Title: Improving efficiency through internal benchmarking

Authors: Sebastian M. Durst, Mario Binder

Addresses: Competence Center Operations Strategy, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, Loffelstr. 44, 70597 Stuttgart, Germany. ' Operations and Information Management Group, Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK

Abstract: This paper gives an account of a real in-depth case study showing the successful application of internal benchmarking to a complex industrial environment. It focuses on improving the efficiency of the |Distribution Logistics| process of a multinational cable manufacturer spanning three production sites in three European countries. Challenges addressed in this paper are how internal benchmarking was applied as a structured and systematic approach for improving a business process based on its productivity and its cost. Special attention is paid to the development of an inclusive and a consistent efficiency measurement system for the |Distribution Logistics| process of the company. In the end, challenges and success factors for applying benchmarking projects to a complex business environment are presented by the authors to guide the potential |benchmarker|.

Keywords: internal benchmarking; efficiency measurement system; performance metrics; distribution logistics; case study; multinational corporation; cable manufacturing; business process improvement; cost; productivity; success factors; Germany; Poland; Hungary.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBPM.2006.009610

International Journal of Business Performance Management, 2006 Vol.8 No.4, pp.290 - 306

Published online: 02 May 2006 *

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