INTRODUCTION
Industry Aggregation allows users to combine IMPLAN Industries together by creating their own Custom Aggregation Scheme or using one of the pre-built 2-digit or 3-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Codes schemes.
Remember when aggregating Industries or Regions, there may be Aggregation Bias due to the loss of details. Alternatively, users also have the option to view their IMPLAN Project Results in the 2-digit or 3-digit NAICS schemes while maintaining the unaggregated 546 U.S. Industry Scheme for the project analysis.
OVERVIEW
In order to use an aggregation scheme, start with the aggregation scheme. Once a user has started working in a Project, they cannot switch to a different scheme. Also, Customizing a Region is disabled when working in a project with anything other than an unaggregated scheme.
When aggregating Industries, not only are Events created using those Industries, but the Results will also be reported in the same aggregated scheme. Basically, the aggregation scheme follows the entire Project.
While the aggregation happens at the Industry level, Commodities are aggregated on a 1:1 basis with them. When aggregating Industries, the associated Commodities are aggregated as well.
The bottom of the Regions screen shows what aggregation scheme is in use.
NAICS QUICK AGGREGATION
IMPLAN has 546 Industries in the current U.S. Industry scheme which largely corresponds with the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes. The most detailed NAICS Codes are six digits. The fewer the digits (i.e., 2-digit), the broader a NAICS Code becomes, including more Industries. IMPLAN Industries vary in the number of NAICS Codes they each include. Most IMPLAN Industries bridge to 3- to 6-digit NAICS Codes. Projects based on 2- or 3-digit NAICS Codes allow you to work with Industries that are broader than IMPLAN’s 546 Industries, as they will include just 22 (2-digit) and 88 (3-digit) Industries respectively. Learn more about the 546 Industries and how they are defined in the Picking an Industry article. In IMPLAN, Projects can be created using a pre-built Industry Aggregation scheme by NAICS Sector (2-digit) or Subsector (3-digit).
USING QUICK AGGREGATION
To aggregate IMPLAN Industries into either the NAICS Sector (2-digit) or Subsector (3-digit), begin on the Projects screen. Click on New Project in the upper right corner of the screen.
Give your New Project a Title and select the Aggregation Scheme you wish to use. Next, click Create Project.
This opens the Regions screen and the rest of the process for running an impact is the same. The difference is that in Regions Details and on the Impacts and Results screens, the Industries will be those by aggregated NAICS codes, instead of the 546 IMPLAN Industries.
LOOKING AT THE DETAILS
To look at what Industries are included in the 2-digit or 3-digit NAICS aggregation schemes, follow these steps.
As always, start on the IMPLAN dashboard. Click Industry Aggregation located in the advanced tools section.
This opens the Industry Aggregation screen.
The default in Select Industry Aggregation is 546 Unaggregated. Using the drop-down under the heading Select Industry Aggregation, the IMPLAN 2 Digit NAICS 546 or the IMPLAN 3 Digit NAICS 546 for the current Industry Scheme are available. The 2- and 3-digit aggregation for the 536 scheme as well as the International and Canadian Data Sets are also available if purchased.
In this example, IMPLAN 2 Digit NAICS 546 was selected. Clicking on View will open up the aggregated scheme.
The screen will then display the aggregated scheme.
Clicking on one of the down arrows below the NAICS Sector (aggregated name) will open up the description to show what IMPLAN Industries are included. Clicking on the NAICS Sector again will close the details.
To return to the Industry Aggregation screen, click Cancel.
CREATING A PROJECT FROM THE DASHBOARD
New Projects can also be started using an aggregation scheme from the Industry Aggregation button on the dashboard. At the dashboard screen, click Industry Aggregation, and then click New Project.
A box will pop up including prompts, exactly as if starting from the Projects screen. Name the New Project and ensure that the Aggregation Scheme represents the desired selection. Then, click Create Project.
Now, IMPLAN will direct you to the Regions screen. Choose the Region and continue to model as normal. The 546 Industries are now aggregated into the selected scheme. On the Impacts screen, the aggregated Industries can be viewed under the Specification.
Entering a Value using the aggregated scheme will affect all of the Industries included in that Group, in this case, the 2-digit NAICS Sector. Remember, the Event Specifications and Results will all be in the aggregated scheme.
USER-DEFINED AGGREGATION
CREATING YOUR OWN SCHEME
Users may want to look at a certain group of IMPLAN Industries aggregated in a way that doesn’t follow the standard NAICS 2- and 3-digit breakdown. Note this is only available for the current 546 Industry Scheme (2018). Customized Aggregation Schemes for historical Industry Sets are not available.
