Benchmarking best manufacturing practices: A study into four sectors of Turkish industry

Reports on a benchmarking study conducted to quantify how well companies operating in various sectors of Turkish industry match up to best practice, both in the practices they adopt and in the operational outcomes that result, and to test the hypothesis that the closer a company is to best practice, the more likely it is for that company to achieve higher business performance. The survey conducted in 1997 and 1998 included 82 companies from the Turkish electronics, cement, automotive sectors and part and component suppliers to the appliance industry. For data gathering, employs the Competitive Strategies and Best Practices Benchmarking Questionnaire, supported by some follow‐up interviews and one‐day site visits. Classifies two small groups of companies as leaders and laggers, depending on how close they were to best practice. Shows that the leaders have performed better than the laggers in adopting best manufacturing practices and in the achievement of high performance levels. The leaders also have achieved substantially higher business performance than the laggers. Furthermore, observes that large‐sized companies outperform the rest both in terms of their success in implementing best manufacturing practices and in achieving high operational outcomes and that there is no appreciable difference between industrial sectors in implementing best manufacturing practices and in achieving high operational outcomes.