Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as a Tool to Improve Product Quality

Abstract

The literature includes a wide selection and distribution of performance indicators to be used in different areas of the company. The paper highlights the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as those that are the most universal and allow the control of intended targets in different areas of the enterprise. KPIs are financial and non-financial process measures used to assess the degree of achievement with regard to strategic and operational objectives in a company. They are also used to measure the effectiveness of all activities undertaken in an organizational unit. The paper presents the possibility of using KPIs to improve the quality of manufactured products, by analyzing the trend of selected indicators. This analysis gave an impulse to undertake improvement actions in the company consisting in the use of quality management method – in this case 5 WHY leading to the initiation of preventive and corrective actions in the occurrence of defective products.