://meis.nist.gov.  Click Register Here 

     • •To remove a staff member, click the archive checkbox to the right on the Staff grid 

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The Staff reporting element is intended to provide the CAR a mechanism for reporting on its current workforce.

Centers cannot add a Staff member in MEIS, new staff MUST first register at https://meis.nist.gov and click Register Here.  Center staff will register as Type = Center and choose the Center name from the dropdown.  

Don’t forget to archive staff who are no longer with your center immediately and not wait until the next reporting period.  We do not want staff no longer employed by the National Network to have access to data on MEIS or MEP Connect.

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Reporting Elements – Staff
(Quarterly and When Changes Occur)

Related Reports: Either data is used in report or clickable from page

1. • –CAR Contacts 

   • –CAR Information  

   • –Clients and Projects 

   • –Clients/Projects/Impacts 

   • –MEP Quick List (Center Director) 

   • –Users 

   • –Survey Confirmation (All Tab) 

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There are several related reports that include data from the Staff module.  Reports are available under Reports, CAR Reports.

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Reporting Elements – Staff
(Quarterly and When Changes Occur)

Did you know:

1. • –Anyone associated to the CAR, either as an employee or sub-recipient providing part of a partner’s cash or in-kind is considered part of the CARs staff and should be reported 

   • –Each CAR staff member is responsible for maintaining his or her own record 

1. • • •Contact information 

     • •Skills profile 

   • –CAR Staff members are automatically associated to a center when they register for access to the MEP MEIS but they are not automatically assigned to a funding program and will not appear in the Staff Listing until a funding program is assigned 

   • –Staff cannot be associated with a project unless they are tied to the appropriate funding agreement 

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Did you know…

Anyone devoted to a CAR, either as an employee or sub-recipient providing part of a partner’s cash or in-kind contributions, as delineated in the CARs current statement of work, is considered part of the CARs staff and should be reported.

It is the responsibility of the staff member to maintain their contact information (address, phone, email, etc.), however, person(s) at the Center with the reporting role  do have access to staff records and can also maintain that information.

You must first associate the staff member to a funding program before they will appear in the Staff Listing or can be listed as CAR Key Staff on a project.

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Assign Staff to Funding Program

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To assign staff to a funding program, they must first register for a MEIS account.

Once they have an approved account, a staff member with the Reporting role will need to associate the new staff member to one or more funding programs they are supporting.  Click on CIP, Staff, Submit Quarterly Reports

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Assign Staff to Funding Program / Archive Staff

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Find the staff member, click the appropriate radio button(s) for each Funding Program, click Actions, Submit for Reporting .  The new staff member will NOT show in the staff listing until this step is performed.

You can also click the “Archive” radio button to archive staff that are no longer a center staff.

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Reporting Elements – Contacts
(Quarterly and When Changes Occur)

Purpose:

1. • –Contacts are CAR officials with specific responsibilities for which there is the opportunity to communicate as a group 

   • –Contacts are used to communicate with the correct CAR staff through mailing lists and working group membership 

   • –Centers report on Contacts as part of Center Performance Management. 

How to report:

1. • –Click CIP, hover over Contacts, Submit Quarterly Reports, review different contact types, edit/add contacts, click Actions Submit for Reporting 

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The Contacts reporting element is used for CAR officials with specific responsibilities and to communicate with the correct CAR staff through email, postal mail and working groups.

 

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Adding Contacts

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To add a Contact to a Contact Type, click on CIP, click the View/Edit icon for the appropriate Contact Type.

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Adding Contacts

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Choose the contact type from the drop down menu.  Search users by name through MEIS and click ADD to add the staff to the available list.  Or if the user is already showing in the available list, choose the name and move to the ‘selected’ list using the arrows.  Click OK.  

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Reporting Elements – Contact Types Explained

• •CAR Review Contact – notifications about reviews 

• •D&B Hoovers – Center representative holding D&B license key 

• •Director - Only one. Identified on MEP Public Site and report. Receives notification of Client Survey Contact changes. 

• •Director Notification – Designate users to receive the same notifications as Director (Contact Above) 

• •Financial/Operations Manager –  support CFO communications related to grants Also receives notification of Client Survey Contact changes.  

• •Marketing Manager – supports Marketing/Communications 

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There are many different contact types.  

• -CAR Review Contact is used as a communication channel for panel reviews 

• -D&B Hoovers – Center representative holding D&B license key 

• -The Director contact type can only be assigned to the Center Director or the designated Acting Director.  This information feeds into the MEP Public Site and MEP Quick Lists. Directors are also notified via email of MEP Client Survey contact changes and approval is assumed if no further communication is made from the Center Director to NIST MEP. 

• -Director Notification contact type – allows the center to designate staff to receive the same notifications as the center director without feeding the MEP Public Site or MEP Quick Lists. 

• -Financial/Operations Manager  is used to support CFO communications and leveraged by grants and FPOs to get updated information and documents out like new guidelines or terms and conditions. CFO and COO are also notified via email of MEP Client Survey contact changes and approval is assumed if no further communication is made from the Center CFO/COO to NIST MEP. 

• -Marketing Manager – Provides a focused list of marketing managers and is used to support marketing manager communications 

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Reporting Elements – Contact Types Continued

• •MEP Scouts –  Center representative for Supplier Scouting process 

• •Reporting Contact  – Used to communicate any updates to the reporting requirements, structure, guidelines, etc. 

• •Salesforce Administrator – Center representative for Salesforce/MEIS configuration 

• •Survey Contact - communications about Survey, Survey Confirmation,  and Outliers  

Note: Special Awards have an identified subset of the Contacts listed above

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There are many different contact types.  

• -MEP Scouts is used for the Supplier Scouting group on the MEP Connect site 

• -Reporting Contact  is used to send out communications about the opening and closing of reporting cycles. Also used to communicate any updates to the reporting requirements, structure, guidelines, etc. 

• -Salesforce Administrator – Center representative for Salesforce/MEIS configuration 

• -Survey Contact is used to send out communications about Survey, Survey Confirmation,  and outlier duties 

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Reporting Elements – Contacts
(Quarterly and When Changes Occur)

Related Reports: Either data is used in report or clickable from page

1. • –CAR Contacts 

   • –CAR Information  

   • –CAR List 

   • –MEP Quick List (Center Director) 

   • –CAR Contacts Detail 

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There are several related reports  that include data from the Contacts module.  Reports are available under Reports, CAR Reports.

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Reporting Elements – Contacts
(Quarterly and When Changes Occur)

Did you know:

1. • –MEP list server distribution lists - available to be used by anyone with a MEIS account, messages are monitored (see PEER Group for list server email address) 

   • –Changes made to contacts will be immediate and automatically transferred to the appropriate MEP mailing lists that correspond to those positions 

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Did you know…

The MEP list server is available to be used by anyone with a MEIS account.  Messages are monitored.

Changes made to any Contact will be immediate and automatically updated in the corresponding MEP mailing list.

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Reporting Elements – Progress Data
(Quarterly – One per Quarter)

Purpose:

1. • –This reporting element is intended to collect quantifiable data for the award 

   • –This information is used to respond to stakeholders and may be used for Center Performance Management, Reviews, and research purposes  

How to report :

1. • –Click CIP, hover over Progress Data, Submit Quarterly Reports, enter FTE and CME counts, click Actions Submit for Reporting 

1. • • •An FTE is full-time equivalent (Includes Center and SRAs) 

     • •CME is client manufacturing establishment  

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The Progress Data reporting element is intended to provide the CAR a mechanism for reporting on its  active full time equivalents (FTEs) and clients served in the last 12 months.

NIST MEP uses the FTE counts in capacity utilization calculations found within your Center Performance and Profile Report.   This number MUST include both Center and SRA staff counts.   The CMEs served number is used to report to various stakeholders to show the breadth of the touches for the National Network.  This number is not the same as the number of clients attempted to be surveyed.

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Reporting Elements – Progress Data
(Quarterly – One per Quarter)

Related Reports: Either data used in report or clickable from page

1. • –CAR Summary (capacity utilization charts) 

Did you know:

1. • –The CME count found in this section is used in many different NIST MEP publications  

   • –Official source of all FTE counts  

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There are several related reports that include Progress Data.  Reports are available under Reports, CAR Reports.

The Cohort Comparison chart is a great way to compare your Center’s performance against other Centers that may or may not have similar characteristics such as (federal funding, region, service delivery model etc.

You choose your cohort.

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Reporting Elements – Board of Directors
(Quarterly and When Changes Occur)

Purpose:

1. • –The information contained in the Board of Directors section is intended to provide NIST MEP with general information about the Board and Board members 

   • –NIST MEP will use this information in the day-to-day role as a consultant to the CAR 

   • –Used for Center Performance Management and  Annual and Panel Reviews  

• •How to report 

• • –Click CIP, hover on Board of Directors, Submit Quarterly Reports, review Board and Board Members, click Actions Add to add new Board, click Actions Submit for Reporting 

• • • •Centers are responsible for updating both the Board and Board Member record 

    • •Remove Board by marking it inactive 

    • •Remove Board Member by selecting the X under the Remove from Board column  

• • • • –Can also mark inactive in the Member profile 

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The Board of Directors reporting element is intended to provide the CAR a mechanism for reporting on its  active Board of Directors.  You can add one or more boards, this is especially useful if you have both a fiduciary and advisory board.  Or if you are a center with center regional offices.  Each one of your offices can have its own board or boards.  

After you have created the board, do not forget to add members. You will be asked to indicate if the member is the board chair, their tenure and if their organization is a small manufacturer.

To remove a board or board member record, mark the status as inactive.

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Reporting Elements – Board of Directors
(Quarterly and When Changes Occur)

Related Reports: Either data used in report or clickable from page

1. • –Board of Directors 

   • –CAR Information 

Did you know:

1. • –The Board Chair contact information is used in the Review Module for Annual and Panel Reviews as well as communications from the Director and other working groups, so it is important to keep this information up to date. 

1. • • •This is done by checking Chairperson in the Board Member record 

     • •Board Chair is an active participant in a Panel Review  

     • •Board tenure and Small manufacturer background information up to date in the Board Member record 

1. • –Boards have Board Member records that need to be maintained 

   • –Centers can create MEIS accounts for Board Members 

     • •Access levels are determined by the center 

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There are several related reports that include Board of Director information.  Reports are available under Reports, CAR Reports.

Did you know….

Boards have Board Members, do not forget to review and update this list periodically.

That the board chair contact information is used by MEP Management to send notifications about the program.  The Board Chair is designated by name during the Panel Review and is expected to be an active participant in the Panel Review process.

Centers can choose to request MEIS and MEP Connect accounts for any of their board members.

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Reporting Elements – Board of Directors
(Quarterly and When Changes Occur)

Did you know:

1. • –A CAR may have two types of Boards – a fiduciary board and/or an advisory board 

1. • • •A fiduciary board exists for all freestanding non-profit organizations  

1. • • • –A fiduciary board will have a charter document and/or bylaws describing the duties and terms of the board members 

     • •An advisory board is usually a less formal body, and can be affiliated with any type of organization  

       • –The roles and responsibilities of advisory boards may be like fiduciary boards, or they may be more focused on areas such as client needs 

   • –Board Bylaws are a required document upload. 

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Did you know…

Centers can create more than one type of Board records.  

Fiduciary boards are typical for non-profit organizations.

Advisory boards are less formal than fiduciary and provide oversight to centers.

Board Bylaws are a required document.

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Creating a User Account for Board Members

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To Create a User account for Board Members, from the MEIS dashboard, click on CIP, hover on Board of Directors, Submit Quarterly Reports, click the View/Edit icon for the Board,  under the Create MEIS Account column, click the link Create MEIS Login , you will be prompted to confirm that you want a MEIS/MEP Connect account created and that the board member will have access to some of your center data.  As soon as you click create account, the board member will receive an email indicating an account has been created for them.  Please make sure you notify the board member to expect to receive this email.  

If your Center encourages Board Members to have MEIS access, how much transparency is provided as far as access to data?  Do they use the account?

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Reporting Elements – Partners
(Quarterly and As Changes Occur)

Purpose:

1. • –The Partner submission provides the CAR a readily available mechanism for reporting on its formal and informal relationships with other organizations 

   • –Partners show the extent of a CAR’s reach beyond its own resources 

   • –This information is used to show that MEP CARs are working with partner organizations to deliver the best possible services and products to its clients through formal and informal agreements 

   • –CARs are expected to have a documented performance management process for its partners.   

   • –Used in Annual and Panel Reviews (top 5 Key Partners) as well as for Center Performance Management. 

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The Partner reporting element is intended to provide the CAR a mechanism for reporting on its  formal and informal relationships with other organizations and to show the extend of a CARs reach beyond it’s own resources.

NIST MEP uses this information in Annual and Panel reviews to show that MEP CARs are working with partner organizations to deliver the best possible products and services to it’s clients.  

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Reporting Elements – Partners
(Quarterly and As Changes Occur)

How to report:

1. • –Click CIP, hover over Partners, Submit Quarterly Reports, review Partners, click Actions Add to add new partner, click Actions Submit for Reporting 

1. • • •Partners – Defined as an organization that contributes or aligns resources (human, monetary, office space, incubators, etc.) through a long-term formal or informal agreement.  

1. • • • –Sub-recipient – explicitly identified in a CARs Cooperative Agreement and maintained by FPOs in CIP, Funding Programs, Awards, Period of Performance.  SRAs are displayed but Centers cannot update this information. 

