Benchmarking

Case Study:

     Mr. D.S. Pughazhyendhii is a married man who lives in Bangalore which is a highly crowded city. His Family comprises five members including his wife, a five-year-old boy, his father, and his mother. He visits his native place Madurai which is 500kms away from Bangalore once a month. Also, he will be using his car to commute to his office. His budget falls between 8 to 10 lakhs on road. Please suggest to him options so that he will buy a good car for his family.

Benchmarking:

     Benchmarking is a process of measuring the performance of a company’s products, services, or processes against those of another business considered to be the best in the industry, “Best in class.” The point of benchmarking is to identify internal opportunities for improvement. By studying companies with superior performance, breaking down what makes such superior performance possible, and then comparing those processes to how your business operates, you can implement changes that will yield significant improvements.

     That might mean weaking a product’s features to more closely match a competitor’s offering, or changing the scope of services you offer, or installing a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to enable more personalized communications with customers.

     There are two basic kinds of improvement opportunities: Continuous and Dramatic. Continuous improvement is incremental, involving only small adjustments to reap sizeable advances. Dramatic improvement can only come about through re-engineering the whole internal work process.

Step-by-Step Benchmarking:

Benchmarking is a simple, but detailed, five-step process:

• Choose a product, service, or internal department to benchmark.
• Determine which best-in-class companies you should benchmark against, which organizations you’ll compare your business to.
• Gather information on their internal performance, or metrics.
• Compare the data from both organizations to identify gaps in your company’s performance.
• Adopt the processes and policies in place within the best-in-class performers.

     Benchmarking will point out what changes will make the most difference, but it’s up to you to actually put them in place.

     In order to benchmark anything, you need to have quantitative data available to study. That means breaking down internal processes to calculate performance metrics. Quantify everything, because only quantifiable information can be accurately compared.

Benefits:

    In addition to helping companies become more efficient and profitable, benchmarking has other benefits, too, such as:

• Improving employee understanding of cost structures and internal processes
• Encouraging team-building and cooperation in the interests of becoming more competitive
• Enhancing familiarity with key performance metrics and opportunities for improvement company-wide

     In essence, benchmarking helps employees understand how one small piece of a company’s processes or products can be the key to major success, just as one employee’s contributions can lead to a big win.

Requirements or Needs for Mr.D.S.Pughazhyendhii:

• 5-7 seats for his family members.
• Budget: Rs. 8-10 Lakhs/-, on road price
• Good Mileage
• Good car for easy commuting within city and long drive as well.
• He is also fond of big cars.

Based on his requiremnts, I recommend following cars to him:

• Ford Ecosport (SUV)
• Tata Nexon (SUV)
• Maruti Vitara Brezza (SUV)
• Hyundai Venue (SUV)

Ford Eco-Sport:

     The Ford Ecosport is considered as one of the best sub-compact SUV's currently on sale in the Indian market. The car gets powerful and refined engines and also comes with an aggressive and appealing design language. If you in the market to buy a new compact SUV and wondering if the Eco-sport is the best of all.

Pro's:

• Looks contemporary - Despite being outdated, it's handsome and has a rugged stance 
• Ride quality - The shocks are absorbent over sharp-edged bumps at high speed
• Well-built cabin - Feels robust and well put together, stands the test of time
• Feature-rich - Is feature-loaded enough to stay relevant amongst segment rivals 
• Sporty to drive - Superior chassis balance, direct and well-weighted steering

Con's:

• Narrow rear seat - Too small to hold three occupants without being a squeeze
• Inconsistent cabin plastic - Variation in the quality of plastic used all across
• Restrictive boot-lid - Sideways opening door makes it tricky to use in tight spaces

Cost: Ford EcoSport price starts at ₹ 7.91 Lakh and goes upto ₹ 11.70 Lakh.

Specifications:

TATA NEXON:

Pro's:

• Upmarket looks - Exciting and impactful design, proper no-nonsense SUV stance
• G-NCAP safety - A five-star NCAP safety rating ensure buyers get a very safe car
• Performance - The powertrains offer a satisfying mid/top-end grunt for most situations
• Spacious cabin - Despite the compact footprint, it is roomier than segment rivals
• Sorted ride/handling - Nicely tuned suspension offers apt damping at most speeds

Con's:

• Interior quality, fit/finish - Scratchy hard plastics, rough edges, panel gaps
• Low-end grunt - The diesel motor needs some revving to get off the line properly
• Infotainment screen - Slow responses, low-resolution screen, interface not intuitive

Cost: Tata Nexon price starts at ₹ 7.59 Lakh and goes upto ₹ 14.08 Lakh

Specifications:

Maruti Vitara Brezza:

Pro's:

• True SUV appearance – The appeal lies in its straight design lines/tall stance
• High seating - Upright/commanding driving position, acres of headroom, airy cabin 
• Easy to drive – Is nimble due to compactness, light controls and explicit visibility
• Ample storage spaces - Lots of storage spots on the doors, dashboard and armrest
• Ownership experience - Product competitiveness, build quality and service network

Con's:

• Engine response - Low-end grunt isn't exciting and just about gets the job done
• Slow-speed ride - Considerable up-and-down motion as the roads turn rougher
• Interior design - It won’t set any pulses racing with its conservative styling

Cost: Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza [2020-2022] price starts at ₹ 7.82 Lakh and goes upto ₹ 11.47 Lakh.

Specification:

Hyundai Venue:

Pro's:

• Interior quality - Segment standout quality, good fit/finish, sorted ergonomics 
• Road presence - Edgy design with an attractive grille and fittingly huge wheels 
• Powertrain options - There are refined and efficient petrol and diesel motors 
• Choice of gearboxes - A variety of smooth transmissions that ease driving chores 
• Equipment - The new Venue feels more modern due to the revised features and trim

Con's:

• Cramped rear seat - Does not feel airy, uncomfortable for three occupants
• Unsorted ride - Broken surfaces are felt within the cabin, bounces at higher speeds
• Pricey top-end variants - One can upgrade to a lower-spec Creta instead

Cost: Hyundai Venue price starts at ₹ 7.53 Lakh and goes upto ₹ 12.72 Lakh.

Specifications:

Comparision:

Conclusion:

I would suggest Tata Nexon for Mr. D.S. Pughazhyendhii family, Nexon is a excellent offering which is safest car in its segment. It is also value for money product with class leading features.