1. Why is benchmarking an important method for improving quality? To encourage students to understand ways in which benchmarking can improve quality and productivity.

Situation As the director of maintenance for a regional airline, you are disturbed to learn that the cost of maintaining your 20-plane fleet is skyrocketing. A major factor Is repair time; when maintenance or repairs are required, work often proceeds slowly. As a result, additional aircraft are required to meet the schedule. To address the problem you decide to use a pCM'ertul total quality management tool called benchmarking. You will approach your problem 1:1; studying ways in which other companies have successfully managed similar problems. Your goal is to apply the best practices to your CM'n maintenance and repair operation.