       • –Third-party Contributors – there is a formal agreement 

       • –Other Partners – no formal agreement – CAR wants to list the Partner as a resource 

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From the MEIS dashboard, click on CIP, hover over Partners, Submit Quarterly Reports.  Review Partners, make necessary changes or updates, then click Actions, Submit for Reporting.  To add a new Partner, Click Actions, Add, enter the information for the new Partner, then click Actions, Submit for Reporting.

Given that MEIS follows a similar pattern for each reporting element, I will not go over the detailed instructions for submitting although the instructions are included for each element in this presentation.

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Reporting Elements – Partners
(Quarterly and As Changes Occur)

Related Reports: Either data used in report or clickable from page

1. • –CAR Information 

   • –CAR Summary 

   • –CPPR  

   • –Partners  

Did you know:

1. • –Remove a Partner by marking the organization inactive  

   • –Adding/removing records can be done either from the List or Submit Quarterly Reporting options 

   • –Centers MUST designate Partners as Key Partners (up to five) that are listed in the CPPR.  Key Partners typically have a formal agreement and provide services such as delivery, marketing, developing products, etc.   

   • –State Funding Partners (SFP)  are people associated to Partner organizations.  To deactivate a Partner with a State Funding Partner association, you must disassociate the SFP before the Partner can be deactivated. 

NOTE:  Please review this list and ONLY include Partners that add value.  More is not always better; we need quality as this is a common data pull.

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Reports related to Partners reporting are listed on this slide.

Did you know…

• -You can remove a Partner by marking the organization inactive? 

• -Adding and removing partner records can be accomplished either from the List or Submit Quarterly Reporting options 

• -Centers MUST designate Partners as Key Partners (up to five).  Key Partners typically have a formal agreement and provide services such as delivery, marketing, developing products, etc.   

Only Partners that add value should be added to this list.

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Reporting Elements – State Funding Partner
(Quarterly and As Changes Occur)

Purpose:

1. • –Intended to provide the CAR a readily available mechanism for reporting on its relationships with State and Local Government Officials that provide funding and are interested in Center Performance. 

   • –State Funding Partners are the primary funding decision officials for the program within the state or local government for the CAR  

   • –Used in Annual and Panel Reviews as well as for Center Performance Management. 

How to report:

1. • –Click CIP, hover over State Funding Partner, Submit Quarterly Reports, review State Funding Partners, click Actions Add to add new State Funding Partner, click Actions Submit for Reporting 

1. • • •All State Funding Partners must relate back to a Partner organization that is reported in the Partners element 

     • •Remove State Funding Partners by marking them inactive 

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The State Funding Partner reporting element is intended to provide the CAR a mechanism for reporting on its relationships with State and Local Government Officials.  

State Funding Partners are the primary funding decision officials for the program within the state of local government for the CAR.

From the MEIS dashboard, click on CIP, hover over State Funding Partners, Submit Quarterly Reports.  Review State Funding Partners, make necessary changes or updates, then click Actions, Submit for Reporting.  To add a new State Funding Partner, Click Actions, Add, enter the information for the new State Funding Partner, then click Actions, Submit for Reporting.

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Reporting Elements – State Funding Partner
(Quarterly and As Changes Occur)

Related Reports: Either data used in report or clickable from page

1. • –CAR Information 

   • –State Funding Partners 

Did you know:

1. • –Centers can create MEIS accounts for State Funding Partners 

1. • • •Access levels are determined by the center 

Question:  Why is this element not used by centers often?  Is it misunderstood or there just are not that many State Government Organizations/People that your center partners with?

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Reports related to State Funding Partner reporting are listed on this slide.

Did you know…

• -Centers are able to create MEIS accounts for State Funding Partners?  Access levels are determined by the center. 

To Create a User account for State Funding Partner, from the MEIS dashboard, click on CIP, hover over State Funding Partner, Submit Quarterly Reports, click Actions, Add.  Enter information for State Funding Partner,  under the Create MEIS Login Account row, check the checkbox to Create MEIS Login Account.  You will be prompted to confirm that you want a MEIS/MEP Connect account created and that the State Funding Partner will have access to some of your center data.  As soon as you click create account, the State Funding Partner will receive an email indicating an account has been created for them.  Please make sure you notify the State Funding Partner to expect to receive this email.  

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Reporting Elements – Clients
(As Needed)

Purpose:

1. • –NIST MEP uses client records for the purpose of conducting an in-house project impact survey measuring the realized impacts (sales, investment, employment, cost of goods sold, etc.) of our services to our clients 

   • –Client information may also be used for other purposes such as market and industry research 

   • –Used in the calculation of New and Unique Clients Served metrics. 

   • –Used in Center Performance Management and Center Annual and Panel Reviews. 

How to report:

1. • –Click CIP, hover over Clients, click Submit Quarterly Reports.  Centers now have four options for submitting client information. 

1. • • •Add New (one at a time) click Add New  

     • •Click Select Files to upload a Client Information File (CIF) XML  or CSV file (requires one time setup of field mapping to work) 

     • •Click Goto Spreadsheet to use the spreadsheet interface 

     • •Click Validate/Submit from Salesforce using the Salesforce/MEIS Utility (requires one time setup of field mapping to work) 

1. • –A unique client ID is assigned to each client. The CIF is the Client Information File Template and is found on MEIS 

   • –For Center Operations, the client must have a manufacturing (31-33) or R&D NAICS Code (541711 or 541712) and a valid DUNS Number (unless included in NIST MEP Definition of Manufacturing – DOM) 

     • •MEP uses Dun and Bradstreet for NAICS Code verification 

1. • • •Just because the client previously existed in MEIS does not mean you should not update the record in MEIS on a regular basis 

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The Client reporting element is used by the centers to report clients to whom they have provided services.  NIST MEP uses the client records for the purpose of conducting an in-house project impact survey measuring the realized impacts of our services to clients. Client counts which are driven by projects submitted are used in the calculation of two of the Performance Impact Metrics – New and Unique Clients.

From the MEIS dashboard, click on CIP, hover over Clients, then click Submit Quarterly Reports.  

There are currently four ways to report Clients in MEIS.

Add New (one at a time) click Add New

Click Select Files to upload a CIF XML  or CSV file (requires one time setup of field mapping to work)

Click Goto Spreadsheet to use the spreadsheet interface

Click Validate/Submit from Salesforce using the Salesforce/MEIS Utility (requires one time setup of field mapping to work)

Once a new client is submitted, MEIS assigns a unique client ID.

Please remember that just because the client exists in MEIS does not mean you should not update the client record in MEIS.  Just last quarter we had a client record that could not be imported into Fors Marsh Portal because the record did not have primary and secondary contact emails.  The record was obviously not opened during Survey Confirmation and it had not be touched (last updated date in MEIS) since we made email a required field. That was over 8 years ago.

We plan on retiring the XML option in 2019Q4.

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Reporting Elements – Clients
(As Needed)

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As mentioned in the previous slide, centers have four ways to report Clients in MEIS.

- Add New (one at a time) click Add New

- Click Select Files to upload a CIF XML  or CSV file (requires one time setup of field mapping to work)

- Click Goto Spreadsheet to use the spreadsheet interface

- Click Validate/Submit from Salesforce using the Salesforce/MEIS Utility (requires one time setup of field mapping to work)

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Reporting Elements – Clients
(As Needed)

Workflow:

1. • –There is  a workflow if clients are submitted as a batch submission (CSV or XML), use the Spreadsheet Interface, or from Salesforce as opposed to manually entered.  

   • –Add New (One by One) 

1. • • •Center is responsible for ensuring that a duplicate client record (same company two different CAR Client IDs) is NOT being created. 

     • •MEIS will report an error if a duplicate CAR Client ID is used but will not give an error if the same company name is used with a different CAR Client ID 

     • •Click OK to save 

   • –Salesforce/MEIS Utility 

     • •Click Validate from Salesforce.   Any errors are displayed.  

     • •If the utility returns errors, the issues will need to be corrected in your Salesforce System.  Repeat this process until the utility passes validation with no errors. You will then need to submit for reporting         

     • •Click Submit from Salesforce.  The information in Salesforce is submitted to the MEIS database 

     • •You are redirected to the CAR Dashboard. If you have successfully submitted Client information – the Status Icon will be half green/half yellow indicating the submission is “Passed Pending MEP Review”  

     • •A MEP staff member reviews and finalizes the submission to achieve the “Passed” icon  

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There is  a workflow if clients are submitted as a batch submission (CSV or XML), use the Spreadsheet Interface, or from Salesforce as opposed to manually entered.

When entering the hard way (One by One) click Add New

• • • •Center is responsible for ensuring that a duplicate client record (same company two different CAR Client IDs) is NOT being created. 

    • •MEIS will report an error if a duplicate CAR Client ID is used but will not give an error if the same company name is used with a different CAR Client ID 

    • •Click OK to save 

If you are using the Salesforce/MEIS Utility

• • • •Click Validate from Salesforce.   Any errors are displayed.  

    • •If the utility returns errors, the issues will need to be corrected in your Salesforce System. Repeat this process until the utility passes validation with no errors. You will then need to submit for reporting 

    • •Click Submit from Salesforce.  The information in Salesforce is submitted to the MEIS database 

    • •You are redirected to the CAR Dashboard. If you have successfully submitted Client information – the Status Icon will be half green/half yellow indicating the submission is “Passed Pending MEP Review”  

    • •A MEP staff member then has to review and finalize the submission to achieve the “Passed” icon  

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Reporting Elements – Clients
(As Needed)

Workflow:

1. • –CSV or XML Upload 

1. • • •XML Upload 

1. • • • –CIF Template with macro to convert to XML option – MACRO is no longer supported by NIST MEP 

       • –But if you are going to use this time, CIF must be converted to XML 

1. • • • • »XML is an open standard for describing data and is an ideal solution for transferring structured data from server-to-client, server-to-server or application-to-application on any platform 

         • »NIST MEP provides a  CIF Template with an easy add-in to convert to XML 

       • –Click Select File, choose the proper XML file 

       • –Click Submit for Validation. Any errors with the file are displayed. When a file is submitted for validation, the file is checked to ensure validity and consistency. Field level validation ensures that the data entered in all record fields are correct. However, this type of validation does not validate against client records already existing in the MEIS database. This is achieved through validation at the database level   

       • –If the file fails with errors, the XML file will need to be corrected and re-uploaded using the same process. Repeat this process until the file passes with no errors. You will then need to submit for reporting         

       • –Click Submit to System. The information in the file is submitted to the MEIS database 

       • –You are redirected to the CAR Dashboard. If you have successfully submitted Client information – the Status Icon will be half green/half yellow indicating the submission is “Passed Pending MEP Review”  

       • –A MEP staff member then has to review and finalize the submission to achieve the “Passed” icon  

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If using one of the two file upload format’s CSV or XML the instructions are similar just different file formats.  CSV is a new option that was created to eliminate the CIF Excel file with Macro that has become less stable on the various Microsoft Windows Operating System and Microsoft Office versions.

XML Upload (The CIF Template with macro to convert to XML option was eliminated in 2019Q4 – you can still use this option, but the macro isn’t supported by NIST)  But if you are going to use this time, CIF must be converted to XML.

• • •Click Select File, choose the proper XML file 

  • •Click Submit for Validation. Any errors with the file are displayed. When a file is submitted for validation, the file is checked to ensure validity and consistency. Field level validation ensures that the data entered in all record fields are correct. However, this type of validation does not validate against client records already existing in the MEIS database. This is achieved through validation at the database level   

  • •If the file fails with errors, the XML file will need to be corrected and re-uploaded using the same process. Repeat this process until the file passes with no errors. You will then need to submit for reporting         

  • •Click Submit to System. The information in the file is submitted to the MEIS database 

  • •You are redirected to the CAR Dashboard. If you have successfully submitted Client information – the Status Icon will be half green/half yellow indicating the submission is “Passed Pending MEP Review”  

  • •A MEP staff member then has to review and finalize the submission to achieve the “Passed” icon  

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Reporting Elements – Clients
(As Needed)

• • • •CSV Upload 

• • • • –Create CSV file (Microsoft Comma Delimited)  

      • –Click Select File, choose the proper CSV file 

      • –Click Submit for Validation. Any errors with the file are displayed. When a file is submitted for validation, the file is checked to ensure validity and consistency. Field level validation ensures that the data entered in all record fields are correct. However, this type of validation does not validate against client records already existing in the MEIS database. This is achieved through validation at the database level   

      • –If the file fails with errors, the CSV file will need to be corrected and re-uploaded using the same process. Repeat this process until the file passes with no errors. You will then need to submit for reporting         

      • –Click Submit to System. The information in the file is submitted to the MEIS database 

      • –You are redirected to the CAR Dashboard. If you have successfully submitted Client information – the Status Icon will be half green/half yellow indicating the submission is “Passed Pending MEP Review”  

      • –A MEP staff member then has to review and finalize the submission to achieve the “Passed” icon  

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CSV Upload

• • •Click Select File, choose the proper CSV file 

  • •Click Submit for Validation. Any errors with the file are displayed. When a file is submitted for validation, the file is checked to ensure validity and consistency. Field level validation ensures that the data entered in all record fields are correct. However, this type of validation does not validate against client records already existing in the MEIS database. This is achieved through validation at the database level   

  • •If the file fails with errors, the CSV file will need to be corrected and re-uploaded using the same process. Repeat this process until the file passes with no errors. You will then need to submit for reporting         

  • •Click Submit to System. The information in the file is submitted to the MEIS database 

  • •You are redirected to the CAR Dashboard. If you have successfully submitted Client information – the Status Icon will be half green/half yellow indicating the submission is “Passed Pending MEP Review”  

  • •A MEP staff member then has to review and finalize the submission to achieve the “Passed” icon  

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Reporting Elements – Clients
(As Needed)

• • • •Spreadsheet Interface 

• • • • –Click Goto Spreadsheet 

      • –Enter data (typing or cut/paste) into the appropriate fields.  

