Abstract
Abstract
Benchmarking can be described as an alliance between partners to share information on practices, processes and measures to stimulate innovative improvement in corporate performance. Small- and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises are reluctant to participate in benchmarking studies due to lack of time, financial and personnel resources, and difficulty in selecting partners. A diagnostic benchmarking process has been developed to meet the requirements of smaller enterprises. The process involves a business needs analysis, which provides participating companies with a fresh perspective on their strengths and weaknesses. The analysis connects to business performance, and is supplemented by a benchmarking study to help the company progress towards best practice excellence.