Benchmarking is a process of finding the best practices within and outside the industry to
which an organisation belongs. Knowledge of the best practices helps in setting
standards and finding ways to match or even surpass own performances with the best
performances.
Benchmarking is a process of continuous improvement in search for competitive
advantage. Firms can use benchmarking process to achieve improvement in diverse
range of management function such as mentioned below:
• Maintenance operations,
• Assessment of total manufacturing costs,
• Product development,
• Product distribution,
• Customer services,
• Plant utilisation levels; and
• Human resource management.