Why British companies don’t do effective benchmarking

Recent years have witnessed considerable interest in benchmarking as a technique for measuring performance against world class performers and identifying best practices. However, a study carried out to ascertain the extent of use of benchmarking and best practice in manufacturing companies revealed that this interest has resulted in a limited use of benchmarking in overall terms and, in particular, has not led to benchmarking being undertaken at lower levels of manufacturing organisations. For example, the activities associated with manufacturing planning and control systems. This paper reports on the obstacles to benchmarking in companies and suggests the prerequisites necessary for carrying out an effective benchmarking study. It also discusses the importance of applying benchmarking activities to the lower levels of manufacturing organisations. The study was based on detailed field studies carried out in four batch manufacturing companies. It investigated 15 areas of manufacturing planning and control to establish the level of benchmarking and implementation of best practices within them.