Industry benchmarking
Industry Benchmarking Foundation Project
The Industry Benchmarking Foundation Project which is investigating continuous improvement as a way of effectively increasing the performance of individual businesses and business alliances in the Australian vegetable industry is underway.
The project looks at the notion of continuous improvement, which includes the reduction of costs and or adding value through the systematic review and improvement of productivity in every aspect of the supply chain. Continuous improvement is considered vital for the Australian vegetable industry to remain profitable and sustainable.
The first phase of the Industry Benchmarking Foundation Project has seen desk research undertaken which has lead to the development of a list of key business processes and practices (drivers) currently in place in vegetable businesses.
The list of drivers identified address structural and operational aspects of individual businesses while also giving consideration to ‘on-farm’ performance measures.
A number of industry stakeholders are being interviewed as part of the project’s second phase, which will see the list of drivers defined more clearly.
The overarching aim of the project is to produce a framework or tool that vegetable businesses can use to assess business performance across the key drivers that have been identified. That framework or tool will be accompanied by an implementation plan that documents a proposed schedule of priority activities and programs to roll the framework/tool/checklist out to all vegetable industry participants in 2008/09, taking into account existing industry tools and initiatives.
The Industry Benchmarking Foundation Project is being undertaken by consulting firm IQ Agribusiness and is expected to be completed by mid May 2008.
Rationale
The Taking Stock report and subsequent workshop discussions highlighted the lack of a continuous learning culture throughout all levels of the industry. Industries that have undergone significant market shocks, such as deregulation, have shown that industry-wide benchmarking can work effectively to increase the performance of individual businesses and business alliances.
Outcomes
Benchmarking vegetable production practices, supporting ongoing information sharing and offering opportunities to enable producers to compare and analyse their performance to that of their peers will lead to:
- Improved production performance based on regular feedback on specific aspects of production systems;
- Improved capacity of individuals to make strategic decisions about the future of their enterprise (ie having information upon which to base decisions about changing enterprise mix or about leaving the industry);
- Improved cooperation between growers, and cohesiveness across the production sector of the industry; and
- Greater alignment between supply and demand requirements based on the facilitation and enhancement of relationships between growers, wholesalers and retailers involved in the benchmarking scheme.
Challenges
- Overcoming distrust and scepticism about sharing data and information, and how the data and information may be used.
- Developing a scheme that caters for a diverse group of industries, and enables learning from one sector to cross-over to another.
- Utilising limited human resource capacity to facilitate discussions/reflection among participating groups.