      • –Simple data errors such as an 11 digit phone number, will result in a pop-up error message displayed.  Complex data errors such as an invalid D&B number will be displayed after validation.  

      • –If adding multiple rows, select the number of rows to add 

      • –Click Submit for Validation. Any errors in the spreadsheet will be displayed.  When the spreadsheet is submitted for validation, the data is checked to ensure validity and consistency.  .  

      • –If the spreadsheet fails with errors, the issues will need to be corrected.  Repeat this process until the spreadsheet passes validation with no errors. You will then need to submit for reporting         

      • –Click Submit to System. The information in the spreadsheet is submitted to the MEIS database 

      • –You are redirected to the CAR Dashboard. If you have successfully submitted Client information – the Status Icon will be half green/half yellow indicating the submission is “Passed Pending MEP Review”  

      • –A MEP staff member then has to review and finalize the submission to achieve the “Passed” icon  

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Finally, the Spreadsheet Interface

• • •Click Goto Spreadsheet 

  • •Enter data (typing or cut/paste) into the appropriate fields.   

  • •If adding multiple rows, select the number of rows to add 

  • •Simple data errors such as an 11 digit phone number, will result in a pop-up error message displayed.  Complex data errors such as an invalid D&B number will be displayed after validation. 

  • •Click Submit for Validation. Any errors in the spreadsheet will be displayed.  When the spreadsheet is submitted for validation, the data is checked to ensure validity and consistency.  .  

  • •If the spreadsheet fails with errors, the issues will need to be corrected.  Repeat this process until the spreadsheet passes validation with no errors. You will then need to submit for reporting         

  • •Click Submit to System. The information in the spreadsheet is submitted to the MEIS database 

  • •You are redirected to the CAR Dashboard. If you have successfully submitted Client information – the Status Icon will be half green/half yellow indicating the submission is “Passed Pending MEP Review”  

  • •A MEP staff member then has to review and finalize the submission to achieve the “Passed” icon  

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Reporting Elements – Clients
(As Needed)

Explanation of Key

1. • –Blue Circle – Started (In Process but not submitted by Center) 

   • –Green Circle – Passed (data is in MEIS) 

   • –Green/Yellow Circle with Exclamation Point  - Passed with Warnings (most likely Non-Manufacturing NAICS) 

   • –Green/Yellow Circle with Asterisk – Passed with Errors (Not used for Clients) 

   • –Green/Yellow Circle – Passed Pending MEP Review (waiting on NIST MEP review) 

   • –Red Circle – Failed (invalid file format) 

   • –Pink Circle – Cleaned (NIST MEP deleted a submission) 

   • –White Circle – No Submission (No activity as of yet) 

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This slide explains the reporting dashboard key.

Blue Circle – Started (In Process but not submitted by Center)

Green Circle – Passed (data is in MEIS)

Green/Yellow Circle with Exclamation Point  - Passed with Warnings (most likely Non-Manufacturing NAICS)

Green/Yellow Circle with Asterisk – Passed with Errors (Not used for Clients)

Green/Yellow Circle – Passed Pending MEP Review (waiting on NIST MEP review)

Red Circle – Failed (invalid file format)

Pink Circle – Cleaned (NIST MEP deleted a submission)

White Circle – No Submission (No activity as of yet)

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NIST MEP Expanded NAICS Codes (Definition of Manufacturing(DOM))

• •423510 - Metal Service Centers and Other Metal Merchant Wholesalers 

• •488991 - Packing and Crating 

• •541330 - Engineering Services 

• •541380 - Testing Laboratories 

• •54171X – Research and Development 

• •561910 - Packaging and Labeling Services 

• •811310 - Commercial and Industrial Machinery & Equipment (except Automotive & Electronic) Repair & maintenance 

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In addition to the 31 and 33 series manufacturing NAICS codes, we have expanded the Definition of Manufacturing to include the following NAICS codes:

• •423510 - Metal Service Centers and Other Metal Merchant Wholesalers 

• •488991 - Packing and Crating 

• •541330 - Engineering Services 

• •541380 - Testing Laboratories 

• •54171X – Research and Development 

• •561910 - Packaging and Labeling Services 

• •811310 - Commercial and Industrial Machinery & Equipment (except Automotive & Electronic) Repair & maintenance 

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Reporting Elements – Clients
(As Needed)

• •CAR Summary 

• •CAR Survey Results 

• •Client Counts 

• •Clients and Projects 

• •Clients/Projects/Impacts 

• •Cohort Comparison 

• •Impact Analysis  

• •IMPACT Metrics 

• •IMPACT Metrics Detail 

• •IMPACT Metrics Summary 

Related Reports: Either data used in report or clickable from page

• •Industry Profile  

• •New/Repeat Clients 

• •Success Story Details 

• •Success Story Marketing 

• •Survey Confirmation 

• •Survey Continuity (Clients and Projects)  

• •Survey Impact Allocation by Hours  

• •Survey Outliers 

• •Survey Results  

• •Survey Summary
   

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The reports listed are related to Client reporting.  You can access these reports by clicking CAR Reports from the top menu bar on your MEIS dashboard.

The Reports highlighted in blue are either new or have new features that you might want to check out.

• -CAR Summary – CPPR without the narratives, can be run at anytime  

• -New/Repeat Clients – tool to determine new and repeat (single report pulled from IMPACT Metrics Detail) and data shown is not based on availability of Survey Results 

• -Survey Continuity – Added the All tab to allow centers to chart survey management intensity by CAR Key Staff 

• -Survey Impact Allocation by Hours – ability for centers to allocate impact to CAR Key Staff or Third Parties 

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Reporting Elements – Clients
(As Needed)

Did you know:

1. • –Common errors on the CIF include: 

1. • • •Potential duplicates that require reconciliation prior to FINISH by NIST MEP 

1. • • • –Typos 

       • –Change in naming conventions but do not update MEIS and instead create duplicates 

     • •Clients that do not meet the MEP DOM 

     • •Typos in D&B number 

   • –The clients (or CIF) must be uploaded before the projects or Project Information File (PIF) can be uploaded 

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Did you know…

The Excel template for the CIF can be downloaded from the MEIS website from your Center Dashboard, in the MEP Documents widget?

The instructions for using the CIF template are included in the Excel file on the Help worksheet?

The CIF must be uploaded before the PIF can be uploaded?

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Reporting Elements – Clients
(As Needed)

Did you know:

1. • –The client file has two tabs – one contains the information that the CAR has provided about the client and the other contains information that is pulled from the mydnb.com database 

1. • • •A ! beside any field, means that the data that you entered differs from D&Bs data 

     • •You can hover over the ! and right click to accept the data if you believe it to be accurate.  

1. • –MEIS has a D&B portal which helps with obtaining DUNS Numbers and NAICS Codes and researching your clients 

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Did you know…

The client file has two tabs, one contains the information provided by the Cooperative Agreement recipient about the client and the second tab contains information that is pulled from the D&B database.

• -A red exclamation point beside any field is an indication that the data you entered is different from D&Bs data 

• -Hover over the red exclamation point and right click to accept the data if you believe it to be accurate. 

MEIS has a D&B portal which helps with obtaining DUNS numbers and NAICS codes and with conducting research on potential clients.

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Client Information Collected from Center or Calculated/Designated in MEIS

• •Client data based on what is provided by Center 

• • –CAR Client ID 

• • –D&B Number (extremely important for data integrity) 

• • –Participates in DOD Supply Chain (regular data request from DOC and DOD) 

  • –C – Level Engagement (conversations with RM) 

• • –Transformation and Coaching (progress towards Operating Outcome Transformational Goal) 

• • –Primary Contact Information for MEP Client  Survey 

  • –Secondary Contact Information for MEP Client Survey 

• •Calculated in MEIS or Designated by NIST MEP 

  • –MEIS Client ID 

  • –Client Since (based on completion year/quarter of first project) 

• • –Next Expected Survey Year/Quarter  

• • –NAICS Impact Driver (first MEP DOM NAICS from D&B, used in Industry reports and charts) 

• • –MEP Waived (approved Center request to waive meeting D&B NAICS requirement) 

• • –MEP Special Client (SBIR – designated by NIST MEP based on SBIR data resource) 

  • –Out of Business (verified by NIST MEP after Center indicates company is no longer active) 

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The Client reporting element is used by the centers to report information on Clients.  Some data is provided by Centers while other is Calculated based on information within MEIS or designated by NIST MEP.

The Next Expected Survey Year/Quarter is a calculated field recently added to help centers determine when a client will be surveyed next.  Use this field to help determine why or why not a client is showing/not showing up in Survey Confirmation.

MEP has a waiver process.  If a client is a manufacturer but does not have a valid NAICS code for whatever reason, centers can complete a form requesting the company be waived from the DOM requirement.  We currently have about 200 waivers in process.  This is not our preference, but sometimes it has to happen.  We also have been  waiving companies if the new artificial intelligence gathering processes used by D&B have resulted in a change to the record that resulted in the removal of an obviously correct NAICS code.  We are actively working with D&B to resolve this issue and based on the relationship with NIST MEP and Centers they are “making their algorithms smarter”.  We expect these unexpected changes to NAICS to be reduced over the next year or two.

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Client Information Collected using D&B

• •NIST MEP relies on D&B for client background information  

• • –Address 1 and 2 

  • –City 

  • –State 

  • –County 

  • –Zip 

  • –NAICS  (determines if project can be submitted for client) 

• • –Number of Employees (progress towards Operating Outcomes Very Small Goal) 

  • –FIPS State/County (for rural mapping to USDA RUCC) 

  • –Year Founded (progress towards Operating Outcome Startup Goal) 

  • –Prescreen Score (D&B proprietary algorithm to provide simple indicator of credit worthiness) 

  • –Corporate Hierarchy 

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The Client reporting element is used by the centers to report information on Clients.  And some data is provided by D&B based on the D&B number provided by Centers and pulled automatically from the D&B Direct Service.  It is very important that the D&B number be entered accurately and is correct for that organization. Typographical errors in the D&B number can and do result in companies without an appropriate NAICS and not located where expected when displayed on maps.

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Reporting Elements – Projects and Events
(Quarterly and As Changes Occur)

Purpose:

1. • –Project/Event information is collected for the purpose of conducting an in-house project impact survey measuring the realized impacts (sales, investment, employment, cost of goods sold, etc.) of services to our clients 

   • –Surveys are conducted six months after the completion of the project for new clients.  The survey period could vary for repeat clients 

   • –All projects and events reported to NIST MEP will be surveyed 

   • –Used in Center Performance Management and Center Annual and Panel Reviews. 

How to report:

1. • –Click CIP, hover over Projects and Events, click Submit Quarterly Reports.  Centers now have four options for submitting client information. 

1. • • •Add New (one at a time) click Add New  

     • •Click Select Files to upload a Project Information File (PIF) XML  or CSV file (requires one time setup of field mapping to work) 

     • •Click Goto Spreadsheet to use the spreadsheet interface 

     • •Click Validate/Submit from Salesforce using the Salesforce/MEIS Utility (requires one time setup of field mapping to work) 

     • •Clients must be in the system before submitting projects 

     • •Each individual project/event reported on the PIF must be assigned a unique project/event identifier.  This unique id will identify each interaction 

     • •Each Project/Event will be directly associated to one of the Funding Agreement Ids 

     • •Projects are reported with a single Client ID and Events have multiple Client IDs per record 

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The Projects and Events reporting element is used by the centers to report clients to whom they have provided services.  NIST MEP uses project records for the purpose of conducting an in-house project impact survey measuring the realized impacts of our services to clients.

From the MEIS dashboard, click on CIP, hover over Projects and Events, then click Submit Quarterly Reports.  

There are currently four ways to report Projects and Events in MEIS.

Add New (one at a time) click Add New

Click Select Files to upload a PIF XML  or CSV file (requires one time setup of field mapping to work)

Click Goto Spreadsheet to use the spreadsheet interface

Click Validate/Submit from Salesforce using the Salesforce/MEIS Utility (requires one time setup of field mapping to work)

Once a new Project or Event is submitted, MEIS assigns a unique client ID. Clients must be in the MEIS system before submitting projects.  

Each project/event will be directly associated to one of the Funding Agreement IDs.  Projects are reported with a single Client ID; however, Events have multiple Client IDs per record.

.

We plan on retiring the XML option in 2019Q4.

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Reporting Elements – Projects and Events
(Quarterly and As Changes Occur)

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Reporting Elements – Projects and Events
(Quarterly and As Changes Occur)

Workflow:

1. • –There is  a workflow if clients are submitted as a batch submission (CSV or XML), use the Spreadsheet Interface, or from Salesforce as opposed to manually entered.  

   • –Add New (One by One) 

1. • • •Center is responsible for ensuring that a duplicate Project/Event record (same Project,  two different CAR Project Ids on a client) is NOT being created. 

     • •MEIS will report an error if a duplicate CAR Project ID is used but will not give an error if the same Project/Event Title is used with a different CAR Project ID 

     • •Click OK to save 

   • –Salesforce/MEIS Utility 

     • •Click Validate from Salesforce.   Any errors are displayed.  

