Re: Are KPIs considered as Quality Objectives?
Hi,
we are a big company with alot of approved and measurable KPIs for every division, and we are in the first stage of implementing ISO 9001.
(Q1): Do all the KPIs considered as quality objectives?
(Q2): if yes, do we need to include All KPIs?
regards,
KPI (Key Performance Indicators, often called Key Process Indicators within ISO companies), are most certainly closely related to quality objectives if they are not the same as quality objectives. They serve similar if not the same purposes, and have nearly the same if not the same attributes.
Many companies line their KPI up with their quality objectives.
Now more specifically to your question, you get to declare what your quality objectives are. However, they need to be at relevant levels and functions within the organizations (sounds a lot like a definition of a KPI right there).
What is common is to have a few, maybe three to six, quality objectives, but to have many more KPI.
KPI tracking is a common way to answer element 8.2.3 (Monitoring and Measurement of Processes).
There are a couple of good indications about KPI in the standard. Note 1 in element 4.1 provides guidance on what your processes are.
8.4 provides requirements about the metrics to track, pointing out that you need to as a minimum determine, collect, and analyze data concerning four main topics, customer satisfaction, product quality, process performance, and supplier performance.
My recommendation is to look at your existing KPI, whatever they may be, from whatever management dashboard they exist in, and choose the four that best provide overall answers to the topics from 8.4 and call them you quality objectives. Share these, and their results, with all employees to help meet 6.2.2 d.
Next, once you have determined what your core processes are from 4.1, find a KPI (including those you have selected as quality objectives) to line up with each core process to help you answer 8.2.3. There is nothing wrong with having several indicators for any one process, and the additional ones could be called simply indicators, or KPI, your choice.
No, you do not need to find all the KPI and include them in your declared quality objectives.