Six Sigma Tool Navigator: The Master Guide for Teams

Tool description

Benchmarking, made popular by Robert C. Camp, is a data collection method that identifies and measures similar processes, products, and services against those of organization, considered best-in-class. All benchmarking projects, inside or outside the organization, generally collect and compare strategic, performance, or process benchmarks for the purpose of identifying gaps in performance and establishing gap-closing action plans.

Typical application

• To identify areas that require process improvement.

• To verify and measure an organization's performance against that of the competition.

• To research trends and performance data of similar organizations for the purpose of developing strategic action plans.

Problem-solving phase

Typically used by

before

• Data collection strategy

• Idea Grid

• Interview technique

• Surveying

• Customer Needs Table

after

• Action plan

• Activity cost matrix

• Information Needs Analysis

• Force Field Analysis (FFA)

• Competency Gap

Notes and key points

• Quantitaive and qualitative data is collected in a benchmarking project as shown in the example. A different version of the benchmarking process can be illustrated.

  Recommendation: An action plan for closing any existing gap should also consider the competitor's trendline in order to reach at least parity at some future date (goal).

Step-by-step procedure

• STEP 1 First, the benchmarking team identifies processes to benchmark that are of great importance to the customer and the organization. See example Training and Development Services.

• STEP 2 Similar organizations are targeted and selected on the basis of their excellence in certain fields.

• STEP 3 Partnerships are formed with selected organizations. A set of common operational definitions is developed for processes, key characteristics, and metrics.

• STEP 4 Desired benchmark data is collected (exchanged), using various data collection methods such as interviews, surveys, historical files, and other methods.

• STEP 5 Collected benchmarks are analyzed and best-in-class performance data identified.

• STEP 6 A gap analysis is performed and priorities established for certain identified areas in need of improvement.

• STEP 7 Finally, an action plan is developed to close the performance gaps.

Example of tool application

Training and Development Services