fbpx

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are a very important part of a (integrated) management system. They can show how good or bad the management system is functioning. However, we see a lot of KPIs defined and monitored by quality that are mainly focussing on compliance to standards, such as number of audits performed, number of inspections performed, number of sick days, etc. We do believe that when KPIs are more aligned with company goals, the impact of the management system will be a lot bigger. In line with that reasoning you as a quality management should own these KPIs. Make them your responsibility even though you might not have a direct effect on them. Simply own them and make the line managers or operational managers also part of that process in order for the alignment to work.

It Is Not About Absolute Figures

We are a strong believer of ratios when it comes to KPIs, simply because a lot of one dimensional figures don’t work when the company gets bigger. When you have more orders there is a good chance more things can go wrong and more people are getting ill, so use ratios.

Some great examples include recall per X units manufactured or issues per Y units purchased from supplier B. Ratios allows for scaling whilst still giving a great insight.

Align with Business

In order for the business to get some real value out of the management system make sure the KPIs are aligned with its goals. For example, track quality issues per model or per project and put a financial figure to it. Even though the figure might not be very accurate, it is so much better than working with nothing at all.

With this setup you as a quality manager can directly show the impact on the business. Costs of quality have a direct negative effect on the company’s bottom line. Make sure this is well understood by everybody in the organization.

Own Them

In order to show management that you are serious make sure you own the KPI’s and do whatever it takes to improve them. Set goals for the company based on the performance of last year or quarter. Showing ownership proves you take it serious. Go and talk with operational managers and discuss how the company can reach these goals, and what kind of processes need to be improved. Involve the line manager in the process of setting these goals, then celebrate reaching these goals with them and give them credits for it.

So in order for top management to not take the management for granted, make sure it adds value and show how it helps the company to increase the bottom line.

We have helped a lot of companies to get the insights in their cost of quality in order to go to an improvement approach. Top management can directly see what the (integrated) management brings them and how it adds value to the company, on top of staying compliant. Do you want to know how Qooling can help your organization with this? Just contact us.

3 Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.