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This was an A paper
Quality and System/ Process Improvement
Benchmarking
In order to be meaningful benchmarks have to be competitive. The idea is to strive for a performance that is better than our competitors. The benchmarks need not be taken only from the operations of our competitors. It is not necessary that our competitors' performance is the best. Benchmarks can be chosen from other relevant industries. (Stevenson, 2007) It is suggested that the company employs an external expert benchmarking organization to establish benchmarks. Information to create benchmarks is rarely available from the public domain like annual reports or web sites. Experts, who have conducted several studies, not only have accumulated data but also are better placed to make educated estimates where required. (Stevenson, 2007) Another advantage of using an outside agency is that their thinking will not be clouded by perceived limitations of what can be achieved.
Juran stated that quality management begins with knowing what the customer wants (Stevenson, 2007) and that should be the focus of our benchmarking activity. In terms of service supply two important parameters are how soon communication is established with the customer once a call is received and how much time is taken to address the issue. In terms of supply of products the most critical factor is the time taken between receiving an order and effecting delivery, especially for the MTO items. This is a complex task covering the entire supply chain and would need to be broken down. The time taken to commence the execution of the order, the actual manufacturing time and the time for delivery to be effected are suggested components. The manufacturin ...