Benchmarks on Demand User Guide

Benchmarks on Demand is only accessible to certain APQC members. If you are unable to utilize this tool, contact your member success manager.

You must be a registered user on the APQC website and you must be logged in to the website using your own credentials. Once registered, follow these simple steps to receive your benchmark report:

1. Visit the Benchmarks on Demand website: https://www.apqc.org/bod
2. Select one or more measures using the topic list or the search engine.
3. Click the "NEXT: CHOOSE PEER GROUP(S)" button at either the top or the bottom of the page.
4. Select one or more peer groups from the list of available peer groups.
5. Click the "NEXT: GENERATE REPORT" button at either the top or the bottom of the page.
6. Review your report. You may download it directly by clicking on the "PDF" or "EXCEL" buttons at the top of the report.

Your query is automatically saved in your APQC profile and will be accessible to run in the future without having to select the measures and peer groups again.

Benchmarks on Demand uses some key terminology to communicate the benchmarks. The terminology is explained here.

Metric ID

The metric ID is the unique number that represents the measure.

Measure

A measure is a means to determine a performance metric value; it consists of descriptive information about the measure such as its name as well as instructions on how to determine the performance value. 

Measure Category

The measure category is a means to group related measures. Typical measure categories include:

25th, 50th, and 75th Percentile Values and Sample Size

These columns represent the descriptive statistics for the data set of the measure for the selected peer group. The "25th", "Median", and "75th" terms refer to the quartile boundaries within the data set, specifically the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile values. A value at the "median" level means that 50% of the values in the sample are less than or equal to the stated value, and 50% of the values in the sample are greater than or equal to the stated value.  A value at the “25th” level means that 25% of the values in the sample are less than or equal to the stated value, and 75% of the values in the sample are greater than or equal to the stated value.  A value at the “75th” level means that 75% of the values in the sample are less than or equal to the stated value, and 25% of the values in the sample are greater than or equal to the stated value. 

The sample size refers to the number of observations APQC has collected and validated for this specific performance measure and peer group combination.

Peer Grouping

APQC offers four peer types: All Companies, Region, Revenue, and Industry.

Each peer type groups organizations with similar characteristics, based on the peer group you choose. For example, if you choose "North America and South America" in the Region peer type, then the sample will be filtered to include only organizations in North and South America.

Benchmarks on Demand show you the summary statistics for samples of data from APQC's Open Standards Benchmarking database.

These statistics are based on data that APQC has collected, validated, and made available in the database. Visit the Open Standards Benchmarking page to learn more about how APQC processes benchmarking data.

Organizations use Benchmarks on Demand to understand the overall performance of a process or function. This knowledge is helpful when making decisions about:

• acquisitions
• divestitures
• process improvement activities
• systems implementation projects
• establishing performance goals for staff
• and more

The most reliable decision making includes benchmarking data. When using benchmarking data to support your efforts, be sure to consider the impact of multiple peer groups rather than a single tightly-focused peer group. APQC's Benchmarks on Demand supports this approach and allows you to select up to three discrete peer groups from Region, Revenue, and Industry peer types. You cannot obtain a "combined" peer group through the Benchmarks on Demand tool.

APQC can support your use of benchmarks through our Advisory Services team. For more information about how you can leverage benchmarks, please contact us.

Each report you generate is automatically saved in your profile. You can access these reports at any time in two ways:

1. Through your profile page's "Your Activity" section, or
2. Through the "Your Saved Reports" box at the top of the Benchmarks on Demand window

To access your Benchmarks on Demand Reports through your profile

1. Navigate to your profile by clicking this link: https://www.apqc.org/user
2. Click the "Benchmark Reports" tab in the "Your activity" section.
3. Click the report name to run it again.

To access your Benchmarks on Demand Reports through the Benchmarks on Demand tool

1. Navigate to the Benchmarks on Demand tool by clicking this link: https://www.apqc.org/benchmarking-portal/bod
2. Click the "Your Saved Reports" box in the top right corner.
3. Select the report name to run it again.

APQC offers a variety of support options for the Benchmarks on Demand tool.

VIA PHONE: You can call the APQC helpdesk from 9am - 6pm central time (US) on 1-855-966-7247

VIA EMAIL: You can email the APQC helpdesk on [email protected].

FROM YOUR MEMBER SUCCESS MANAGER: You can contact your company's member success manager for information about your membership. If you don't know who your member success manager is, call us on +1-713-681-4020.