Thursday 26 September 2019

What is "Benchmarking" ? Concept ,Types and Procedure of Benchmarking | Words of Engineer


What is Benchmarking ?

Whose straight drive is absolute bliss to watch in cricket?

"Sachin Tendulkar "

Who's capable of bowling back to back yorker and make batsman's play as hell ?

"Lasith Malinga"

Why you immediately named these two players only ?

It's because they created a "Benchmark" for others with their work. So,after them,any player you see good at above skills will directly compared with "Benchmark Setters".

That's Benchmarking at glance.

Seems interesting ? So, let's dig deeper to understand benchmarking in engineering.


What is Benchmarking ?

Below quote from Author, Philanthropist Mr.Tony Robbins about success which can be bluntly relatable with benchmarking.

" If you want to be successful,find the someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you will achieve the same result".

formal definition of benchmarking can be written as -

" Benchmarking is a business tool used for identification, recognition, and adaption of best practices which have shown superior results in similar businesses".

Why to do Benchmarking ?

Benchmarking is simply essential,

1. To improve efficiency by continuous improvement in performance and processes.

2. To take extra edge on competitors while dealing with customers.

3.To outperform within your industry.


Types of Benchmarking -

Broadly, Benchmarking can be classified in three types - 

Strategy Benchmarking

This type of benchmarking is used by management to evaluate organization's strategic moves with respect to other businesses. Company growth - survival strategies, competencies, innovation levels are the few factors of strategic benchmarking.


Performance Benchmarking

This type is used to evaluate the organization's performance by its products or services. Cost ,sells,profit -loss,growth rate are  examples of performance benchmarking factors.


Process Benchmarking

Process Benchmarking is done to find and adopt best practices of specific business process. Purchasing process,Industrial safety processes etc.are the example of process benchmarking.


How to do Benchmarking ?

Benchmarking is a simple "OPDCA - Observe,Plan,Do,Check,Act".
cycle. Just by answering the following questions and steps, you can easily complete the benchmarking process.


Planning

What - to Benchmark
When -Decide timeline for benchmarking
Who  - Select a team for benchmarking
Whom - find the competitor
How  - Decide key measures for evaluation

Analysis

Collect - competitors data
Compare - with your existing processes
Coincide - decide targets for improvement because of cost associated with it or lack of technical expertise or say any other factors all improvement points can not be feasible to implement.

Action

Inform - Benchmark study result to management and get approval for implementation
Improvement - Divide improvement plan in short, medium,long term with timelines.
Implement -   Plan as decided

Review

Review - Implementation results
Report - Implementation effectiveness
Repeat - The Benchmarking Process

So,that's about Benchmarking,its needs,types, and process to do benchmarking.

Did I missed any point on Benchmarking or you have any questions on Benchmarking ? Comment below and let me know.

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