     • •If the utility returns errors, the issues will need to be corrected in your Salesforce System.  Repeat this process until the utility passes validation with no errors. You will then need to submit for reporting         

     • •Click Submit from Salesforce.  The information in Salesforce is submitted to the MEIS database 

     • •You are redirected to the CAR Dashboard. If you have successfully submitted Project and Event information – the Status Icon will be half green/half yellow indicating the submission is “Passed Pending MEP Review”  

     • •A MEP staff member then has to review and finalize the submission to achieve the “Passed” icon  

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There is  a workflow if Projects and Events are submitted as a batch submission (CSV or XML), use the Spreadsheet Interface, or from Salesforce as opposed to manually entered.

When entering the hard way (One by One) click Add New

• • • •Center is responsible for ensuring that a duplicate project record (same Project/Event two different CAR Project IDs) is NOT being created. 

    • •MEIS will report an error if a duplicate CAR Project ID is used but will not give an error if the same Project/Event Title is used with a different CAR Project ID 

    • •Click OK to save 

If you are using the Salesforce/MEIS Utility

• • • •Click Validate from Salesforce.   Any errors are displayed.  

    • •If the utility returns errors, the issues will need to be corrected in your Salesforce System.  Repeat this process until the utility passes validation with no errors. You will then need to submit for reporting         

    • •Click Submit from Salesforce.  The information in Salesforce is submitted to the MEIS database 

    • •You are redirected to the CAR Dashboard. If you have successfully submitted Project/Event information – the Status Icon will be half green/half yellow indicating the submission is “Passed Pending MEP Review”  

    • •A MEP staff member then has to review and finalize the submission to achieve the “Passed” icon  

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Reporting Elements – Projects and Events
(Quarterly and As Changes Occur)

Workflow:

1. • –CSV or XML Upload 

1. • • •XML Upload 

1. • • • –PIF Template with macro to convert to XML  option WILL BE  eliminated in 2019Q4 

       • –But if you are going to use this time, PIF must be converted to XML using the Excel Template 

1. • • • • »XML is an open standard for describing data and is an ideal solution for transferring structured data from server-to-client, server-to-server or application-to-application on any platform 

         • »NIST MEP provides a  PIF Template with an easy add-in to convert to XML 

       • –Click Select File, choose the proper XML file 

       • –Click Submit for Validation. Any errors with the file are displayed. When a file is submitted for validation, the file is checked to ensure validity and consistency. Field level validation ensures that the data entered in all record fields are correct. However, this type of validation does not validate against Project and Event records already existing in the MEIS database. This is achieved through validation at the database level   

       • –If the file fails with errors, the XML file will need to be corrected and re-uploaded using the same process. Repeat this process until the file passes with no errors. You will then need to submit for reporting         

       • –Click Submit to System. The information in the file is submitted to the MEIS database 

       • –You are redirected to the CAR Dashboard. If you have successfully submitted Project and Event information – the Status Icon will be half green/half yellow indicating the submission is “Passed Pending MEP Review”  

       • –A MEP staff member then has to review and finalize the submission to achieve the “Passed” icon  

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If using one of the two file upload format’s CSV or XML the instructions are similar just different file formats.  CSV is a new option that was created to eliminate the CIF Excel file with Macro that has become less stable on the various Microsoft Windows Operating System and Microsoft Office versions.

XML Upload (The PIF Template with macro to convert to XML  option WILL BE  eliminated in 2019Q4)  But if you are going to use this time, PIF must be converted to XML using the Excel Template

• • •Click Select File, choose the proper XML file 

  • •Click Submit for Validation. Any errors with the file are displayed. When a file is submitted for validation, the file is checked to ensure validity and consistency. Field level validation ensures that the data entered in all record fields are correct. However, this type of validation does not validate against Project and Event records already existing in the MEIS database. This is achieved through validation at the database level   

  • •If the file fails with errors, the XML file will need to be corrected and re-uploaded using the same process. Repeat this process until the file passes with no errors. You will then need to submit for reporting         

  • •Click Submit to System. The information in the file is submitted to the MEIS database 

  • •You are redirected to the CAR Dashboard. If you have successfully submitted Project and Event information – the Status Icon will be half green/half yellow indicating the submission is “Passed Pending MEP Review”  

  • •A MEP staff member then has to review and finalize the submission to achieve the “Passed” icon  

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Reporting Elements – Projects and Events
(Quarterly and As Changes Occur)

• • • •CSV Upload 

• • • • –Create CSV file (Microsoft Comma Delimited)  

      • –Click Select File, choose the proper CSV file 

      • –Click Submit for Validation. Any errors with the file are displayed. When a file is submitted for validation, the file is checked to ensure validity and consistency. Field level validation ensures that the data entered in all record fields are correct. However, this type of validation does not validate against Project and Event records already existing in the MEIS database. This is achieved through validation at the database level   

      • –If the file fails with errors, the CSV file will need to be corrected and re-uploaded using the same process. Repeat this process until the file passes with no errors. You will then need to submit for reporting         

      • –Click Submit to System. The information in the file is submitted to the MEIS database 

      • –You are redirected to the CAR Dashboard. If you have successfully submitted Project and Event information – the Status Icon will be half green/half yellow indicating the submission is “Passed Pending MEP Review”  

      • –A MEP staff member then has to review and finalize the submission to achieve the “Passed” icon  

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CSV Upload

• • •Click Select File, choose the proper CSV file 

  • •Click Submit for Validation. Any errors with the file are displayed. When a file is submitted for validation, the file is checked to ensure validity and consistency. Field level validation ensures that the data entered in all record fields are correct. However, this type of validation does not validate against Project and Event records already existing in the MEIS database. This is achieved through validation at the database level   

  • •If the file fails with errors, the CSV file will need to be corrected and re-uploaded using the same process. Repeat this process until the file passes with no errors. You will then need to submit for reporting         

  • •Click Submit to System. The information in the file is submitted to the MEIS database 

  • •You are redirected to the CAR Dashboard. If you have successfully submitted Project and Event information – the Status Icon will be half green/half yellow indicating the submission is “Passed Pending MEP Review”  

  • •A MEP staff member then has to review and finalize the submission to achieve the “Passed” icon  

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Reporting Elements – Projects and Events
(Quarterly and As Changes Occur))

• • • •Spreadsheet Interface 

• • • • –Click Goto Spreadsheet 

      • –Enter data (typing or cut/paste) into the appropriate fields.   

      • –Simple data errors such as an inactive National Account, will result in a pop-up error message displayed.  Complex data errors such as a duplicate Project will be displayed after validation 

      • –If adding multiple rows, select the number of rows to add 

      • –Click Submit for Validation. Any errors in the spreadsheet will be displayed.  When the spreadsheet is submitted for validation, the data is checked to ensure validity and consistency.  .  

      • –If the spreadsheet fails with errors, the issues will need to be corrected.  Repeat this process until the spreadsheet passes validation with no errors. You will then need to submit for reporting         

      • –Click Submit to System. The information in the spreadsheet is submitted to the MEIS database 

      • –You are redirected to the CAR Dashboard. If you have successfully submitted Project and Event information – the Status Icon will be half green/half yellow indicating the submission is “Passed Pending MEP Review”  

      • –A MEP staff member then has to review and finalize the submission to achieve the “Passed” icon  

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And now we want to introduce our new Spreadsheet Interface

• • •Click Goto Spreadsheet 

  • •Enter data (typing or cut/paste) into the appropriate fields.   

  • •If adding multiple rows, select the number of rows to add 

  • •Simple data errors such as an  inactive National Account will result in a pop-up error message displayed.  Complex data errors such as a duplicate project will be displayed after validation. 

  • •Click Submit for Validation. Any errors in the spreadsheet will be displayed.  When the spreadsheet is submitted for validation, the data is checked to ensure validity and consistency.  .  

  • •If the spreadsheet fails with errors, the issues will need to be corrected.  Repeat this process until the spreadsheet passes validation with no errors. You will then need to submit for reporting         

  • •Click Submit to System. The information in the spreadsheet is submitted to the MEIS database 

  • •You are redirected to the CAR Dashboard. If you have successfully submitted Project and Event information – the Status Icon will be half green/half yellow indicating the submission is “Passed Pending MEP Review”  

  • •A MEP staff member then has to review and finalize the submission to achieve the “Passed” icon  

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Reporting Elements – Projects and Events
(Quarterly and As Changes Occur)

Explanation of Key

1. • –Blue Circle – Started (In Process but not submitted by Center) 

   • –Green Circle – Passed (data is in MEIS) 

   • –Green/Yellow Circle with Exclamation Point  - Passed with Warnings (not likely to appear with Projects and Events) 

   • –Green/Yellow Circle with Asterisk – Passed with Errors (Not Used for Projects/Events) 

   • –Green/Yellow Circle – Passed Pending MEP Review (waiting on NIST MEP review) 

   • –Red Circle – Failed (invalid file format) 

   • –Pink Circle – Cleaned (NIST MEP deleted a submission) 

   • –White Circle – No Submission (No activity as of yet) 

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Reporting Elements – Projects and Events
(Quarterly and As Changes Occur)

• •CAR Summary 

• •CAR Survey Results 

• •Client Counts 

• •Clients and Projects 

• •Clients/Projects/Impacts 

• •Cohort Comparison 

• •Impact Analysis  

• •IMPACT Metrics 

• •IMPACT Metrics Detail 

• •IMPACT Metrics Summary 

Related Reports: Either data used in report or clickable from page

• •Industry Profile  

• •New/Repeat Clients 

• •Success Story Details 

• •Success Story Marketing 

• •Survey Confirmation 

• •Survey Continuity (Clients and Projects)  

• •Survey Impact Allocation by Hours  

• •Survey Outliers 

• •Survey Results  

• •Survey Summary 

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The reports listed are related to Project and Event reporting.  You can access these reports by clicking CAR Reports from the top menu bar on your MEIS dashboard.

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Reporting Elements – Projects and Events
(Quarterly and As Changes Occur)

Did you know:

1. • –Common errors when reporting Projects and Events include: 

1. • • •Date format 

     • •Cutting and pasting into project description – strange characters 

1. • • • –Textpad can be a useful tool to avoid this. Download TextPad at www.textpad.com 

     • •Total Project Value field only accepts whole values – no decimals 

     • •Staff name in CAR Key Staff MUST  be their MEIS User ID number 

     • •Incorrect email format 

     • •Using incorrect Funding Agreement Number 

   • –PIF files may be tested for validation as many times as needed by clicking Submit for Validation, but in order for the submission to be finalized the file MUST be submitted as final by clicking Submit to System 

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Did you know…

Listed on this slide are common errors received when submitting PIF for validation.

PIF files may be tested for validation as may times as needed by clicking “Submit for Validation” but in order for the submission to be finalized, the file must be submitted as final by clicking “Submit to System”.

How Centers report CAR Hours and Third Party Hours  is important and is reflected in several of the Capacity Utilization charts in the CAR Summary and CPPR Reports such as Hours per Project and In-House Vs Third Party Delivery.

               

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Projects and Events Information Collected From Center

• •Client ID/Name Association 

• •CAR Project ID 

• •Funding Agreement Number 

• •Substance (14 choices) 

• •Delivery Mode (Project or Event) 

• •Project Mode (Assessment, Training or Implementation) 

• •Project Title 

• •Project Description 

• •Initiated Date 

• •Completed Date 

• •Estimated Impact Span (EIS) 

• •National Account 

• •CAR Key Staff 

• •CAR Hours 

• •Third Party Organization 

• •Third Party  Hours 

• •Total Project Value  

• •Project Cost Share (Direct or Facilitated) 

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The Projects and Events Reporting element is used by the centers to report information on services delivered to clients in the form of Projects and Events.  Some data is provided by Centers.  We want to highlight the fields in blue.

• -Estimated Impact Span – the number of times the project will be surveyed.  Use this field strategically. This will be discussed in more detail in the Survey Confirmation module. 

• -National Account – this field has become very important with the award of Special Projects.  We will discuss further when we go over reporting for Special Projects. 

• -CAR Hours and Third Party Hours – used in capacity utilization charts – please report accurately 

• -Third Party Organization – used for capacity utilization and also to show centers working together. If you contract with another center to deliver services for you please make sure the Center delivering the service is given credit for the work by entering their organizational name in this field.  

• -Project Cost Share (Direct or Facilitated) – projects directly expensed to the cooperative agreement including matching funds vs projects that are made possible by virtue of the cooperative agreement and the power of the network brand with other government agencies.  This field will also be touched on in more detail later this afternoon when we present on … 

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Projects and Events Information Calculated/Designated by NIST MEP

• •MEIS Project ID 

• •MEP Special Project (Supply Chain Optimization, ExportTech) 

• •Reported Date – (Year/Quarter project reported – primarily used for troubleshooting purposes) 

• •Completed Period – (Year/Quarter project completed-  determines when client counts as unique and new or repeat and when selected for survey) 

• •Total Hours (calculated sum of CAR and Third Party Hours)  

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And some data is Calculated based on information within MEIS or designated by NIST MEP. We want to highlight the fields in blue.

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CIF and PIF Reporting Suggestions

• •Surveys are triggered off the project completion date, not the reporting period 

• •If you report a project, it will be surveyed 

• •Minimize the burden on clients – before reporting the project, try to decide if you can determine impact for the activity. If you cannot, then do not expect clients to be able to either 

• •Use Project EIS field to your advantage 

• •Use Project Cost Share (Direct or Facilitated) to your advantage 

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Some suggestions and reminders for submitting CIF and PIFs are:

- Survey’s are triggered of project completion date, not the reporting date

- If you report a project, it will be surveyed 6 months after the completion date of the project

• -Before reporting the project, try to determine impact for the activity and use the project Estimated Impact Span (EIS)                                                               to your advantage.         

