Benchmarking for the development of quality assurance systems

This article aims to show a benchmarking experience developed by a Business Network for Experience Sharing in Quality (Benchmarking Network) made up of Spanish companies of different sizes and from different sectors. Co‐ordinated by a monitor, the participants were mainly managers from small companies with varying degrees of development in their quality assurance systems. The team learned to work in a team and discovered that, despite the different sectors, sizes, organization cultures and the like, their problems were similar and they were able to share experiences in quality management in an environment of co‐operation, where they could resolve a great deal of problems through an innovative system. After a brief summary of the problems involved in implementing quality assurance systems, the article puts forward the features of the initiative developed and the work methodology employed in the network. Details are given of what was experienced throughout the meetings held, and of the actions undertaken. Finally, the results achieved are presented.