BENCHMARKING AND PERFORMANCE IN MANUFACTURING COMPANIES

Benchmarking, or learning from the best, can be seen as a performance improvement strategy for companies worldwide. More than this, benchmarking enables companies to focus on their weaknesses and strengths, and thus, make a comparison with their main competitors' results, so that they can remain competitive on the market. Benchmarking is one of the most common strategies for improving business performance nowadays. This study aims to analyze the implications of benchmarking in increasing performance within manufacturing companies, by analyzing successful methodologies that were implemented so far and proposing a best practice benchmarking method for manufacturing companies. The study contributes to the performance improvement of manufacturing companies, by analyzing benchmarking methodologies and best practices, as well as by offering solutions to existing challenges in the field.