• -Get “credit” for all the work your Center does.  Report facilitated projects to improve Unique and New/Repeat Client counts.  If the project is initiated based on a joint agreement with another agency, perhaps that agency could benefit from the NIST MEP robust client survey process.  Share the aggregate impact results for these projects with the other agencies. 

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Operating Outcomes, Progress Plan and Budget Actuals are Intertwined

Feed Performance Metrics and Annual, Panel, and Secretarial Reviews

• •Operating Outcome Statements 

• • –Proposal/Statement of Work (SOW) 

  • –Narratives (3000 character limit - not a dissertation!) 

  • –Goals ( Client and Engagement) 

• •Progress Plan (aka Technical Report) 

  • –Narrative response to Operating Outcome Statement (3000 character limit) 

  • –SF425 

  • –Other Resources 

• •Budget Actuals 

  • –Revenue and expenses based on an as of date 

  • –Reporting Set (construct in MEIS to allow NIST MEP to evaluate center performance based on the likely 10 year period between competitions 3-2, 3-2) 

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There are three interrelated Reporting Components within the MEP Partnership Model, the Operating Outcomes Statement, Progress Plan and Budget Actuals.

Operating Outcome Statements provide the Center’s plan related to several operational areas over the first three years of the cooperative agreement, prior to the first panel review or the last two years of the cooperative agreement.  Operating outcomes should be submitted anytime there is a change in narratives or the Client and Engagement goals need to be adjusted.  Typically changes are identified during the Annual Review process.

Progress plans are to be submitted bi-annually and will include any changes to the budget as part of the required upload of the SF426 Financial Form.

While the SF425 details the award cumulative budget, the Budget Actuals detail the revenues and expenses for the Period of Performance.

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NIST MEP Partnership Model Timeline

 

Operating Outcome Statements
(As Needed)

Purpose:

• •Creation of mutually agreed upon strategy and goals between NIST MEP (Resource Manager (RM)) and the Center 

• •Streamline documentation for CAR Response to Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO), renewals, annual reviews, panel reviews, best practices, performance measurement. 

Workflow:

1. • –Initially your Federal Program Officer (FPO) enters the information at the time your award is finalized into MEIS 

   • –Center either on their own or due to a conversation with your RM determines that an update to the existing Operating Outcomes is needed. 

   • –Upon submittal RM and FPO are notified that a modification has occurred. 

   • –RM reviews the changes 

1. • • •CLEAN – deletes the submission due to unnecessary submission 

     • •RESET– RM sends the Operating Outcome back to Center for changes.  Notification includes reason for RESET. 

     • •FINISH –RM approves the changes.  A notification goes out to the Center, RM, FPO and sometimes Grants  

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The Operating Outcome Statements describe the Center strategy and goals mutually agreed upon by the Center and the NIST MEP Resource Manager.  The categories found within the Operating Outcome Statements are consistent with other documentation that a Center will need to provide throughout the life of the award including Federal Financial Opportunity, renewal documentation, Annual Reviews, Panel Review, Best Practices and Performance Measurement.

Centers MUST prepare an approved Operating Outcome Statement within 90 days of award approval.  Initially the Operating Outcome Statements are entered by your Federal Program Officer into MEIS.  Centers either on their own or due to a conversation with your Regional Manager determine that the Operating Outcome Statements need to be updated.  

The Center updates the narratives and/or Client Engagement Goals within MEIS.  Centers will be required to enter an explanation as to what pieces of the Operating Outcome Statement were changed.  When finished, the Regional Manager and Federal Program Officer are notified that a change has been submitted.  It is the responsibility of the Regional Manager to approve the changes.  Once approved, MEIS will send a notification to the Center that their updates have been approved.

If the changes are not accepted, the Regional Manager may choose to CLEAN the submission which deletes any record that updates were made or the Regional Manager can RESET the submission effectively sending it back to the Center for additional editing.  Regardless in any action taken, Centers will be notified of the status of their submission.

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Operating Outcomes are to be updated as needed. - most likely prior to an annual/panel review.

How to update:

• •Click CIP Operating Outcomes, Submit Updates, edit the information, click Actions Submit  

• • –Update the Proposal/SOW (previous versions are maintained) 

  • –Update the Narrative – only enter information for the sections you wish to change.  If you enter “No Changes” then the words “No Changes” are going to overwrite what is currently stored in MEIS 

  • –Modify the Client or Engagement Goals – adjust the estimated goals as needed and circumstances change 

  • –Reviewed by your Regional Manager and will either be accepted or reset (sent back for additional clarification).  Once approved a notification is made to the FPO and Grants acknowledging that the RM has accepted the changes. 

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To update your Operating Outcome Statements, click CIP, Operating Outcomes, Submit Updates, edit the information (either the narratives or the goal estimates), provide an explanation of changes, Click Actions, Submit to notify your Regional Manager and Federal Program Officer that changes to the current Operating Outcome Statements have been made.

Centers CANNOT update the Proposal/Statement of Work (SOW) using this mechanism.  The Proposal/SOW is an official document and must go through an approval process that includes both NIST MEP and Grants.  If changes are required to this document, Centers MUST submit these changes through email to your Federal Program Officer.

To make it easier to update the Narratives, the current version for each category is displayed.  Centers and insert, delete and modify content as needed.  Do not enter “No Changes” as that will replace the existing content with the words “No Changes”.  If there are NO CHANGES needed, simply leave the existing content as is.

To adjust the estimated Client and Engagement Goals edit one or more of the categories in the table.  Make sure you are editing the applicable time period within the Reporting Set so that your changes are reflected as desired.

An email is sent to the Regional Manager and Federal Program Officer when Centers update these statements.  The changes will be Reviewed by your Regional Manager and will either be accepted (aka FINISHED) or sent back to the center for additional work (RESET_  

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Operating Outcomes
(As Needed)

Related Reports:

1. • –To be determined – are they necessary? What would be useful? 

Did you know…

1. • –Visible within your Progress Plan 

   • –Center is also responsible for information in the Operating Outcomes. Click on this element, read it, make sure the information entered is accurate..  If not you, make sure your Center Director and/or others on your management team know about this section. 

   • –Operating Outcomes mirror the narratives that you will respond to in your semi-annual Progress Plan. 

   • –Operating Outcomes will be used in your Annual/Panel reviews. 

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At this time MEIS does not provide a standard Operating Outcome Statements report.  Would this be helpful?  Lease let us know what you think.  We do output in the Clients/Projects Report, the status of each project as relates to the Client and Engagement Goals.  Run the report and scroll all the way to the right to see if a particular client/project submitted met one or more of these goals.

Did you Know….

That your current Operating Outcome Statements are visible within your Progress Plan  for reference as you complete the Progress Plan/Technical Report submission.  Click the link Show/Hide Operating Outcomes Statement above each category to see the current narratives on file.

Did you know that as a Center you are responsible for the accuracy of the Operating Outcome Statements.  Click on this element, read the content, review the Client and Engagement Goals, make sure the information entered is accurate..  If ti is not what was expected, make sure your Center Director is aware and initiates a conversation with your Regional Manager to update.

Did you know that the categories in the Operating Outcome Statements mirror the categories Centers are required to respond to in their semi-annual Progress Plan submissions?

And finally, did you know these same categories will also be used in your Annual and Panel Reviews.

This is the goal of the MEP Partnership Model, alignment across proposal, reporting, review, and renewals with the MEP Strategy.

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Client Goals - Very Small, Rural, Start-up and SMEs Served – All D&B Based

• •Definitions provided in Operating Outcome documents  

• • –Very Small = <20 employees 

  • –Rural = Using USDA Rural Continuum Code  

  • –Start-up = established within last 5 years 

  • –Other SME’s not captured in one of the specific groupings above 

  • –Total unique clients  

• •Within the Progress Plan narratives, describe the overall program progress describing center strategy for serving these clients.  NIST MEP does not want just a list of company names. 

• •Data in table is calculated based on what was submitted in your Projects.  

• •Without a project, a client alone does not count towards these goals. 

• •NOTE:  Client goals are based on what the current D&B record in MEIS states.  Records are updated automatically if the last update date is older than 6 months. As soon as a project is Finalized by NIST MEP the tracking of progress to goal occurs.   

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Client counts are triggered by project/event completion dates.  If there is no project, there can not be a client that meets a goal.  Progress to Very Small, Rural and Start-up goals will be validated based on Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) data.  

• •Very small clients – establishment employment <20 employees 

• •Rural clients – located in counties designated as rural according to the United States Department of Agricultural Rural Continuum Code (RUCC).  County is determined by D&B FIPS State and County Codes 

• •Startup – company established (year founded) within the last 5 years 

• •Other SMEs – if a client served does not meet one of the designations for Very Small, Rural, Startup as defined on this slide or Transformation as defined on the next slide, then it is an “Other SME”  As an example, a manufacturing client with employees = 232 or a client located in a county designated as urban 

• •Total Unique Clients – distinct count of clients (Duns number)  

In addition to the progress towards client engagement goals, Centers must address as part of their Progress Plan narrative a response to meeting these goals.

Please remember, as previously stated, without a project, a client alone does not count towards these goals and is validated based on D&B data.  If D&B data in MEIS is older than 6 months an automatic update from the D&B servers is initiated.  As soon as a project is finalized by NIST MEP, the tracking of progress to goals occurs.

If a center submits their Clients (CIF) and Projects/Events (PIF) prior to completing the Progress Narrative, progress for each Year/Quarter will be displayed on your Progress Plan.

Please note, these are not mutually exclusive categories, a client might count in several categories at one time (ex.  Very Small and Rural).

And finally, Centers can run the Client/Project report, scroll to the far right, to see the counts of clients/projects that meet each of these definition

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Client Goals – What is a transformational client?

• •Definition used by NIST MEP 

• • –“In Client record Centers select “Yes” or “No” to indicate if a client is considered to be in an ongoing transformative relationship with the center…Yes: Indicates the center has established a long-term, coaching relationship with the client and is helping the client transform.” 

• •Your center decides which Clients/Projects fit this definition 

• •Within the Progress Plan narratives describe your center’s overall program progress describing the center’s strategy for serving transformational clients.  This is  to be detailed description as to how your center is transforming clients.  This MUST not be just a list of company names 

• •Data in table is calculated based on what was submitted in your Projects. 

NOTE:  A client MUST be marked as transformational before you submit a project.  As soon as a project is Finalized by NIST MEP the tracking of progress to goal occurs.  

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In order for a client to be counted as transformation, the client record MUST be marked as Transformation prior to the submission of the Project/Event.  It is up to the Center along with your Regional Manager (RM) to determine the appropriate definition of a transformation client.  

Centers MUST also include a narrative in response to the Center’s strategy for serving transformational clients.  

Please note, a client MUST be marked as Transformational prior to submission of the project/event.  Centers can run the Client/Project report, scroll to the far right, to see the counts of clients/projects that meet each of these definition.

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Engagement Goals - Top Line/Bottom Line Growth

• •The Progress Plan includes two separate narrative sections related to engagement goals.  The determination of a project falling under Top Line or Bottom Line Growth is aligned with the NIST MEP substance codes.  Centers determine which projects fit where in the mix. 

1. • –Progress Narrative, overall program progress, not just a list of services 

   • –Data in table is calculated based on what was submitted in your Projects. 

   • –Percentage of all projects submitted in the quarter/time period 

Top Line Growth	Bottom Line Growth
25 – Growth Service Product Suite	23 – Lean Product Suite
27 – Strategic Management Suite	24 – Quality Product Suite
28 – Technology Services Suite	26 – Sustainability Suite
29 – Financial Analysis Suite	31 – Engineering Srvs/Plant Layout Suite
30 – Sales/Bus Dev Suite	32 – Information Technology Suite
	33 – Workforce Development

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Engagement goals are based on the Substance Code assigned to the project by the Center.  The NIST MEP Substance Codes are assigned to either contribute to Top Line or Bottom Line Growth.  

In addition to the percent of total projects completed per Year/Quarter that are Top Line or Bottom Line can be viewed in the Center Progress Plan.

Centers can run the Client/Project report, scroll to the far right, to see the counts of clients/projects that meet each of this definition

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Operating Outcome Statements

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Here is a screenshot of the Operating Outcome Statements update page.  Please note that Centers can click on Proposal/SOW documents  but cannot upload them.

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Operating Outcomes

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This screenshot shows the table for the Client Goals that can be edited as needed.  Most Centers have been through a Panel Review.  Post Panel, has your Center updated the Center Operating Outcome Goals?

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Reporting Elements – Progress Plan
(Semi-annually)

Purpose:

1. • –Technical Report – cooperative agreement requirement including the SF425 

   • –Narrative for NIST MEP staff outside of your RM/FPO to be familiar with your Center activities 

   • –Used in Center Performance Management and Feeds Annual/Panel Reviews 

How to Report:

• •Click CIP, Progress Plan, Submit Quarterly Reports, enter information (oh if only it were that easy), Click Actions Submit for Reporting 

  • –Enter your narrative response for each major section.  If there is nothing new to report for the period, let your RM and FPO know that you did not just skip the section.  (3000 characters) 

  • –Attach your SF 425 

  • –Make sure you check all of the acknowledgements (official of CAR, change budget with Grants, change OO with NIST MEP), otherwise MEIS will not allow you to submit. 

