Dataenvelopmentanalysis(DEA)isalinearprogrammingmethodologytomeasuretheefficiencyofmultipledecision-makingunits(DMUs)suchasorganizationsorfirmswhentheproductionprocesspresentsastructureofmultipleinputsandoutputs.DEAhasbeenusedforbothproductionandcostdata.Utilizingtheselectedvariables,suchasunitcostandoutput,DEAsoftwaresearchesforthepointswiththelowestunitcostforanygivenoutput,connectingthosepointstoformtheefficiencyfrontier.Anycompanynotonthefrontierisconsideredinefficient.Anumericalcoefficientisgiventoeachfirm,definingitsrelativeefficiency.Differentvariablesthatcouldbeusedtoestablishtheefficiencyfrontierare:numberofemployees,servicequality,environmentalsafety,andfuelconsumption.