When evaluating potential suppliers, procurement professionals can carry out benchmarking. Benchmarking is the process of comparing a function, a process performance with another which is best in-class.
Other factors, apart from price that can be considered to find the total cost of acquisition include the product or service quality, lead time, supplier culture, its environmental awareness and sustainability.
Case study:
Tetsuya Tada, Chief engineer of the Toyata Supra Sports car has revealed how the process of benchmarking contributed to the car’s design.
Tada has worked by comparing the Supra to other cars. For example, it has been intentionally designed with a shorter wheelbase, than the Toyata 86 to make it more suitable for track racing. Furthermore, Tada has benchmarked the Supra against competition by suggesting that drivers will find the car’s performance comparable with that of Posche’s Cayman sports car.
Tada’s knowledge of the features belonging to different sports cars in his industry shows how benchmarking can be used by companies to successfully differentiate their products and remain competitive through awareness of their competitor’s activities.