  • –If there is additional information to be included, attach document(s) in Related Documents.  

• •Most complex and time-consuming reporting element.  

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The Progress Plan/Technical Report is specifically called out in your cooperative agreement as a required submission that MUST be received by your Grants Specialist in the NIST Grants Office no later than 30 days after the end of the time period covered.  The specifics of this are detailed in your Special Award Conditions (SACs).  This report is a formal mechanism for communicating Center activities to NIST MEP Management and your Regional Team (Regional Manager, Federal Program Officer, Grants Specialist).

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Reporting Elements – Progress Plan
(Semi-annually)

Workflow:

• •Once submitted, an email is sent to your  FPO, RM and Grants Specialist to notify them that the report is ready for review. 

• •FPO and/or RM has initial review and will either: 

• • –FINISH – accept submission, no longer editable by the center (email is sent to Center, FPO, RM and Grants) 

  • –RESET – Center is able to edit again to make revisions, an email is sent to all parties indicating the submission has been RESET, process begins again 

  • –CLEAN – Submission is deleted, an email is sent to all parties 

  • –Grants has a reconciliation review which may/may not be going on simultaneously Typically look at SF425 and will RESET if the form submitted is not correct/reasonable 

  • –When Finished (approved by both the FPO and RM), the entire package including PDFs of the narrative, SF425 and supplemental documents are sent to Grants, RM, FPO and Center. 

Related Reports: Either data used in report or clickable from page

1. • –Progress Plan – from the Progress Plan List – Click Actions, Print 

   • –MEIS Dashboard – CAR Documents Widget – link to most recent report 

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Once submitted an email is sent to your Federal Program Officer, Regional Manager and Grants Specialist notifying them that the report is ready for review.  

Your Federal Program Officer and/or Regional Manager will review the document for compliance and will either:

• •Approve (FINISH) by both the FPO and RM.  Once both approvals are logged, an email will be sent to the Center Director, Center Reporting Contact, Federal Program Officer, Regional Manager and Grants Specialist indicating the report is final. 

• •RESET the submission if it is incomplete or incorrect which then opens the report up for editing by the Center again.  Once the report has been remedied the Center will SUBMIT again starting the workflow over. 

• •CLEAN – the submission is deleted as it was unnecessary and an email is sent to all parties with an explanation.  

When all approvals have been received, the entire package including PDFs of the narratives, SF425, and supplemental documents are sent to Grants, Federal Program Officer, Regional Manager and the Center for filing purposes.

At the same time that your Federal Program Officer and Regional Manager are reviewing your Progress Plan submission, so is the Grants Specialist.  The Grants Specialist is primarily looking at he SF425 financial form for compliance with regulations.

While the Grants Specialist will not RESET your submission and return it to you directly, they might contact your Federal Program Officer and ask them to RESET so that you can fix and resubmit or they may contact you directly. Because of timing this could happen after you are already received an acceptance email.

A printable version of the Progress Plan can be generated from the Progress Plan list page.  Click Actions, Print and export to PDF.

Until the Budget Actuals are entered by the Center, this information in the View Budget link from the Progress Plan will not appear in the report.

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Reporting Elements – Progress Plan
(Semi-annually)

Did you know:

1. • –You can read your Proposal/Statement of Work from within your Progress Plan. 

   • –Click to view/hide Operating Outcome Statements 

   • –Click to view/hide Previous Progress Plan narratives 

1. • –Click to view but not edit your Budget Table  

1. • –Click to view/hide Client and Engagement Goals 

   • –Click on the Year/Qtr links to see clients identified by name that meet each goal 

   • –You can attach additional documents to provide more information to NIST MEP about the project (Schedules, Gantt Charts, Graphs, Images, Narratives) 

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Did you know that the Progress Plan has lots and lots of clickable links that display all kinds of useful information including:

• •Proposal/Statement of Work (SOW) history and clickable/downloadable links 

• •Click the View/Hide Operating Outcome Statement for each category 

• •Click the View/Hide Previous Progress Plan narratives 

• •The View Budget link to display the Actual and Estimated budgets across all known awards and includes variance and total calculations. 

• •Click the View/Hide link to display Client and Engagement Goals, when you click this link a table appears, click the Year/Quarter link to see which Clients and Projects are included in the counts for each. 

And if you have additional information you want to convey to NIST MEP that require supporting documentation, upload a variety of electronic file formats in the Related Document section.

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Progress Plan – Semi-annual response to Operating Outcomes

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This is a screenshot showing where to click to Show/Hide Operating Outcome Statement as well as a sample narrative response to the Car Client Activity Levels by type of Company.

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Progress Plan – Semi-annual response to Operating Outcomes (Continued)

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This screenshot shows where to click to View/Hide the Client Goals, drill down to Year/Quarter and then the details.  The number at the bottom is a unique count across the time period (3 or 2 years).

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Progress Plan – Semi-annual response to Operating Outcomes (Continued)

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Click the Budget Tab  to view Actual Budget by Period of Performance (POP) and use the checkboxes to display Estimated Budgets and Variance for one or more awards.

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Budget Actuals
(Semi-annually and Prior to Panel Review)

Purpose:

• •Communication of detailed Revenue and Expenses during the reported time period. 

• •Used in Center Performance Management and Center Annual and Panel Reviews. 

Workflow:

1. • –Centers enter Budget Actuals as frequently as needed for activities happening such as a Panel Review where current financials are important to be stated 

   • –Notifications are sent to Centers, Federal Program Officer and Regional Manager.  Please note Mailbox icon at top right of MEIS dashboard, if notifications are pending there will be a count shown in red if: 

1. • • •Budget Actuals are >180 days old 

     • •Budget Actuals have been recently changed 

     • •Budget Actual As of Date does not equal end date of the Period of Performance and it is greater than 30 days after the end of the Period of Performance 

     • •Budget Actuals As of Date does not equal end date of the Award and is greater than 90 days after the end of the Award 

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The Budget Actuals entity is used to communicate detailed current Revenue and Expenses during the reported time period.

Centers enter Budget Actuals as frequently as needed for activities happening such as a Panel Review where current financials are imported to be stated and analyzed.

Due to the importance of having access to recent Budget Actual information, various notification are visible when updates are needed or changes have recently occurred.

Please note the Envelope icon at the top right of the MEIS dashboard, if notifications are pending, there will be a count shown in red. If:

Budget Actuals are >180 days old

Budget Actuals have been recently changed

Budget Actual As of Date does not equal end date of the Period of Performance and it is greater than 30 days after the end of the Period of Performance

Budget Actuals As of Date does not equal end date of the Award and is greater than 90 days after the end of the Award

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Budget Actuals are to be updated when and as often as needed.  Though most likely when submitting a Progress Plan and prior to an annual/panel review.

How to report:

• •Click CIP, Management, Budget Actuals, click on appropriate Reporting Set, enter the information for As of Date, Revenues and Expenses, automatically saved on entry  

Related Reports:

1. • –To be determined – are they necessary? What would be useful? 

Did you know…

1. • –Visible within CIP, Progress Plan 

   • –Visible within CIP, Funding Program, Budget Tab 

   • –. Used within your Center Profile and Performance Report (CPPR) 

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Budget Actuals are to be updated when and as often as needed though most like when submitting a Progress Plan due to complimentary nature and prior to an Annual or Panel Review.  

To update your Budget Actuals, click CIP, Budget Actuals, click on appropriate Reporting Set, enter the information for As of Date, Revenues and Expenses.  Changes are automatically saved on entry and clicking or tabing to next field.

This is a newish process so there is still significant confusion among NIST MEP and Centers as to when and how to enter this information.  As such there are no standard reports developed yet, though there will be some in the near future.

Did you know that Budget Actual information is visible within the Progress Plan and Funding Program elements.

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Budget Actuals

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Here is a screenshot.

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Budget Actuals Key - Explained

• •Centers have asked that there be a visual on their Reporting Dashboard.  

• • The following key applies: 

• • –Green – Budget Actuals was submitted  >= 1 <= 90 days 

  • –Passed with Warnings – Budget Actuals was submitted between >90 <= 180 days 

  • –Red – Last Budget Actuals was submitted > 180 days 

  • –Clear/White – No submission 

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Since Budget Actuals are not a Reporting Element, there was no status assigned on the Reporting Dashboard.  Centers found this confusing and wanted to have a status displayed for consistency.  

The following key applies to ONLY Budget Actuals.

Green – Budget Actuals was submitted  >= 1 <= 90 days

Passed with Warnings – Budget Actuals was submitted between >90 <= 180 days

Red – Last Budget Actuals was submitted > 180 days

Clear/White – No submission

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Reporting Elements – Success Story
(Quarterly)

Purpose:

1. • –Success Stories reflect the variety and depth of impacts companies realize and are one of the most effective tools to communicate the value of MEP services 

   • –Success Stories share experiences and communicate the value of MEP’s services to stakeholders and potential clients, and are often used as part of presentations for the budgeting process to demonstrate the effectiveness of the system and how it operates  

   • –NIST and MEP create promotional materials using Success Stories that best describe the value and quality of their services to potential clients 

   • –Posted on NIST MEP public website (last 5 years) 

How to report:

1. • –Click CIP, hover over Success Stories, Submit Quarterly Reports, review Success Stories, click Actions Add to add new Success Story, click Actions Submit for Reporting 

1. • • •At least one Success Story is required every quarter 

     • •Success Stories should be based on projects or events that were completed with small manufacturing establishments 

     • •The project cannot be over 3 years old 

     • •The primary NAICS codes of the SMEs must meet the MEP DOM. 

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The purpose of the Success Story reporting element is to reflect the variety and depth of impacts that companies realize and are one of the most effective tools to communicate the value of the MEP services to stakeholders and potential clients.   NIST and MEP use Success Stories in their promotional materials.  

Centers are required to submit at least one Success Story every reporting quarter.  The project cannot be over 3 years old and are posted on the NIST MEP Public Website.

From the MEIS dashboard, click on CIP, hover over Success Stories, Submit Quarterly Reports, review Success Stories, click Actions, Add to add a new Success Story.  Click Actions, Submit for Reporting.

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Reporting Elements – Success Story
(Quarterly)

Workflow:

1. • –Each time the CAR submits a Success Story a NIST MEP staff person will review the material. A story may be accepted or rejected.  A story is accepted if it meets all requirements and if it is well written. A story will be rejected if it is missing required information or if it is not well written. At least two quantified impacts are required. 

   • –If the story is rejected, the CAR staff person that submitted the story, the Marketing Contact and the CAR Director will be notified by e-mail  and given the reason(s) for rejection. The CAR will then edit the story online from the CAR Information Page and submit it again. If the story is accepted, the CAR staff person assigned the CAR Reporting Role will be notified of the acceptance by e-mail. 

   • –There will be two separate versions of a Success Story. One will be submitted to the CAR Information Page, which will serve as a record that the CAR met its reporting requirements. The second copy will become the working copy edited by NIST MEP for publication. After a story has been edited the two copies will not match. CARs will not be allowed to directly edit a story after it has been accepted 

   • –NIST MEP will review and, if necessary, edit the story. The story will be showcased after completion and made available in MEIS (https://meis.nist.gov) and on the MEP Public Site (http://nist.gov/mep) 

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Each time as Success Story is submitted for reporting, there is a workflow that needs to be followed.

• -Once a Success Story is submitted, it is reviewed and accepted or rejected by a NIST MEP staff person.  A story will be rejected if it is missing required information, not written well, or does not include at least one required quantified impact. 

• -If a story is rejected the CAR staff person that submitted the story, the Marketing contact and the CAR Director will be notified by email and given the reason for rejection.  The CAR will then edit the story online from the CAR Information Page and resubmit.  If the story is accepted, the CAR staff person assigned with the Reporting Role will be notified of the acceptance by email. 

• -There will be two separate versions of the Success Story.  Once will be submitted to the CAR Information Page, which will serve as a record that the CAR met it’s reporting requirements.  The second copy will become the working copy that will be edited by NIST MEP for Success Story publication.  After a story has been edited, the two copies will not match.  CARs will not be allowed to directly edit a story from the CAR Information Page after it has been accepted. 

• -Success Stories will be showcased after acceptance ad made available in MEIS and on the MEP Public Site. 

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Reporting Elements – Success Story
(Quarterly)

Related Reports: Either data used or clickable from page

1. • –Clients/Projects/Impacts 

   • –Success Story Details 

   • –One Pager (Documents/Communications) 

   • –MEP Public Site 

   • –Success Story – Marketing  

   • –Success Story - Original 

Did you know:

1. • –The project must be accepted by NIST MEP and in MEIS as “finished” before it is available to be written about in a Success Story. 

   • –Before submitting a Success Story for public use, the CAR must obtain the client’s written approval to release the information contained in the story 

   • –NIST MEP encourages CARs to create the narrative portions of the Success Story report using a word processing program and then cut and paste the information into the online form. You would not want to compose long narratives on the web and then have a network problem cause you to lose the information.   

   • –All formatting is stripped when submitted so no need to make it “pretty”. Bullets etc. cannot be supported. 

   • –If corrections are needed after the Success Story has been submitted to NIST MEP, contact the NIST MEP Success Story Administrator 

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Useful reports related to Success Stories are listed on this slide.

Did you know…

• -The project must be accepted by NIST MEP and in MEIS as “finished” before it is available to be written about in a Success Story? 

• -Before submitting a Success Story for public use, the CAR must obtain the client’s written approval to release the information contained in the story? 

