By John R. Brandt
Data from the last four years of the MPI Manufacturing Study, 2006-2010, shows that approximately 41% of manufacturers have used benchmarking as a means to get new ideas for improving their operations and to assess their performances and practices against those of their peers and competitors. Since 2006 the percentage of plants relying on benchmarking has grown from 35% to 46% of plants.
Benchmarking
Benchmarking in use (% of plants) | |
| 2006 | 35.2% |
| 2007 | 42.5% |
| 2008/09 | 45.2% |
| 2010* | 45.6% |
| Total 2006-2010 | 40.7% |
© 2011 The MPI Group, MPI Manufacturing Study
* combined U.S. and international plant data
Most benchmarking efforts typically involve substantial time and money as groups of management and employees travel to other facilities or conferences on fact-finding missions. It can often be difficult, though, to even find the measures and activities most meaningful to an organization.
One cost-effective benchmarking activity is to participate in reputable industry surveys, offering your own data (anonymously or confidentially) in exchange for a data on practices and performances. Take advantage today of two free opportunities to benchmark — one plant-focused and one company-growth focused — available from The MPI Group:
- 2011 MPI Manufacturing Study — a study of plant-level operational measures (e.g., on-time delivery, machine availability, customer retention, labor turnover) and best practices (e.g., lean manufacturing, inventory-management, sustainability).
- 2011 Next Generation Manufacturing Study — a study of six key corporate growth strategies that evaluates how important the strategies are to manufacturers, what they’re doing to support the strategies (talent, investments, measurement systems), and the performance measures those strategies are driving.
