“Utility Supply Chain Benchmark Study” Overview
TLJ Energy Consulting is responsible for conducting the Benchmark Study on behalf of the participating utility companies. The Benchmark Study includes over 100 supply chain metrics related to Procurement, Inventory Management, Warehousing & Logistics and Accounts Payable. It also includes demographic and discussion sections. As part of the program TLJ Energy will conduct workshops and provide a detailed report of the Benchmark Study results. Since its inception in 2003 over 75 different companies have participated. The average number of companies participating over the past 5 years has been 22.
The Benchmark Study is self-funded by the participants. The results and data belong to the participants. All related costs of conducting and distributing the study are shared equally by the participants.
Confidentiality is a key requirement of the participants. Companies are assigned identification numbers and are not identified by name in the specific results. Furthermore, all Utility Supply Chain Benchmark Study documents including but not limited to: Data collection templates, Benchmark Study Report(s), data files, Ad-hoc survey data and results, Workshop presentations and minutes, mail and contact lists, etc. are confidential to the participants and cannot be shared with any third parties without prior agreement of all the participating companies.
In addition to the final report, TLJ Energy facilitates workshops with the participants during the year to review and revise the definitions/metrics/results, best practices and common supply chain related issues in our industry. We also conduct ad hoc surveys related to specific supply chain topics on request from participants.
The Benchmark Study Workshops provide an important forum for the active involvement of the participants which has resulted in the continuous development and improvement of the Study and the Report.
The workshop(s) typically cover:
- * Review and update of definitions
- * Add/remove metrics
- * Participant case studies
- * Group discussion – Topics provided by participants
The attendance, typically between 80 and 100 plus people on average, and level of discussion at the Workshops demonstrate the importance of industry specific benchmarking and the value of the study to the participants.