• -NIST MEP encourages CARs to create the narrative portions of the Success Story report using a word processing program and then cut and paste the information into the online form?  This is to prevent Centers from composing long narratives on the web and then have a network problem cause you to lose the information. 

• -All formatting is stripped when submitted so no need to make it “pretty”? 

• -If corrections are needed after the Success Story has been submitted to NIST MEP, you must contact the NIST MEP Success Story Administrator? 

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Center Can Choose a Success Story for your One Pager

• •The Center One Page fact sheet provides a brief overview of the Center plus highlights a Success Story 

• •To choose which story is highlighted in the Success Story, the user must go to MEIS CIP Click Success Stories 

• •From the Success Story list page click the radio button of the story you are interested in  

• •Click Success Story Highlighted in One Pager Actions  Save 

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Success Stories: A Few More Things to Remember

• •Clients cannot be the subject of repeated success stories within a two-year span.  

• •Stories will be edited to fit to one marketing page.  

• •Success stories must follow the guidelines in the next slide and include information for each element. Each section is represented in MEIS.  

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Success Story Required Elements

• •Company Description:  The description should be a concise, substantive description of the company including name, city/state, number of employees, branches/other facilities, key products and markets, and indicate if it’s family/woman-owed, etc. 

• •Situation: Provide a brief explanation of the company’s challenge, whether high-level decision makers were involved, and why the company needed your assistance. 

• •Solution: Briefly describe how you helped resolve the company’s challenge, including services provided and an overview of the process used to implement them, whether you brought in other resources, etc. Summarize actions taken. 

• •Results: This section should feature 2-5 high-level impacts, with the most significant impact reported first. At least two should be a quantifiable increase in sales, jobs, or investment, or commercialization of new products and/or expansion into new markets. Centers can include data on cost savings or other changes in company performance metrics. Qualitative results could include such results as: the introduction of new technology, entering new markets, launching a new product, improving safety, etc. 

• •Testimonial: Provide a short testimonial about the client’s experience working with your center and/or the impacts they have achieved as a result. A C-suite executive provides the most credibility.  

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Funding Programs

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Centers can only view data in Funding Programs. It is a great place to look at budget, reporting sets, and quarterly allocations for IMPACT Metrics

Purpose:

1. • –Centers need to be familiar with the information in this module as it is affects your ability to report and how your center’s performance is measured 

1. • • •General Information about the award 

     • •Contacts – who is who at NIST MEP and Grants on your Cooperative Agreement 

     • •Federal Quarterly Allocation – Used in metric calculations. 

     • •Total Cash Quarterly Allocation – Displayed on The CARD. 

     • •Budget – read only view of all budget information 

     • •Reporting Set – construct necessary for reporting and to look at center performance over 10 year period prior to competition 

How to report:

1. • –Not a direct submission by Centers though Budget Table Actuals are updated by Progress Plan submission 

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Centers can only view data in the Funding Programs entity.  This module has a wealth of information about Center Cooperative Agreement Awards, Periods of Performance, NIST MEP Contacts and Sub-recipient Agreements.

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Funding Programs – General Information – Funding Agreement (Awards)

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This is a screenshot of the Funding Agreements (also known as Awards) list showing reporting frequency for the Progress Plan/Technical Report.  Centers can drill down to see award information.

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Funding Programs – General Information – Funding Agreement (Awards)

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The Funding Agreement (Awards) record displays the Agreement Number (necessary for Project reporting, recipient name, start and end date of the multi-year award, Periods of Performances and associated Proposals/Statements of work.  

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Funding Programs – General Information - Period of Performance

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From the Funding Program (Awards) list, Centers can drill down into the Periods of Performance (POPs) for each award.  Within each Period of Performance are any Sub-recipients who have a legal and financial responsibility to the Center on the Cooperative Agreement.

The Sub-recipients identified here are included on Center Locations maps within MEIS and the CPPR.

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Funding Programs – Contacts

 

Funding Programs – Federal Quarterly Allocation

 

Funding Programs – Total Cash Quarterly Allocation

 

Funding Programs – Budget

 

Funding Programs – Reporting Set

 

Non Reporting Element- Documents & Communications

• •The Documents & Communications section of MEIS is a repository of information directly relating to your center 

• •Documents found in this section include: 

• • –IMPACT Metrics – Published Versions 

  • –Old D&B Company Files 

  • –Operating Plan 

  • –State Fact Sheets 

  • –Review Documents  

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Special Projects

 

Special Award Programs (RCAPs, MDAPs, DefenseCyber, CARES, MFG USA Embedding)

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The Special Project funding programs once active are added to your configuration in MEIS.  

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Special Projects – National Account Field

• •Projects will be reported on your Center Operations base award. 

• •Repurpose the National Account field.  If you do not already have this field in your CRM – Project entity you will need to create. 

• •Your National Network Partners will also be able to use these tags to submit projects they deliver.  A center working with many Special Project  awardees can submit projects for each and every award.  

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Special Projects will be reported on your Center Operations base award.

The National Account field has been repurposed to include the new Special Project Name tags.  You will need to create this field in your CRM systems in order to report.  

Your National Network Partners will also be able to use these tags to submit projects they deliver.

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Special Projects – List of National Account Codes

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CARES	“RCAP” – GAMEP – FTA Supplier Forum	"RCAP" - NJMEP - FSMA
“AMTS” – CMTC – Industry 4.0	“RCAP” – GAMEP – Machine Shop	"RCAP" - NJMEP - QSENN
“AMTS” – MMTC – AMTS D3+	“RCAP” – GENEDGE – MedAccred	"RCAP" - NVIE - STAT-P
“AMTS” – PurdueMEP – ISMART	"RCAP" - GENEDGE - MEDMMAP-2	"RCAP" - NYMEP - MFG Readiness
"AMTS" - TMAC - AAMT	"RCAP" - GENEDGE - NN Cyber VA	"RCAP" - OHMEP - Digi Maturity
"AMTS" – NJMEP – SupplyChain	“RCAP” – HTDC – Smart Talent	"RCAP" - OMEP - ITAP
"DefenseCyber"	"RCAP" - MassMEP - Barometrics	"RCAP" - OMEP - ITAP Phase2
"MDAP" – PRIMEX-EARTHQUAKE	"RCAP" - MMEC - FSMA	"RCAP" - PAMEP - Kata in a Box
“MDAP” – TMAC – Hurricane Laura	"RCAP" - MMEP - AddMfg	"RCAP" - PRIMEX - Industry 4.0
"RCAP" - CMTC - NN Cyber CA	"RCAP" - MMTC - Cybersecurity	"RCAP" - SD MEP - Technology Adoption
"RCAP" - CONNSTEP - Mfg Skills for CT	"RCAP" - MMTC - NN Cyber MI	"RCAP" - TNMEP - Adv Tech Team
"RCAP" - FloricaMakes - I4.0 Baldrige	"RCAP" - MO MEP - America Works	"RCAP" - URIRF - ICDM
"RCAP" - FloridaMakes - Aeroflex	"RCAP" - MO MEP - FSMA	"RCAP"- NYMEP - CRIRC
"RCAP" - GAMEP - CMMC Training	"RCAP" - NCMEP - Digital Supply Chain
"RCAP" - GAMEP - FSMA	"RCAP" - NIE - Trusted Advisors

Here is the complete list of National Accounts for “active” Special Projects as of today.

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All Special Project required elements will appear on your Reporting Dashboard

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All required elements will appear on your Reporting Dashboard.  

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Immediate quarterly reporting requirements

• •Staff – assign staff to work on the new awards 

• • –Click CIP, Staff, Submit Quarterly Reports, check the box for staff/award, click Actions – Submit for Reporting  

• •Contacts – associate staff to be responsible for certain tasks like project management, reporting, survey so that they can be easily contacted via phone or email 

• • –Click CIP, Contacts, Submit Quarterly Reports, Select the Program Name from the dropdown, click the View/Edit icon for the Contact Type, use the Available/Selected Box to designate staff to the Contact Type, Click Add, click OK to save 

• • • •Project Manager 

    • •Reporting Contact 

    • •Survey Contact 

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Staff and Contacts reporting elements can and should be completed now and updated anytime there is a change.  

Contacts are added so staff associated with the new awards can be easily be contacted via phone or email.  

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Special Projects will be reporting on project progress based on the requirements of the award.

Examples include:

• •Program Status:  (Provide narrative that details the status of your program.  Specific details that discuss project specific stages (Define, Design, Develop, Deploy), partnerships developed, coordinations made, challenges and next steps)  

 

• •Status Outcomes:  (includes Results/ Accomplishments, Lessons learned and best practices) 

Progress Plans will be reviewed by the NIST MEP Project Manager and FPO and sent to Grants once finalized.

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You will be reporting on progress based on Program status and Status Outcomes.  In the Program Status field, you will provide specific details on the status of your program, project stages, partnerships development, challenges and next steps as detailed in the Progress Plan form.  Click on the question mark (HELP) icon for specific instructions and guidance.

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All parties get to share in the success of these projects.

Scenario – GA MEP partners with Oregon MEP to deliver food safety services to a food manufacturer in Oregon.  Oregon delivers the services and submits the project for survey, tagging the project with National Account “RCAP” – GAMEP – FSMA.

1. • –Aggregate client and project counts along with impacts rolled up to the “RCAP” – GAMEP – FSMA. 

   • –Oregon MEP is also credited with the client and project counts and impacts related to the RCAP.  Reflected in The IMPACT metrics. 

This ONLY works if projects are properly tagged.

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All parties get to share in the project success.  For example, GA MEP partners with Oregon MEP to deliver food safety services to a food manufacturer in Oregon.  Oregon delivers the services and submits the project for survey, tagging the project with the National Account “RCAP” – GAMEP – FSMA tag.  

The aggregate client and project counts along with the impacts rolled up to the RCAP – GAMEP FSMA and the Oregon MEP center is also credited with the client and project counts and impacts related to the RCAP projects that they deliver.  These impacts are reflected in the IMPACT metrics.

This only works if projects are properly tagged.

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Who is responsible to ensure Special projects are being tagged?

• •Project Manager at the Lead MEP Center 

• •Reporting Contact at the Lead MEP Center 

• •Project Manager at NIST MEP 

Communication will be key.  It is important that the PM for the Lead Center make sure the delivering Center is properly educated (CD, sales, delivery, and reporting staff) in the way to report the project.  And that the Lead Center PM follows-up to make sure projects are reported properly.  If it is not marked it is not counted.

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The project manager and reporting contact at the Lead MEP Center and the Project Manager at NIST MEP are responsible for making sure the projects are being properly tagged.  It is important for the Project Manger for the Lead Center to make sure the delivering center is properly educated in the way to report the project.  If projects are not tagged with the National Account Code, they will not be counted as an RCAP project

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Survey Confirmation Schedule

Quarter	Dates Open
Quarter 1	March 1 – March 31
Quarter 2	June 1 – June 30
Quarter 3	September 1 – September 30
Quarter 4	December 1 – December 31

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The schedule for the Survey Confirmation process is shown in this slide.

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Take Advantage of the Many MEIS Reports
Survey Confirmation – 2 Reports

There are 2 survey confirmation reports available to assist you.

• -Survey Confirmation (All Clients & Projects) – Lists clients and projects that went to survey in any given period of time, based on your selection criteria. 

• -Survey Confirmation (Clients per Tab) – lists clients and projects for any given period of time, based on your selection criteria, on separate tab, if exported to Excel.   

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Survey Confirmation

• •Clients and Project data is submitted well before the survey occurs. 

• •CARs are given one month immediately prior to the survey to review client contact information and make changes. 

• •Opportunity to update information needed to conduct the survey and ensure that the materials sent to the client appear as professional as possible. 

• •Most CARS involve their field staff in the review process since it is the field staff that are most aware of changes. 

• •All client records with valid manufacturing MEP DOM NAICS Codes will be sent to survey regardless of whether the CAR has completed the confirmation process.  MEP refreshes the record with current D&B information if >6 months aged at the time Survey Confirmation is opened. 

Each quarter, NIST MEP will use the client and project information to select clients for survey. The client unique identifier will be used to identify the clients that will be surveyed as well as the associated Projects and Events that will appear on the project list.

After the clients and projects/events are selected, CARs will then be able to confirm and correct the data before the survey begins.  This process is called Survey Confirmation.

One month prior to the survey occurring, CARS will review and confirm the information used in conducting the survey.  This is an opportunity for CARs to edit the following fields:

• • -Client information such as: name, address, and phone number. 

  • -Client primary and secondary contact information such as: salutation, first name, last name, position, phone, and email. 

CARs should take advantage of the data confirmation process to ensure every piece of information that will be seen by the client is correct and presents a professional image.

In many cases, CARs may want to involve field staff in reviewing the information and appropriate arrangements should be made to ensure that field staff understand the process and are able to complete it in the time allotted.

All Client records with a valid manufacturing MEP DOM NAICS code will be sent to survey regardless of whether the CAR has completed the confirmation process. MEP refreshes the record with current D&B information at the time Survey Confirmation is opened if the last updated date is > 6 months aged.

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Survey Confirmation Suggestions

• •Use this one-month period as a time to reconnect with clients. Go over project(s) up for survey to discuss expected impacts and investigate current needs and look for new opportunities with the customer.  

• •Use this period to initiate a D&B Investigation for any clients that do not have an acceptable NAICS Code. They are marked with a red exclamation point !  

• •Let clients know that you are trying to minimize the burden on them. Provide clients with third-party survey vendor name, survey schedule, and describe the process in detail to set expectations. 

