Process benchmarking in Dubbo City Council, Australia

Abstract

This paper is a case study that explains how process benchmarking was used by a group of seven Australian councils to improve the performance of their civil works delivery. The paper gives specific details about a process benchmarking exercise conducted across seven comparable councils to identify the best practices in pre-construction activities amongst them and present opportunities for process improvement. The methodology identified and ranked processes that can only be measured through qualitative indicators, such as the clarity of responsibility and feedback loops. It allowed each of the participant councils to better map and understand their respective pre-construction activities process. The relative importance of key performance indicators and the participant's performance against them were ranked; improvement opportunities were identified at minimum cost and inconvenience to the participants.