Benchmarking

BENCH MARKING:

Benchmarking is defined as the process of measuring products, services, and processes against those of organizations known to be leaders in one or more aspects of their operations. Benchmarking provides necessary insights to help you understand how your organization compares with similar organizations, even if they are in a different business or have a different group of customers.Benchmarking can also help organizations identify areas, systems, or processes for improvements—either incremental (continuous) improvements or dramatic (business process re-engineering) improvements.

CLASSIFICATION OF BENCHMARKING:

Benchmarking has been classified into two distinct categories

1)Technical Benchmarking,

2)Competitive Benchmarking.

TECHNICAL BENCHMARKING:

Technical benchmarking is performed by design staff to determine the capabilities of products or services, especially in comparison to the products or services of leading competitors. For example, on a scale of one to four, four being best, how do designers rank the properties of your organization’s products or services? If you cannot obtain hard data, the design efforts may be insufficient, and products or services may be inadequate to be competitive.

COMPETITIVE BENCHMARKING:

Competitive benchmarking compares how well (or poorly) an organization is doing with respect to the leading competition, especially with respect to critically important attributes, functions, or values associated with the organization’s products or services. For example, on a scale of one to four, four being best, how do customers rank your organization’s products or services compared to those of the leading competition? If you cannot obtain hard data, marketing efforts may be misdirected and design efforts misguided.

BENCHMARKING PROCEDURE:

Considerations:

Before an organization can achieve the full benefits of benchmarking, its own processes must be clearly understood and under control.Benchmarking studies require significant investments of manpower and time, so management must champion the process all the way through, including being ready and willing to make changes based on what is learned.Too broad a scope dooms the project to failure. A subject that is not critical to the organization’s success won’t return enough benefits to make the study worthwhile.Inadequate resources can also doom a benchmarking study by underestimating the effort involved or inadequate planning. The better you prepare, the more efficient your study will be.

Plan:

Define a tightly focused subject of the benchmarking study. Choose an issue critical to the organization’s success.Form a cross-functional team. During Step 1 and 2, management’s goals and support for the study must be firmly established.Study your own process. Know how the work is done and measurements of the output.Identify partner organizations that may have best practices.

Collect:

Collect information directly from partner organizations. Collect both process descriptions and numeric data, using questionnaires, telephone interviews, and/or site visits.

Analyze:

Compare the collected data, both numeric and descriptive.Determine gaps between your performance measurements and those of your partners.Determine the differences in practices that cause the gaps.

Adapt:

Develop goals for your organization’s process.Develop action plans to achieve those goals.Implement and monitor plans.

SUITABLE CARS:

TATA NEXON:

Pros:

1. Best in class safety package
2. Powerful engines (petrol & diesel)
3. Ride and feels like a big vehicle

Cons:

1. Quality of plastic inside the cabin
2. Sluggish infotainment
3. Slightly hard ride

MODELS / SPECIFICATIONS	TATA NEXON
ARAI Mileage	21.5 kmpl
Engine Displacement (cc)	1497
Max Torque (nm@rpm)	260Nm@1500-2750rpm
Transmission Type	Automatic
Fuel Tank Capacity	44
Max Power (bhp@rpm)	108.5bhp@4000rpm
Seating Capacity	5
Boot Space (Litres)	350
Body Type	SUV
Safety	16.06/17

HYUNDAI VENUE :

Pros:

1. Ease of driving on offer
2. Three different engine options
3. Feature loaded

Cons:

1. Isn't as big as rivals
2. No diesel automatic on offer
3. 1.2 petrol is weak on punch

MODELS / SPECIFICATIONS	HYUNDAI VENUE
ARAI Mileage	18.14kmpl
Engine Displacement (cc)	998
Max Torque (nm@rpm)	171.6Nm@1500-4000rpm
Transmission Type	Automatic
Fuel Tank Capacity	45
Max Power (bhp@rpm)	118.35bhp@6000rpm
Seating Capacity	5
Boot Space (Litres)	350
Body Type	SUV
Safety	4 stars NCAP rating

MARUTI SUZUKI VITARA BREZZA:

Pros:

1. Peppy & efficient 1.5 petrol
2. Good value for money
3. Neutral ride, easy to drive

Cons:

1. No more diesel option
2. Rivals offer more space
3. Design isn�t attractive as before

MODELS / SPECIFICATIONS	MARUTI SUZUKI VITARA BREZZA
ARAI Mileage	18.76kmpl
Engine Displacement (cc)	1462
Max Torque (nm@rpm)	138Nm@4400rpm
Transmission Type	Automatic
Fuel Tank Capacity	48
Max Power (bhp@rpm)	103.26bhp@6000rpm
Seating Capacity	5
Boot Space (Litres)	328
Body Type	SUV
Safety	12.51/17

FORD ECO SPORT:

The Ford Ecosport is considered as one of the best sub-4m compact SUVs currently on sale in the Indian market. The car gets powerful and refined engines and also comes with an aggressive and appealing design language. If you in the market to buy a new compact SUV and wondering if the Ecosport is the best of all.

Pros:

1. Build Quality
2. Powerful and Responsive Engines
3. Looks
4. Driving Dynamics
5. Long List Of Safety Features

Cons:

1. Not So VFM
2. Feels Dated
3. Stiff Suspension Setup
4. Narrow Second Row
5. Thick A-Pillar Causes Blind Spot

MODELS / SPECIFICATIONS	FORD ECO SPORT
ARAI Mileage	21.7kmpl
Engine Displacement (cc)	1498
Max Torque (nm@rpm)	215Nm@1750-2500rpm
Transmission Type	Manual
Fuel Tank Capacity	52
Max Power (bhp@rpm)	98.63bhp@3750rpm
Seating Capacity	5
Boot Space (Litres)	352
Body Type	SUV
Safety	4 stars NCAP rating

COMPARISON OF VEHECLE:

MODELS / SPECIFICATIONS	TATA NEXON	HYUNDAI VENUE	MARUTI SUZUKI VITARA BREZZA	FORD ECO SPORT
ARAI Mileage	21.5 kmpl	18.14kmpl	18.76kmpl	21.7kmpl
Engine Displacement (cc)	1497	998	1462	1498
Max Torque (nm@rpm)	260Nm@1500-2750rpm	171.6Nm@1500-4000rpm	138Nm@4400rpm	215Nm@1750-2500rpm
Transmission Type	Automatic	Automatic	Automatic	Manual
Fuel Tank Capacity	44	45	48	52
Max Power (bhp@rpm)	108.5bhp@4000rpm	118.35bhp@6000rpm	103.26bhp@6000rpm	98.63bhp@3750rpm
Seating Capacity	5	5	5	5
Boot Space (Litres)	350	350	328	352
Body Type	SUV	SUV	SUV	SUV
Safety	16.06/17	4 stars NCAP rating	12.51/17	4 stars NCAP rating

CONCLUSION:

I would suggest Tata Nexon for Mr. D.S. Pughazhyendhii family, Nexon is a excellent offering which is safest car in its segment. It is also value for money product with class leading features.