Benchmarking at Xerox English Discussion

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Benchmarking at Xerox

By the late 1970s, Xerox was losing significant market share to its Japanese competitors. Not only were the Japanese products excellent but also, to Xerox’s dismay, they were sold for less than Xerox could manufacture them. Xerox found that it had nine times as many suppliers as the Japanese companies and made seven times as many manufacturing defects. Lead times for new products were twice as long, and production setup times were five times as long as the competitors’.

Xerox introduced benchmarking in 1980. Its processes and practices were benchmarked against the best in and out of its industry. As a result of these efforts, Xerox saved itself. Today, Xerox is a world-class competitor, capable of holding its own in terms of technology, price, service, and customer satisfaction against any competition. Benchmarking at Xerox has reached into every facet of the company and remains a primary feature of the corporation.

Discussion Question

Discuss the following question in class or outside of class with your fellow students:

Using public domain information, such as that available on the Internet, determine where Xerox stands relative to its competitors today.