What is a benchmark? A benchmark is something that serves as a standard for others to measure against. The advantage to using benchmarks is they may identify opportunities in the operation to improve quality, efficiencies or throughput. Comparing plants to a known standard may help provide return on investment (ROI) expectations for capital projects to offset rising labor costs.

How Benchmarks Are Used

In laundry plant operations, key production indicators (KPIs) often serve as benchmarks. Some KPIs include:

• Pounds per operator hour (PPOH)
• Therms of natural gas used per pound of linen produced
• Kilowatts of ...