Benchmarking process

The benchmarking process involves comparing a company s safety experiences with other companies and organizations. Organizations use the performance results from others to define their benchmarks and strive to meet those levels. Best practices in benchmarking can be set, at each stage, by posing four fundamental performance questions (Holloway, Lewis, and Mallory 1995,129)  

Benchmarking can be defined as a six-part process. They are surveying, identification, prioritization, developing a plan, implementing a plan, and follow-up (Pierce 

177-78). These steps in the benchmarking process are described in detail in the following sections. 

Prioritization Part three of benchmarking is prioritizing the growth opportunities from the list of complementary solutions. This step involves determining where the safety program weaknesses exist. 

Develop a Plan Develop a plan to achieve growth. The plan can be used to identify the areas to pursue. 

---

With the introduction of quality assurance in the diagnostic laboratory 56 years ago [6], a kind of educational and benchmarking process started forcing laboratories, national and international organizations, and the IVD industry to improve the methods applied in clinical laboratories. Comparison of the measurements of enzyme activity demonstrate that the analytical performance of the methods applied 30 years ago were far beyond the biological variation and most probably insufficient for medical needs. Interlaboratory comparisons show that with the new routine methods based on recommendations of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) (Table 5) comparable results can be obtained irrespective of time and space and thus small individual variations can now be detected. Similar improvements in the analytical process in clinical laboratories can be reported generally for homogenous measurands. 

Based on benchmarking process is considered world class. 

Reactions are run for a time which depends on catalyst half-life. A benchmark process for SILP catalysis is the hydroformylation of alkenes. Wasserscheid and coworkers reported the hydroformylation of propene catalysed by a silica-supported phosphane 35-Rh complex in [bmim] [zj-CgHiyO-SOs] (Figure 39). TOF values range from 16 to 46 h under different reaction conditions (reagent partial pressures, support pre-treatment, etc.), while selectivity in favour of the linear aldehyde was constantly around 94-95%. 

At this point, the benchmarking process has helped define current strengths and weaknesses within a maintenance process. Benchmarking helps to identify where we are with best practices that are essential to an effective asset management. By using a benchmarking guide such as The Scoreboard for Maintenance Excellence, you can easily see the status of current practices ... 

Mechanics The 10-step benchmarking process can be organized using the Model as a series of PDSA Cycles. 

Over time and when the exposure base is sufficiently large, comparisons of workers compensation costs and OSHA statistics, with other companies in the same industry or those considered to have comparable risks, should have a positive and linear relationship. In a benchmarking process, an individual shared data with a company that had an OSHA incident recordable rate of 0.9, which was about one-seventh of his own company s record. He expressed doubt about the validity of the 0.9 OSHA rate, but became a believer when workers compensation cost trendings... 

BENCHMARK PROCESS STEAM USAGE AND ENERGY COST ALLOCATION... 

Costs have also been identified as a potential problem with benchmarking. When done properly, the benchmarking process requires a substantial amount of time and resources analyzing other companies data and activities, developing and implementing new activities in the workplace, and the ongoing continual improvement process of data collection, analysis, and modifications. 

Fourth, the benchmarking process requires a considerable amount of time from when the decision is made to benchmark to when measurable results are realized. As with any safety program activity designed to improve performance, the results of the performance may not be evident for some time. In the case of measuring activities designed to increase the workers use of personal protective equipment, results may be evident in a relatively short period of time following the implementation of the program. Supervisors can go out to the production areas and observe worker performance. However, in the case where the activity is supposed to reduce the number of recordable injuries, the lag time may be a year before the decrease in cases can be substantiated. 

Describe the five-step benchmarking process used by Motorola Corporation. 

Precise benchmarking processes vary from company to company according to internal culture and needs. Successful implementation usually demands simplicity. The system recommended by the Council on Benchmarking at the Strategic Planning Institute involves a five-step process. 

Merkel et al. (2012) assessed such configuration considering an H2 membrane operating at 150 °C in which the retentate stream is treated in a low-temperature process in which high-purity CO2 is recovered by phase separation. Although the complete plant was not simulated, they estimated a reduction of both parasitic power consumptions and capital cost with respect to the benchmark process with CO2 separation by physical absorption. The optimal configuration proposed in Merkel et al. (2012) would also include a C02-selective polymeric membrane to recover the CO2 released with the vapors of the low-temperamre knockout drum. 

Ehnuti, D., Kathawala, Y. and Lloyd, S. 1997. The benchmarking process assessing its value and limitations. Industrial Management, July, 40-50. 

The results of the benchmarking process stimulated much interest among the suppliers. 

Benchmarking—Processes are provided to ensure regular and objective internal and external benchmarking (i.e., comparison) of performance measures to identify improvement opportunities. 

Highlights/Good Practices Identified practices or initiatives that are better than expected. Selected highlights can be reviewed as part of industry benchmarking process for inclusion within a database for sharing. 

For this purpose, several oxides were tested and benchmarked as described in [4]. The benchmarking process mainly dealt with experimental work consisting of repeated redox cycling tests and microstructural analysis of pressed samples as well as subsequent XRD measurements to estimate phase composition after various redox cycles. In this study especially the system Fc203-Ca0 was found to be a promising candidate because of apparent low degradation. Possibly, the reversible formation of mixed oxides leads to better... 

Basticki, C. A Benchmark Process for the Lead-Free Assembly of Mixed Technology PCBs. www. alphametals.com. 

---