Added to this, the computer software Bean used sorted the random incoming orders so packers could combine trips for a number of items shelved close to each other. In theory, benchmarking should be a straightforward process. You examine how your organization does something - how it organizes and uses technology. Then you examine how others go about the same kind of activity and you observe which is producing the better results. While simple in theory, however, benchmarking can easily bog down for a number of obvious reasons.
Lengthy studies can take up to a year or longer to complete.
If those completing the study fail to understand your own processes and procedures fully, the study group can easily recommend changes which are less workable than the ones you currently employ. Recommendations also can be met not just with the traditional bureaucratic resistance to change, but even incredulity or disbelief on the part of those who would have to actually implement new procedures. Territorial rivalries so common in any hierarchical organization can also get in the way of implementing changes that require significant reorganization. Advice on benchmarking procedures from such groups as the Strategic Planning Institute Council on Benchmarking, or from some of the many consulting firms that now focus on benchmarking procedures, frequently highlight a few common admonitions. It is usually better to involve the people who will have to make the changes in the actual benchmarking process right from the outset.