Benchmarking enables the performance of a company to be measured by defining key fig-ures in terms of value, time and consumption of resources. EuroTooling 21 aims to improve the performance of the European tool making industry, in comparison with that of non-European competitors. All parties involved, are subject to continuous benchmarking, in order to verify the overall success of the project.

Benchmarking operations are conducted at three points in the project: at the beginning, following the initial implementation of new technologies and at the end. A benchmarking framework, identifying industrial best practice in the European Union, the United States and several Asian markets has been set up. The SME's initial competitiveness is matched with the performance indicators in their market segments. Improvements during the project are compared with this initial benchmark.

Accomplishment during the Project

Value addition, resource consumption and time have been identified as the most relevant success factors in global competition. The first benchmarking operation is carried out at different levels (global industry, European segments, individual case study partners) and defines two sets of figures, which vary in depth and detail.

At midterm a second benchmarking operation analyses the changes in the key figures through-out the project. The results provide additional guidance for the technology development process and give an initial impression as to the progress that has been made.

The final evaluation assesses the overall success of the project. These results will be used to develop a general outline for the implementation of the project results, for both individual enterprises and European industry.