BOOK
Benchmarking Water Services
Enrique Cabrera Jr | Peter Dane | Scott Haskins | Heimo Theuretzbacher-Fritz
(2011)
Additional Information
Book Details
Abstract
Benchmarking has become a key tool in the water industry to promote and achieve performance targets for utilities. The use of this tool for performance improvement through systematic search and adaptation of leading practices, has expanded globally during the past decade. Many ongoing projects worldwide aim to address different needs and objectives, in varying contexts, with outstanding results and impact.
Benchmarking Water Services provides valuable information to everyone interested in benchmarking in the water industry. The text is aimed at utilities considering joining a benchmarking project, experienced practitioners in charge of organizing a benchmarking exercise, consultants, regulators and researchers. The document is presented with a clear practice oriented approach and can be used as a how-to-benchmark guide presented from different perspectives (participants, organizers, supervising bodies). Readers will gain practical insight on real life benchmarking practices and will benefit from the experiences gained in some of the leading benchmarking projects of the water industry (including the IWA-WSAA benchmarking efforts, the European Benchmarking Co-operation and the several benchmarking projects carried out in Austria and Central Europe). The manual also presents the new IWA Benchmarking Framework, which aims to harmonize the terms used to describe benchmarking and performance indicators practices in the water industry, guaranteeing a more fluent and efficient communication.
This Manual of Best Practice is edited by the IWA Specialist Group on Benchmarking and Performance Assessment, and co-published by AWWA and IWA Publishing.
Praise for Benchmarking Water Services: "The continual trend of conceptual to specifics throughout the book provides for an educational experience each time the book is either casually perused or carefully studied." "The authors (Cabrera, Haskins and Fritiz) diligently pursue the focus of improvement." "Benchmarking Water Services is an in depth and practical ‘must have’ guide for any utility currently engaged in or planning to develop a benchmarking process" - Gregory M. Baird (2012) Benchmarking: An International Journal 19:2.
More information about the book can be found on the Water Wiki in an article written by the author: http://www.iwawaterwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Articles/TheNewIWABenchmarkingFramework
A Spanish language version of this book is available as a free eBook: http://www.iwawaterwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Articles/eBookTitlesfromIWAPublishingFreetoDownload-Volume2#HBenchmarkingParaServiciosdeAgua
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Halftitle page | 2 | ||
| Title page\r | 4 | ||
| Copyright page | 5 | ||
| Contents | 6 | ||
| Foreword | 14 | ||
| Acknowledgments | 16 | ||
| About the authors | 18 | ||
| Chapter 1 | 22 | ||
| 1.1 What is benchmarking? | 22 | ||
| 1.2 Benchmarking: metric, process or none? | 24 | ||
| 1.3 A new benchmarking framework | 25 | ||
| 1.4 Why should you benchmark? | 33 | ||
| 1 4 1 Governments regulators | 34 | ||
| 1 4 2 Customers | 34 | ||
| 1 4 3 Owners shareholders | 35 | ||
| Chapter 2 | 36 | ||
| 2.1 The IWA performance indicator system | 38 | ||
| 2.1.1 Data elements | 39 | ||
| 2.1.1.1 Variables | 39 | ||
| 2.1.1.2 Performance indicators (PI) | 41 | ||
| 2.1.1.3 Context information | 41 | ||
| 2.1.1.4 Explanatory factors | 42 | ||
| 2.1.1.5 Confi dence grading | 42 | ||
| 2.2 Implementation steps | 43 | ||