To create a unique Industry Aggregation scheme, begin on the IMPLAN dashboard. Click on Industry Aggregation.
This opens the Industry Aggregation screen. Click on New Custom Scheme.
Next, select the scheme you would like to use.
This opens the New Industry Scheme page. The box on the left side of the screen contains all 546 IMPLAN Industries. To begin the new scheme, click on + Add New Industry.
A pop-up will appear asking for a name for the New Industry. For this example, there is a New Industry for all transportation manufacturing (IMPLAN Industries 340-364. Next, hit Continue.
The name of the New Industry is now in the box on the right. To add the IMPLAN Industries that to include, click on each from the box on the left so that it is highlighted in teal. Next, drag the highlighted set to the New Industry.
The selected Industries selected will no longer appear in the box on the left. The box on the right will show the number of Industries included in each New Industry just to the right of the name. In this example, there are 25 Industries in this New Industry.
To view or edit what Industries are included, click the down arrow and the New Industry will expand to show the list. Deletions and additions can be made here as well. Use the up arrow at the bottom of the list to collapse it.
To change the name of the New Industry, click on the pencil icon. To delete it, click on the trash can icon.
Create another New Industry called All Other Manufacturing by following the same process. This group will include IMPLAN Industries 63-339 and 365-391 for a total of 304 included Industries.
To keep the remaining Industries at the individual Industry level, leave them in the box on the left. To create another group that contains the remaining Industries, add another New Industry and include all 217 remaining Industries from the box on the left. You can add all of the Industries that remain on the left to a new Industry on the right by clicking the Select All button.
Note - there is no undo button, so be careful dragging Industries to ensure that they end up in the correct spot. Also, individual Industries will populate in the order you add them in; they will not sort numerically.
A pop-up will remind you that all Industries that are left outside of a New Industry (in the box on the left) will be left as individual Industries in the new aggregation scheme. Click Continue to accept.
A new pop-up will appear asking for a name for the New Scheme.
Note, once you click on SAVE, your custom aggregation scheme cannot be edited. Once it is built, you can continue to use it across Projects, so give it a logical name to help you find it later.
IMPLAN is now building the new aggregated scheme. This will take a few moments as IMPLAN is rebuilding the deflators, margins, and multipliers for the new scheme. Once the scheme is available, it will be selectable from the Industry Aggregation page.
USING A CUSTOM BUILT SCHEME
All Custom Industry Aggregation schemes are saved in IMPLAN. To use a previously built Custom Industry Aggregation scheme, start the Project from the Industry Aggregation page or the Project screen. Create a New Project and search for the name of your Custom Industry Aggregation scheme in the Aggregation Scheme drop-down box.
Building Regions in a Custom Aggregation Scheme
By defining a new Custom Industry Aggregation Scheme, each Region will have to be built. The Regions icon next to the name of a Selected Region in the new scheme will initially be yellow indicating it has not yet been built. To work with multiple Regions in the new scheme, build each Region one at a time by clicking on the Regions icon to trigger the build progress to begin. This includes the US Total which would be a combination of the 50 states plus DC, Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) which combine counties, and Congressional Districts (CD) that combine zip codes. Combined Regions are not selectable from the search bar while using your Custom Aggregation Scheme, instead build the US total, MSA, and Congressional District by Combining Regions from the Map or Region List.
To work with one Region in the new scheme, click Add Region. Once the Region is selected, it will start building automatically.
Analyzing in a Custom Industry Aggregation Scheme
In Projects using a Custom Industry Aggregation scheme, there are no longer 546 Industries when you look at Region Details. Instead, the aggregated Industries appear.
Similarly, the Results are also aggregated.
AGGREGATING RESULTS
Users that utilize the unaggregated 546 U.S. Industry Scheme for their projects have the option of viewing their IMPLAN Project Results in the 2-digit or 3-digit NAICS schemes. The Aggregation Scheme filter, located in the filter bar along the top of the Results Pages, allows users to switch between the 546 Unaggregated, 2-digit NAICS, and 3-digit NAICS Scheme to view their results. The filter is available in six of the Results Tabs: Summary, Output, Employment, Value Added, Occupation, and Environmental. Once a user selects a scheme in the filter, the selection will carry over to the other applicable Results Pages. The Aggregation Scheme filter is not available for projects that utilize the 2-digit NAICS, 3-digit NAICS, or custom aggregation schemes. The filter cannot be used to disaggregate results.
Written August 30, 2023
Updated April 4, 2024