Benchmarking is a way of discovering what is the best performance being achieved – whether in a particular company, by a competitor or by an entirely different industry. This information can then be used to identify gaps in an organization’s processes in order to achieve a competitive advantage. Thus it is important for Six Sigma practitioners to:

• Understand fully the purpose and use of benchmarking.

• Understand the difference between benchmarking and competitor research.

• Gain insight to ensure that benchmarking is in alignment with the company’s management objectives.