| 2.3 Indicators selection | 44 | ||
| Chapter 3 | 48 | ||
| 3 1 1 The benchmarking concept | 49 | ||
| 3.1.2 The IWA benchmarking process | 50 | ||
| 3.1.2.1 Project planning | 50 | ||
| 3.1.2.2 Orientation, training and project control | 51 | ||
| 3.1.2.3 Data acquisition and validation | 51 | ||
| 3.1.2.4 Data analysis and assessment reporting | 51 | ||
| 3.1.2.5 Identifi cation, prioritization and implementation ofimprovement actions | 52 | ||
| 3.1.2.6 Review of improvement actions | 52 | ||
| 3.1.3 Project milestones | 52 | ||
| Chapter 4 | 54 | ||
| 4.1 How to successfully join a benchmarking program | 54 | ||
| 4.1.1 \rAlignment with strategic objectives | 55 | ||
| 4.1.2 \x0BCommitment of senior management | 55 | ||
| 4.1.3 Willingness to provide good quality data in time | 55 | ||
| 4.1.4 \rWillingness to share knowledge and experience | 56 | ||
| 4.1.5\rStable organization | 56 | ||
| 4.1.6 Benchmark at the appropriate level | 56 | ||
| 4.2 How to succesfully organize a benchmarking program | 57 | ||
| 4.2.1 \rExperience | 57 | ||
| 4.2.2 \rComparable participants | 57 | ||
| 4.2.3 \rPerformance assessment system | 57 | ||
| 4.2.4 \rContinuous process | 58 | ||
| 4.2.5\r Code of conduct | 58 | ||
| 4.2.6 Funding | 59 | ||
| Chapter 5 | 60 | ||
| 5.1 Objectives | 61 | ||
| 5.1.1 Thematic objectives | 61 | ||
| 5.1.2 Methodological objectives The triple C | 61 | ||
| 5.1.3 \rIndividual utility objectives | 62 | ||
| 5.2 Scope and deliverables | 62 | ||
| 5.2.1 Target group of water utilities | 63 | ||
| 5.2.2 Scope of performance assessment and improvement | 63 | ||
| 5.2.3 Deliverables | 64 | ||
| 5.2.4 Scope and deliverables for utilities | 64 | ||
| 5.3 Governance – defi ning roles and responsibilities | 65 | ||
| 5.3.1 \rWho is benchmarking | 65 | ||
| 5.3.1.1 Project responsible body | 65 | ||
| 5.3.1.2 Project steering group | 66 | ||
| 5.3.1.3 Participants | 66 | ||
| 5.3.1.4 Operational project team | 66 | ||
| 5.3.1.5 Utility benchmarking roles | 66 | ||
| 5.4 Project schedule | 67 | ||
| 5.5 Financial planning | 68 | ||
| 5.5.1 Costs | 68 | ||
| 5.5.2 Covering costs | 69 | ||
| 5.6 Terms & conditions: code of conduct and confi dentiality requirements | 70 | ||
| 5.7 Recruitment of participants | 72 | ||
| 5.7.1 Communication channels | 72 | ||
| 5.8 Communication plan & public relations | 73 | ||
| 5.8.1 Communication strategy and objectives | 75 | ||
| 5.8.2 Communication structure | 75 | ||
| 5.8.3 Communication actions | 76 | ||
| Chapter 6 | 78 | ||
| 6.1 Project level objectives | 78 | ||
| 6.1.1 Project plan & protocols | 78 | ||
| 6.1.2 Data questionnaire | 79 | ||
| 6.1.3 Software, tools and web support | 79 | ||
| 6.1.4 Project kick-off | 79 | ||
| 6.1.5 Other factors to consider | 80 | ||
| 6.2 Utility level objectives | 82 | ||
| 6.2.1 Roles and responsibilities. Internal coordinator and team | 82 | ||
| 6.2.2 Schedule | 83 | ||
| 6.2.3 Assignment of resources | 83 | ||
| 6.2.4 Internal training on questionnaire and software | 83 | ||
| 6.2.5 Helpful hints | 83 | ||
| Chapter 7 | 86 | ||
| 7.1 Comparable data – the linchpin for successful benchmarking activities | 86 | ||
| 7.2 Data acquisition – translating reality into fi gures and facts\r | 87 | ||
| 7.2.1 The questionnaire | 87 | ||
| 7.2.2 The data collection step | 89 | ||
| 7.3 Data validation – quality fi rst! | 91 | ||
| 7.3.1 Necessity of data validation | 91 | ||
| 7.3.2 Back offi ce validation | 92 | ||
| 7.3.2.1 Individual plausibility check of draft PIs | 92 | ||
| 7.3.2.2 Crosschecks of variables | 92 | ||
| 7.3.2.3 Outlier analysis | 92 | ||
| 7.3.3 End of validation step | 93 | ||
| Chapter 8 | 94 | ||
