Benchmarking

Benchmarking :

• Is a process of measuring the performance of a compititors products, services, or processes against those of another business considered to be the best in the industry.
• The point of benchmarking is to identify internal opportunities for improvement.
• By studying companies with superior performance, breaking down what makes such superior performance possible, and then comparing those processes to how your business operates, you can implement changes that will yield significant improvements.
• That might mean tweaking a product’s features to more closely match a competitor’s offering, or changing the scope of services you offer, or installing a new customer relationship management (CRM) system to enable more personalized communications with customers.

Step-by-Step Benchmarking:

Benchmarking is a simple, but detailed, five-step process:

• Choose a product, service, or internal department to benchmark
• Determine which best-in-class companies you should benchmark against – which organizations you’ll compare your business to
• Gather information on their internal performance, or metrics
• Compare the data from both organizations to identify gaps in your company’s performance
• Adopt the processes and policies in place within the best-in-class performers

Benchmarking will point out what changes will make the most difference, but it’s up to you to actually put them in place.

First Steps:

In order to benchmark anything, you need to have quantitative data available to study. That means breaking down internal processes to calculate performance metrics. Quantify everything, because only quantifiable information can be accurately compared.

Key Benifits:

In addition to helping companies become more efficient and profitable, benchmarking has other benefits, too, such as:

• Improving employee understanding of cost structures and internal processes
• Encouraging team-building and cooperation in the interests of becoming more competitive
• Enhancing familiarity with key performance metrics and opportunities for improvement company-wide

In essence, benchmarking helps employees understand how one small piece of a company’s processes or products can be the key to major success, just as one employee’s contributions can lead to a big win.

Affordable SUV Cars Under 10 Lakhs:

As per Mr. D.S. Pughazhendhii requirement, his needs were mentioned below clearly & suggesting him a best SUV segment Car.

Clients Requirements:

Family members: 5 (Father,Mother,Wife and 5 year old son)

Native Place: Madurai, 500 kms away from Bangalore

Commute: Daily

Budget: 8 to 10 Lakhs on road

Special Preference: Pughazhendhii is fond of big cars

Monthly Distanced Travelled by Pughazhendhii: 2500 km Approximate

From the requirements we clearly come to know that, he needs 5 seater car, which he can go for long drives as well as daily rides with good comfortness and he needs SUV segments cars under 10 lakhs.

Considering his requirements, I have choosen 4 SUV segment cars in that I'm sugeesting him a best car to meet his requirements. The four cars names and their features were listed below.

1. TATA NEXON XE

2. KIA SONET HTE 1.5

3. Ford Ecosport Ambiente TCDi

4. Mahindra XUV300 W4

While choosing a car mainly i focused on following Conditions.

• Safety (Depends on NCAP Crash test)
• Engine Performance
• Ease of Driving
• Front & Rear Seat Comfort
• Mileage
• Extra features like Multimedia system, Safety features like EBD, ABS, Airbags etc.

Key Specifications	TATA NEXON XE (Diesel)	KIA SONET HTE (Diesel)	FORD ECOSPORT Ambiente (Diesel)	MAHINDRA XUV300 W4(Diesel)
On Road Price Chennai	9,73,700	9,43,245	9,89,008	10,00,000
Engine/Fuel	1.5L Turbocharged Revotorq	1.5L CRDi	1.5L DV5 (Diesel)	1.5 Turbo Diesel
Engine Displacement cc	1497 cc	1493 cc	1498 cc	1497 cc
Power (bhp)	108 bhp @ 4000 rpm	99 bhp @ 4000 rpm	99 bhp @ 3750 rpm	115 bhp @ 3750 rpm
Torque N-m	260 Nm @ 1500 rpm	240 Nm @ 1500 rpm	215 Nm @ 1750 rpm	300 Nm @ 1500 rpm
Mileage kmpl	22.4	24.1	21.7	20
Gear	Manual - 6 Gears, Sport Mode	Manual - 6 Gears	Manual - 5 Gears	Manual - 6 Gears, Sport Mode
Ground Clearance mm	209	205	200	180
Boot Space Litres	350	392	352	257
Airbags	2 (Driver, Passenger)	2 (Driver, Front Passenger)	2 (Driver, Passenger)	2 (Driver, Passenger)
ESP, ABS, Traction Control	ESP,ABS,Traction Control	ABS	ABS	ABS
NCAP Star	5-Adult, 3-Child	4-Adult	4-Adult	5-Adult, 4-Child
Minimum Turning Radius (metres)	5.1	5.1	5.3	5.3
Central Locking	No	With Key	Remote	With Key
Speed Sensing Door Lock	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Child Safety Lock	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Warranty (Years)	2	3	3	3
Warranty (Kilometres)	75000	Unlimited	100000	Unlimited

Safety (Depends upon NCAP Star Rating):

• From the above table we could see that Mahindra Xuv300 has (5 for adult & 4 for Child) better than compared to other cars. Also, we can take Tata Nexon into an account because it has (5 for adult & 3 for child) proven India safest car in NCAP crash test.
• The other two cars were not upto the mark in safety.

Engine Performance:

• From the above table we could see that all the cars have same engine/fuel, engine displacement cc.
• But when it comes to Power (bhp) and Torque (N-m) Mahindra XUV300 will have more power & torque compared to other cars.
• Also, we can take Tata Nexon into an account because it has good power & torque compared to other 2 cars.

Ease of Driving:

• Before purchasing a car we must go for test drive to feel the ease of driving.
• While going for test dive mainly we should observe the below points.

1. Engine Pick up the car
2. Seat comfort
3. Breaking System
4. We need to check Engine noise & Road noise ears into the car or not.
5. Driver position view for outside
6. Steering Adjustments
7. Parking Assist

• It my opinion that, I have gone long drive (800 km in one strech) in Mahindra XUV300. I feel awesome while driving and the above points were also achieved.
• I didn't feel tiredness while driving or after driving.
• I didn't feel the engine noise or road noise inside the car.
• Breaking system were also great.

Mileage:

• For the mileage part KIA Sonet will win it has 24.1 kmpl and the second good mileage car is Tata Nexon has 22.4 kmpl and other two cars were not bad but lesser than first two cars.

Conclusion:

• I have clearly highlighted the points in above table to have better understanding about cars.
• When it comes to safety, engine performance, body build quality, Exterior, Interior look & warranty Mahindra XUV300 will win compared to other cars.
• Because of Less boot space, less ground clearance, less mileage, higher in price & Little high turning radius when compared to other cars. Considering these points, I didn't recommend this car.
• But, here we need to consider all the points highlighted above in the table. In that, Tata Nexon XE is satisfying all the requirements.
• TATA Nexon has Good engine performance, good mileage of 22.4 kmpl, great ground clerance for off road driving, Good boot space to carry luggage, Minimum turning radius of 5.1 metre, good rating in NCAP crash test and awarded as India's safest car within this SUV segment and it's within the client's budget.
• So, I'm suggesting Mr. Pughazhendhii to go for TATA NEXON XE (Diesel) varient to meet all his requirements.