Sometimes
benchmarking and best practices gets a bad rap. I hear such things as, “We
don’t have time to do this and I know where we stand anyway … Why do we need to
bother gathering this data if no one uses it? … No other organization is like
mine, so I don’t need to do comparisons.”
I don’t
understand this mindset, so there are a few things I’d like to clarify to help change
any negative perspectives.
Benchmarking
is best done by comparing your metrics to other companies that are similar to
yours. As the saying goes, you need an “apples to apples” comparison. Many times, a company leader knows his or
her organization’s internal goals, but to maintain a competitive edge, you need
to know the goals of your competition.
As for
best practices, of course they are not useful if you try to use a blanket
approach. What works for one industry may not work for another industry. But
the more educated you become on practices of other companies within your
industry, the more likely you are to get ahead of the competition.
Turning
data into strategy is easy if you have a partner to guide you down the
benchmarking path.
And it’s
important to not only gather benchmarking data, but also to discuss it with
your peers. One of the best education and peer-networking events – the annual Supply
Chain Leadership Forum hosted by the Supply Chain Consortium – is
geared toward sharing benchmarking highlights for the year and discussing best
practices across industries.
Leaders
from top companies such as Campbell’s, Ingram Micro, Kraft Foods, Limited
Brands, Miller-Coors, The Coca-Cola Company and Target, who are also on the
Consortium’s advisory board, join in to learn and share their perspectives.
This year the forum
is being held August 29-31 at the Walt Disney WorldÒ Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
A few of the sessions planned for
members include:
- Core
Benchmarks – Manufacturers, Finance, Retailers and Wholesalers,
Distribution
- Supply
Chain Uncertainty
- Getting
to Know China:
It’s Not an Option
- Tax-Effective
Supply Chain Management
- Sustaining
a Green Strategy
- Preventing
Cargo Theft
- Freight
Payment Terms and Discounts
- Fuel
Management
- CSA
– Transportation Regulations
- Real-Time Survey: Peak
Season Planning and Execution
Keynotes include:
Executive Summit
- Top 11 Trends Impacting Today's Supply Chains
Disney's
Supply Chain Story: Optimizing the Customer Experience
Lunch Panel Discussion: SaaS - Life in the Clouds
I’ll be
there, and I hope you can join us for the event too.
Go!Go!Go!
Jim
More Resources:
Tompkins Supply
Chain Consortium for Logistics Service Providers (LSPs)
Investor
Warren Buffett made a well-timed $26.5 billion bet on rail shipping's revival
High-Tech
Industry: Finished Goods Inventory Practices
Tompkins Supply Chain
Consortium
Photo Credit: gruenemann