Benchmarking

Before commencing into the benchmarking of cars as per the customer requirement, let us understand what is Benchmarking.

BENCHMARKING

Benchmarking is simply the process of measuring the performance of one's company against the best in the same or similar industries. Benchmarking is basically learning from others. It is using the knowledge and the experience of others to improve the organization. It is analyzing the performance and noting the strengths and weaknesses of the organization and assessing what must be done to improve.

Benchmarking is not just making changes and improvements for the sake of making changes, benchmarking is about adding value. No organization should make changes to their products, processes, or their organization if the changes do not bring benefits. When using benchmarking techniques, an organization must look at how processes in the value chain are performed.

Basic steps to be followed or performed by a company for Benchmarking

1. Identifying a critical process that needs improvement.
2. Identify an organization that excels in the process, preferably the best.
3. Contact the organization that you are benchmarking; visit them, and study the process or activity.
4. Analyze the data.
5. Improve the critical process at your own organization.

S no	Inputs from the customer - Mr D S Pughazyendhii	Customer's kind of Vehicle
1	His family consists of five members including him (wife,kid, mother and father)	He requires a 5 seater, rear cabin should accommodate 3 people comfortably.
2	Customer travels in a crowded city - bengaluru for daily commute, travels to Madurai once in a month (500km away from Bengaluru)	He requires a vehicle that is easy to commute in heavy traffic and also provide comfort for passengers for long drives with out any fatigue.
3	Customer is fond of big cars	Implies that he is looking for a spacious interior that includes more leg room, knee room, shoulder room and head room.
4	Price between 8- 10 lakhs on Road price	Budget constraints 8 - 10 lakhs

After understanding about the customer's kind of vehicle, Benchmarking is performed among 4 cars in the current market so that a best car can be selected that meets the customer's requirements.

FACTORS TO LOOKOUT FOR

(i) Accommodate 5 people (Considering SEDAN as it can accommodate 5 members better)

(ii) Automatic variant (for easy and tireless commute in traffic)

(iii) Good Mileage

(iv) Spacious Interior

(v) Large boot space (customer goes out of station every month with family, requires space to accommodate luggage).

(vi) Good ground clearance ( since the vehicle travels out of station every month, possibility of encountering uneven terrains)

(vii) On Road price should fall in between 8 - 10 lakhs (considering Sub4m Sedans - as the prices fall under 10 lakhs)

(viii) Good safety rating

CARS FOR COMPARISON

1) Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire

2) Honda Amaze

3) Hyundai Aura

4) Tata Tigor

BENCHMARKING

Performing Benchmarking among the four cars to choose the best one for customer.

S no	Sub4m Sedan	Transmission	City Mileage (kmpl)	Interior Dimensions Rear Cabin(mm)				Boot Space (litres)	Ground clearance (mm)	Global NCAP Safety rating	On Road price Bengaluru
				Ideal Leg room	Knee room	Head room	Shoulder room
1	MARUTI SUZUKI DZIRE-VXI AT	Automatic (AMT)	19	720	915	905	1330	378	163	2/5	INR 9.34L
2	HONDA AMAZE S CVT	Automatic (CVT)	18	730	925	885	1285	420	165	4/5	INR 9.64L
3	HYUNDAI AURA - S AMT	Automatic (AMT)	14	710	---	920	1180	402	165	2/5	INR 9L
4	TATA TIGOR XMA AMT	Automatic (AMT)	17	Since there is dearth of data regarding interior dimesions of Tata Tigor, Customer feedback has been considered. As per the feedback from existing owners of this car, the rear cabin leg room and seat comfort is not good compared to its rivals				419	170	4/5	INR 8.6L

OBSERVATIONS & ANALYSIS

(i) SAFETY

Maruti Dzire scores well in interior space and mileage compared to others, but the safety rating is not upto the mark. Similarly, Hyundai Aura is better in interior space and pricing but its mileage figures and safety rating are a concern. the safety rating of Tigor and Amaze are very good compared other two.

Since safety of the passengers is the primary factor, The Dzire and Aura are not considered for futher analysis or comparison.

(ii) TIGOR VS AMAZE

In terms mileage, boot space and safety rating, Tigor and Amaze are in neck to neck competition, but the pricing of Tigor is highly attractive and also a 5mm more ground clearance than Amaze.

The above image shows Honda Amze bootspace - 420Litres

The above image shows Tigor boot space - 419 Litres

(iii)TRANSMISSION

The transmission of Amaze is CVT and Tigor is AMT.

The above image shows Tigor AMT Knob

The above image shows Amaze CVT Knob

The AMT includes automatic gear shift, i.e., the gear shift is automatically done by the car by taking the inputs from the driver, this causes a lag feel whenever the driver accelerates or attempting to chase a vehicle. The CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission)of belt pulley mechanism and the gear ratios are not fixed unlike the AMT. The CVT is more user friendly and provides a better throttle response to the driver and provides the driver a great driveability experience.

(iv) INTERIOR LOOK & SPACE

The above image shows the interior appearance of Tigor

The above image shows the interior appearance of Amaze

The above image shows the interior of Amaze

The above image shows the interior of Tigor

The interior space and comfort provided by Honda Amaze is much better compared to Tigor, a 6 feet person can easily sit in this car and relax with no hassle in comfort. Amaze is more wide and spacious and almost feels like a big car compared to Tigor.

CONCLUSION

It is quite difficult to choose a better car among the two as both cars more or less are pretty good in sub4m sedan segment. If we are looking for daily commute and not frequent long drives, Tata Tigor is the best option. But the customer requirements include long drives every month,there are two elderly people ( comfort and no fatigue) and he needs a big car (wide and spaicious interior). To satisfy all these, HONDA AMAZE IS THE BEST CAR TO CHOOSE.