Sharing Information Is A Key To Six Sigma Philosophy

The concept never even was really put into place until the early 1990s when it was determined that the best way to run a successful business was to plan and use the strategies of other successful companies and then use those ideas as their own. It has been working and, once benchmarking started to take hold in the Six Sigma philosophy, 86 companies established the International Benchmarketing Clearinghouse to teach other companies the way that a business can best be run.

A Bench-marketing Clearinghouse was established to include 86 companies, so completely diverse from the others, but many which had a lot in common and so it began that the companies started exchanging ideas through a partnership. One company would become partners with another company and the two would share ideas. It may sound complicated, but it really is not. It is just a matter of two competitors working together to better their own company. By using the Six Sigma principals, it has proven to be beneficial to both parties.

ESTABLISHING A TEAM, Most benchmarking companies assign people from different functional areas to study best practices from other companies. For example, a manufacturer may send a team comprised of a plant manager, engineer, finance professional and product manager. The partner company does the same. Representatives from both companies then spend time studying each others operations.

You always have to be sure that the information is exchanged openly and that everything is within the bounds of a legal system that might be checking your businesses out. Sometimes trading information with other companies can be risky, but as long as everything is above the table, everything can lead to success for both sides.

ONGOING COMMUNICATION. Follow up with partners after the benchmarking has been completed. Share information through newsletters, bulletins, conference calls and reports. Assign a specific employee to research companies outside the Benchmarking Clearinghouse. Establish a library of information from other companies. Target companies with similar advantages to those of major competitors. For example, a high tech company may study the engineering practices of a consumer products company. They may then use the techniques to compete with a competitor known for selling high quality products.