At one consumer goods company, we shot video of their replenishment operation and then sent it to our methods factory overseas where a detailed time study was done for the pulling and restocking process.  What we found was that the replenishment rate was extremely high at this client compared to other firms we benchmarked, but once we dug into the details we found this was only because the restockers were NOT following best practices; they were not cutting open the boxes before they put them into the flow rack pick face.   Instead they were leaving this task for the pickers to do. 

We then shot a similar video of the picking process and recorded how long the pickers were spending cutting open a box as well as other picking subtasks.  Our analysis (which was based on our benchmark sites) showed it was clearly more difficult to pull a box out of a pick face, cut it open, and then put it back than if you cut it before you put it into the back of the flow rack. 

If the company uses best practice and insists the restock personnel perform this job,  we estimated the company could save close to $65,000 per year!

This case study shows the value of the method, but it also shows how we overcome one of the obstacles of typical benchmarking, i.e. achieving apples to apples comparisons between a client and benchmark companies.  By having the detailed timestudies behind the benchmark much more useful conclusions can be drawn and acted upon.