• •Emphasize taking the web-based survey and that it should not take more than 15 minutes of their time if the field agent has already had a project close-out/feedback session where it was determined the success of the project. 

Suggestions for Survey Confirmation:

• -Use this one-month period as a time to reconnect with Clients.  Review projects up for survey to discuss expected impacts and investigate current needs and possible new opportunities with the customer. 

• -Use this period to initiate a D&B investigation for any clients that do not have an acceptable NAICS code.  They are marked with a red exclamation point. 

• -Let clients know that you are trying to minimize the burden on them.  Provide clients with third-party survey vendor name, survey schedule, and describe the process in detail to set expectations. 

• -Emphasize taking the web-based survey and that it should not take more than 15 minutes of their time if the field agent has already had a project close-out/feedback session with them. 

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During Survey Confirmation, centers can update client contact information and manage the number of times a project is surveyed (EIS)

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During Survey Confirmation, centers can update client contact information and manage the number of times a project is surveyed by updating Estimated Impact Span (EIS).  Use it to your advantage.

As client/project records are reviewed, the client moves from “Pending Review” to either “Reviewed” or :”EIS set to # times surveyed”.  A client can ONLY be moved to “Excluded” by contacting the NIST MEP Survey
Administrator.

It is important to remember that projects trigger surveys, so a client may be surveyed on more than one project.  If you are a client where EIS was set too high, centers MUST make sure that the EIS is set to equal the number of times surveyed for every project identified to be surveyed.

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Outlier Verification

Moving on to Outlier Verifications.

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Outlier Verification Process

• •After survey closes, third-party contractor exports data from their system 

• •Data are imported into MEIS. 

• •Outliers flagged and confirmed by centers: 

• • –>5M Total$ 

  • –>250 Total Job Impacts 

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After the Survey closes, the third party contractor exports data from their system.  Data are then imported into MEIS.

NIST MEP will examine the survey responses to identify survey results requiring verification, also known as outliers.

All survey responses with a total quantified dollar impact amount of $5 million or more, and/or total job impact of 250 or more will require verification.

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Reporting Elements – Outlier Verification

Purpose:

• •Sometimes clients report significant impacts that NIST MEP requires be validated by the Center by communicating with the client to make sure what was reported is accurate. 

• •Outliers are flagged and confirmed by Centers by indicating the method for communication with the client and a short paragraph describing the work and why the large impact was realized as a result. 

• • –>5M Total$ 

  • –>250 Jobs 

How to report:

1. • –Click CIP, hover over Survey, Survey Outliers 

1. • • •Click on the View edit icon for the appropriate impact verification record. 

     • •Click the radio button to indicate the Verification Type 

     • •Click the radio button to indicate the Verification Status 

     • •Make any changes necessary to the quantified amounts. 

     • •Enter the narrative justification (minimum 500 characters) 

   • –Click Save Outlier 

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Sometimes clients report significant impacts that NIST MEP requires be validated by the Center by communicating with the client to make sure what was reported is accurate.

Outliers (>$5M Total, >250 Jobs) are flagged and confirmed by Centers by indicating the method for communication with the client and a short paragraph describing the work and why the large impact was realized as a result.

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Reporting Elements – Outlier Verification

Workflow:

1. • –Centers are notified via email when Outliers need to be verified including a deadline for verification 

   • –Centers edit the Outlier records in MEIS.  When complete, the record is saved and an email is generated and sent to the NIST MEP Survey Administrator, Center Survey Contact, Center Director and NIST MEP Manager for Program Evaluation. 

   • –The NIST MEP Survey Administrator reviews the information provided and adjusts the impacts if necessary. 

   • –Once all Outliers have been reviewed and adjusted, the IMPACT Metrics reports are run and distributed to Centers. 

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Each time an Outlier Verification is identified  for review, there is a workflow that needs to be followed.

Centers are notified via email when Outliers need to be verified including a date when verifications MUST be entered into MEIS>

Centers edit the Outlier records in MEIS.  When complete, the record is saved and an email is generated and sent to the NIST MEP Survey Administrator, Center Survey Contact, Center Director and NIST MEP  Manager for Program Evaluation.

The NIST MEP Survey Administrator  reviews the information provided and adjusts the impacts if necessary.

Once all Outliers have been reviewed and adjusted, the IMPACT Metrics reports are run and distributed to Centers.

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Outlier Verification

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This screen shot indicates the Outliers to be verified.

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Outlier Verification

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This screenshot shows the two radio buttons that have to be clicked on to display the Verification Type and Status.   Impacts that are incorrectly reported can ONLY be changed downward.  Impacts cannot be increased.

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Outlier Verification

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This screenshot shows the inclusion of a narrative justifying the large impacts.  This has been recently changed to require 500 characters at a minimum.  

A justification is not needed if the impacts are reduced to <$5M and <250 Jobs.

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Post-Survey Data Analysis - Knowledge Sharing

The final step in the survey process is data analysis and sharing of knowledge with the National Network, our stakeholders and your clients.

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Post-Survey Data Analysis - Knowledge Sharing

• •After all survey outliers have been verified, the data is ready to be analyzed 

• •Centers’ survey results are made available 

• •Analysis 

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Once required outlier verifications are complete, CAR’s survey results data files will be available for download from their CAR Browser.  

In addition to making the raw data files available to CARs, NIST MEP will load the data files into a database for permanent storage. Output reports derived from this database will be available to CARs under the security of their CAR Browser on the MEIS Web Site.

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Post-Survey Data Analysis Suggestions

• •Take advantage of the survey results reports in MEIS. 

• •Review the data you receive from the survey. 

• •Analyze the impacts, your response rate, Net Promoter Score™, client comments, answers to challenges question, etc. 

• •The more you can learn from your clients the more efficiently you can respond to their needs. 

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Post-Survey suggestions:

• -Take advantage of the Survey Results (Quarter) report by clicking Reports>CAR Reports in MEIS. 

• -Review the data received from the survey. 

• -Analyze the impacts, your response rate, Net Promoter Score™, clients comments and answers to challenge questions. 

The more you can learn from your clients, the more efficiently you can respond to their needs.

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Panel Reviews (A Data Perspective)

 

Purpose of the Performance Panel Reviews

The intent of the Performance Panel Reviews:

1. • –Satisfy Statutory Requirement (American Innovation & Competitiveness Act); 

   • –Assess their overall performance as it relates to market penetration, economic impact, and financially sustainability to improve the productivity and performance of the U.S. manufacturing; 

   • –Focusing on trends and patterns to diagnose the causes for strong and weak performances; 

   • –Include evaluation of a Center’s own Performance Management System effectiveness and use, including self-assessment; 

   • –Provide feedback on Center strengths and opportunities for performance improvement, including deficiency areas, if any, as defined in the Performance Policy; 

   • –Promotes the sharing of information across the National Network; and 

   • –Identify common Center performance gaps so the program can leverage internal and/or external resources to assist the National Network in improving performance. 

   • –Conducted during the 3rd & 8th Year of Center Operation 

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NIST MEP is required to measure the performance of the Center against the following which are identified in detail in the AICA language.

8 Objectives:

‘(c) OBJECTIVE.—The objective of the Program shall be to enhance competitiveness, productivity, and technological performance in United States manufacturing through—

        1) the transfer of manufacturing technology and techniques developed at the Institute to Centers and, through them, to manufacturing companies throughout the United States;

        2) the participation of individuals from industry, institutions of higher education, State governments, other Federal agencies, and, when appropriate, the Institute in cooperative technology transfer activities;

        3) efforts to make new manufacturing technology and processes usable by United States-based small and medium-sized companies;

        4) the active dissemination of scientific, engineering, technical, and management information about manufacturing to industrial firms, including small and medium-sized manufacturing companies;

        5) the utilization, when appropriate, of the expertise and capability that exists in Federal agencies, other than the Institute, and federally-sponsored laboratories;

        6) the provision to community colleges and area career and technical education schools of information about the job skills needed in manufacturing companies, including small and medium-sized manufacturing         businesses in the regions they serve;

        7) the promotion and expansion of certification systems offered through industry, associations, and local colleges when appropriate, including efforts such as facilitating training, supporting new or existing         apprenticeships, and providing access to information and experts, to address workforce needs and skills gaps in order to assist small- and medium sized manufacturing businesses; and

        8) the growth in employment and wages at United States-based small and medium-sized companies.

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Center Performance Panel Review Inputs

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There are several key inputs to the Panel Review:

• •CPPR/Strategic Plan 

• •PY Annual/Panel Review Reports 

• •Centers Response to Pre-Panel Questions 

• •Centers Performance Management System Overview (Presentation) 

The structure of the CPPR is intended to provide:

• •a consistent review structure across the National Network; 

• •an opportunity to assess a Center’s overall performance across three elements: 1.) market penetration 2.) effective and efficient use of Center capacity and financial resources, and. 3.) trends on Center generated economic impact and financial viability; 

• •trends and appropriate comparisons between the National Network, State and the Center’s performance to support diagnosis of potential causes for high or low performance; and 

• •brief, factual background information such as a brief history of the Center, location, governance, size, services, market, financial structure and partnerships. 

Data charts distributed throughout CPPR are intended to show potential indicators for the results seen in the 10 metrics on the IMPACT.

Note: Information pre-populated in the CPPR has been leveraged from MEIS.  Focus is to ask for information we do not have readily available to extract from MEIS.

Annual Review Reports - The Annual Review focus on the Center’s strategic alignment to NIST MEP’s overall program objectives, the Center’s activities, progress and performance in implementing the NIST MEP award, lessons learned, monitoring of subrecipients, resource expenditures, activities planned for the next year, and any proposed changes to the project plan or budget.

Centers Response to Pre-Panel Questions – Through the pre-panel discussion a series of questions or clarifying points will be identified by the panel.  The center will be asked to provide a written response.  The additional information gathered through  this Q&A will provide additional context for the Centers performance and profile to assist the panel in completing their evaluation of the Centers performance.  

Pre-Panel conference will take place approximately two weeks ahead of review.

Provides another layer of center structural and performance information to allow panel to effectively evaluate the Center’s performance.

Centers Performance & Evaluation Management System Overview (Presentation during panel review)

In preparation for the Performance Panel Review, the Center will be asked to present on the following areas:

Center Strategy (2 Slides)

Performance Management System (Maximum 5 Slides)

Describe your Performance Management System

What do you collect/measure/monitor?  Why?

How does your Center analyze/use the data to evaluate your Center’s performance?

Based on the information above, what is your assessment of your Center’s performance to date?

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Center Performance & Profile Report

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Center Performance Panel Review – Output

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Following each evaluation, a Center Performance Summary Report will be provided to the Center, noting the panel’s independent observations, deficiencies (if any), and recommendations for improvement and commendations on the Center’s performance.  Centers will have 30 days to provide comments in response to the report.  Following receipt and consideration of the comments from the Center, MEP will notify the Center in writing of the final recommendations stemming from the panel evaluation.

 

If a Center receives a positive performance evaluation from the Panel or Secretarial Evaluations, the Secretary may continue to provide financial assistance in accordance with 15 U.S.C. 278k(g)(4).  

If a Center receives other than a positive performance evaluation, the Center shall be placed on probation and NIST will follow the provisions set forth in 15 U.S.C. 278k(g)(5).  This includes but is not limited to development and implementation of a success plan and quarterly reviews of progress against the plan.  A reevaluation of the Center shall take place no later than 12 months after the Center has been notified that it is on probation.  In the event a Center is unable to remedy any deficiencies or demonstrate significant improvement in performance before the end of the probation period, a competition for a new operator for that Center shall be initiated.

Additionally, the Panel may identify distinctive practices that may be beneficial to share with the MEP network.  Any common weaknesses identified across multiple panel reviews will be leveraged as input to NIST MEP to identify internal and/or external resources to assist the networks overall performance.

If a Center receives an evaluation that is other than positive, the evaluation panel or Secretary, as applicable, shall— (i) notify the Center of the reason, including any deficiencies in the performance of the Center identified during the evaluation;

(ii) assist the Center in remedying the deficiencies by providing the Center, not less frequently than once every 3 months, an analysis of the Center, if considered appropriate by the panel or Secretary, as applicable; and

(iii) reevaluate the Center not later than 1 year after the date of the notice under clause (i).

(C) Continued support during period of probation (i) In general The Secretary may continue to provide financial assistance under subsection (e) for a Center during the probation period.

(ii) Post probation After the period of probation, the Secretary shall not provide any financial assistance unless the Center has received a positive evaluation under subparagraph (B)(iii).

(6) Failure to remedy may result in a recompetition

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Center Performance Panel Review Process

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This slide outlines the Center Performance Panel Review Process.

• -Larger circles identify key milestones for the Center undergoing the review. 

• -Smaller circles identify the activities of the panel members and NIST MEP representatives. 

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MEIS – Review Module

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The Panel Review detail page provides several pieces of information as it relates to the Panel Review.  It provides logistical information for key teleconferences, names of key participates in the review, training material for both the Center and Panel Members and lastly it provides access to all key review documentation.

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MEIS – Review Module

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This is a screenshot of the Panel Review milestones.  You will be able to view all key due dates and the 3 key events taking place during the overall process.  This section assists the Center and Panel Members in keeping apprise of key events and deliverables.

You can add events to your calendar by selecting the calendar icon in the “Event” column.  Once you click on the icon, you will receive a pop-up at the bottom of your screen prompting you to open and save.  Select open and then save to your calendar.  All logistics will be included in the calendar event.

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Thank You

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