Manufacturers have long since learned to identify the best practices of top-performing companies, whether in or outside their industries. Indeed, benchmarking has become one of the most popular management tools around. With the insights gained from external processes and practices, innovations are adopted to help drive continuous improvement efforts internally.

But it’s not always necessary to look outside plant windows to find better methods and processes. Some of the greatest innovation potential can be found internally, performed among business units, facilities, or divisions. Unfortunately, most organizations seldom consider looking in their own backyards for best practices.

The benefits of an inside track

Often the spirit of best practice thrives in small corners of a company. Mining those practices and putting them to work has definite advantages over adopting the practices of outsiders.

For instance, trying to figure out what your competitor is doing can be time-consuming, costly, and complicated. Likewise, importing the best practices of other companies doesn’t always result in an appropriate fit.

In contrast, internal benchmarking can be achieved reasonably quickly compared to external benchmarking, which can be an advantage in today’s need-for-speed environment. It’s far easier to cull information from internal departments or divisions than it is to gather data from a competitor.

What’s more, introducing a benchmark idea across the organization with the help of an internal example allows for an easier transition than when implementing an altogether foreign concept. An organization’s shared culture and mutual goals can hasten the acceptance and implementation of new practices.

Make no mistake -- it’s still not an easy process. Leveraging internal benchmarks involves many of the same disciplines that are required when adopting external ones. An internal effort still demands rigor and resources.

Guidelines for internal benchmarking success

When it comes to benchmarking, it isn’t important to have a hundred measures -- just the right ones.

Once an internal best practice has been uncovered, it must align with the company’s business strategy in order to qualify for widespread implementation. Develop a clear vision of where your manufacturing operation needs to be, and use this as a barometer for determining whether an internal practice is benchmark-worthy. Prioritize the practices that can have the greatest impact on the business.

With any benchmarking effort, context is vital. Never take numbers at face value. Be sure to scrutinize both quantitative and qualitative data to validate best practices. One manufacturing facility may appear to be outperforming another, but a closer examination of costs or profitability may tell a different story. Always dig deeper to arrive at an accurate interpretation of performance.

Knowing how performance is achieved will also prove helpful when it comes time for broader implementation. The information can provide insights into ways alterations or adaptations can be made so that practices fit the rest of the organization.

However, a common cultural link throughout a company is no guarantee of a smooth transition. Even though they are all part of the same organization, employees, departments, and divisions are not alike. Communication and training must still be performed so that best practices are successfully translated into new environments, whether those environments are across the aisle or across the country.

As with any change, buy-in is crucial to success. Managers and leaders must be in full support of benchmarking efforts. In addition, it’s vital that a responsible leader is appointed to facilitate the entire planning process leading up to implementation as well as the rollout. Their full involvement will ensure an understanding of organizational differences and challenges and help ease execution.

An important performance contribution

Internal benchmarking is an overlooked but accessible route to gaining competitive advantages. But efforts must maintain a clear focus. Manufacturers still need to define what it is they want to learn from internal best practices, and they must determine how that information will make their processes better.

If successful, the results can position a company as the new benchmark for industry performance comparison.