Benchmarking: Understand Where You Stand
Benchmarking provides an objective, external lens on your cost structure and performance. Whether it’s manufacturing efficiency, procurement competitiveness, logistics cost per unit, or inventory turns, benchmarking helps to:
- Quantify performance gaps
- Identify structural and process inefficiencies
- Prioritise focus areas based on impact and feasibility
It shifts the conversation from anecdotal assessments to data-backed decisions.
Target Setting: Define Where You Need to Go
Benchmarking only creates value when paired with clear, realistic, and ambitious targets. Target setting translates diagnostic insights into a performance ambition that:
- Aligns stakeholders on a shared improvement agenda
- Establishes accountability across functions and sites
- Guides the design of initiatives with a clear “North Star”
It ensures that improvement efforts are strategic – not reactive.
From Insight to Impact
Together, benchmarking and target setting help organizations move from vague cost challenges to focused, high-impact actions. They provide the clarity needed to:
- Allocate resources effectively
- Avoid spreading efforts across low-value areas
- Create momentum for transformation with a strong fact base
In many cases, this approach has helped unlock double-digit savings in areas like COGS, working capital, and operating expenses—while improving service and resilience.
Final Thought
Before launching the next wave of initiatives, take a step back. Ask:
- Where do we really stand?
- Where should we be?
- What’s the size of the prize?
The answers may redefine your priorities—and accelerate your path to measurable results.