| 8.1 Synthesizing data | 94 | ||
| 8.1.1 The need for a database | 94 | ||
| 8.1.2 Data analysis software | 95 | ||
| 8.2 Pre-analysis | 95 | ||
| 8.2.1 Clustering the utilities | 96 | ||
| 8.2.2 Sensitivity analysis of clustering criteria | 96 | ||
| 8.2.3 Sensitivity analysis of different PI denominators | 97 | ||
| 8.2.4 Comparability of single PIs over time | 98 | ||
| 8.2.5 Performance indices and multivariate data modelsfor overall performance rankings | 99 | ||
| 8.3 Data analysis | 99 | ||
| 8.3.1 Tables | 99 | ||
| 8.3.2 Bar, grouped bars and stacked-bars charts | 100 | ||
| 8.3.3 Scatter plot | 103 | ||
| 8.3.4 Box and whisker plots | 103 | ||
| 8.3.5 The “reduced boxplot” | 106 | ||
| 8.3.6 Box plot chart, clustered in peer groups | 106 | ||
| 8.4 Reporting – different reports serving different target groups | 108 | ||
| 8.4.1 Utility individual report | 109 | ||
| 8.4.2 Consortium report | 109 | ||
| 8.4.3 Public report | 109 | ||
| 8.5 Assessment and best practice workshop | 111 | ||
| 8.6 Final reporting on performance assessment | 113 | ||
| 8.6.1 Preparing fi nal reports | 113 | ||
| 8.6.2 Disseminating fi nal reports | 113 | ||
| Chapter 9 | 116 | ||
| 9.1 Identifi cation and prioritization of improvement actions | 116 | ||
| 9.1.1 Identifi cation of improvement actions | 117 | ||
| 9.1.1.1 Type of improvement actions | 117 | ||
| 9.1.1.2 Sources of information | 118 | ||
| 9.1.1.3 Information collection methods | 118 | ||
| 9.1.2 Prioritizing improvement actions | 119 | ||
| 9.2 Implementation of improvement initiatives | 121 | ||
| 9.2.1 Establishing a plan to implement theimprovements | 121 | ||
| 9.2.2 Example of best practice implementation | 122 | ||
| Chapter 10 | 126 | ||
| 10.1 Review of improvement actions | 127 | ||
| 10.1.1 Assessment at the utility level | 127 | ||
| 10.1.2 Timelines | 127 | ||
| 10.1.3 Continuous improvement | 128 | ||
| 10.1.4 Comparing benchmarking results across years | 128 | ||
| 10.1.5 Assessment at the project level | 128 | ||
| 10.2 Final evaluation and documentation of the project. Lessons learnt | 130 | ||
| 10.2.1 Project closure | 131 | ||
| Annex A | 132 | ||
| A. Office of water servi\rces (OFWAT) | 132 | ||
| B. The World Bank | 134 | ||
| C. Water services association of Australia (WSAA) benchmarking | 134 | ||
| D. American water works association (AWWA) and water environment federation (WEF) – QualServe | 136 | ||
| E. Austrian benchmarking | 138 | ||
| F. German benchmarking | 139 | ||
| G. Dutch benchmarking program. | 140 | ||
| H. 6-Cities group | 141 | ||
| I. Scandinavian program | 142 | ||
| J. European benchmarking | 142 | ||
| K. SEAWUN\r | 144 | ||
| L. ADERASA | 145 | ||
| M. Canadian benchmarking | 146 | ||
| N. PAS project (India) | 148 | ||
| Annex B | 150 | ||
| A. Project plans | 150 | ||
| B. Project scopes | 151 | ||
| C. Project governance | 153 | ||
| D. Milestones and schedule | 154 | ||
| E. Code of conduct and confi dentiality agreements | 155 | ||
| F. Recruitment of participants | 156 | ||
| G. Project communication | 156 | ||
| H. Orientation and training | 158 | ||
| I. Project control? | 158 | ||
| J. Data acquisition and validation | 160 | ||
| K. Assessment reporting | 160 | ||
| K.1. Utility reports | 161 | ||
| K.2. Public reports | 162 | ||
| K.3. Best practice workshops | 163 | ||
| K.4. Onsite presentations and utility-individual workshops | 164 | ||
| L. Improvement actions | 165 | ||
| M. Project review | 165 | ||
| Annex C | 168 | ||
| A. Performance indicators for water supply services | 168 | ||
| B. Performance indicators for waste water services | 176 | ||
| References and selectbibliography | 184 |