BENCHMARKINGI N S U P P L Y C H A I N

M A N A G E M E N T

T H E B E N E F I T S O F

B A R R Y F I S C H E T T O

Competition & Competency

Moving quality goods is hardly asolitary event. Successful supplychains realize that no matter howunique their brand may be,everything from the productsthemselves, to the methods bywhich those products are designedand distributed result from mutuallydevelopmental processes.

Just as companies tailor theirmarketable offerings based on theexamples set by predecessors andcontemporaries, so too do their supplychains rely on the competency ofcompetitors to further the potential oftheir own processes, products andservices.

W H A T I S

Benchmarking?

C O M P A R I N GQ U A N T I F I A B L E

R E S U L T S O FC U R R E N T

P R A C T I C E S T O T H EE F F E C T S O F

M E T H O D S U S E DS U C C E S S F U L L Y B Y

O T H E R S

I N T E R N A L : E X A M I N I N G

D I F F E R E N C E S I NP R A C T I C E B E T W E E N

M U L T I P L ED I S T R I B U T I O N

F A C I L I T I E S O W N E DB Y T H E S A M E

O R G A N I Z A T I O N

E X T E R N A L :E X A M I N I N G

P R O C E D U R A LD I F F E R E N C E SB E T W E E N A N

O R G A N I Z A T I O NA N D I N D U S T R YC O M P E T I T O R S

BenchmarkingBenchmarking is an invaluable exercise in best utilizing competitors’ strengths

to boost your own. When benchmarking, supply chains conduct a series oftests to reveal which parts of operation are performing admirably, and which

need reevaluation.

How proper benchmarking is achieveddiffers industry to industry and businessto business. In supply chainmanagement, some benchmarking testsmay be:

What to Examine

4Inventory managementEfficiency of movement Supplier performanceSupply chain risk

These factors and data can then becompared to other businesses operatingdifferently to gain deeper insight intocompetitors and how you can improve.

T H E V A L U E S O F

Benchmarking

Digestible, Comparable InfoRather than leaning on guesswork to determine success rates,benchmarking develops a comprehensive, data-based image ofindustry performance, and allows you to form a picture of howwell your organization, or your facility, is doing in relation to it.Using a common system of measurement, benchmarking breaksthe individual pieces of a procedure into bite-sized bits ofcomparable info.

SCM Benchmarking

If supply chains can figure out how to take practices used in specific situations, andcombine them to best suit their own, they will begin to see how growth, progress andinnovation can be driven simply by referencing the common standards whichbenchmarking provides.