Quality objectives

The way you can set and manage quality objectives is going to have a great
impact on the effectiveness and productivity of your company and your management system. The
Quality objectives will help you drive strategic improvements throughout your
company, achieving significantly greater recognition of the management system
the quality.

The ISO 9001 standard proposes very simple basic requirements:

Establish quality objectives in the relevant functions and levels.

Make them measurable.

May the objectives help us meet the product requirements.

Inform all relevant personnel and how they will contribute to its achievement.

That they be reviewed periodically.

I propose 4 simple steps to help you set your goals.

Step 1: Establish the foundations for objectives.

Before you start defining the objectives, keep in mind the mission and strategy of the company, already
what are the basis for the selection of objectives.

The definition of the mission should be as closely aligned as possible with the company's intention and its
purposes. But at the same time it must be broad and universal, forming the core of existence
same as your company and not only to cover the quality management system

Once the mission is defined, senior management must develop the strategy to achieve it.
fulfill this mission. The purpose of the strategy is to enable the achievement of the mission, it is
to say, to define the specific steps necessary to meet the general objectives of
the mission.

The quality objectives will ultimately be the means for achieving these two.
requirements: 'mission and strategy'.

Step 2: the quality objectives based on clear measures

To get the maximum benefit from your management system, the objectives must be defined.
quality with a broad perspective on the meaning of 'product' but also having
regarding "the result of a process."

In this way, we do not focus only on the product but on how we are doing it.

Quality objectives must be chosen by the 'owners' of the process, that is, the managers.
they are directly responsible for the processes in question. At the same time,
they must be confronted with the objectives of other areas to ensure that they are aligned and
they are not contradictory.

Process owners must set objectives for their own quality objectives.
goals must be set within the capacity of the underlying process. The old trick of
"two percent better than last year" is a deception if there is no logical basis for it
It may be that our process no longer has much capacity for improvement.

Finally, remember that the objectives must be measurable and clearly defined.

"Measurable" means that performance is tracked over time based on data.

quantitative. All objectives are measurable, the detail is how we define them and what
We associate it with a measurement indicator.

Don't be ambiguous in defining the objectives, describe them as clearly as possible and thus success
by obtaining them you can have it more assured
Ask yourself these questions when defining your objectives:

Is it an objective with an objective measure?

Is my objective aligned with the key measures, mission, and strategy of my system?

Can I calculate my objective?

Do I have data or do I have a source of reliable data?

Do I have a way to collect the data, and how often?

Step 3: Select the measurement indicators and analyze the data.

We need a set of tools to measure our objectives.

Therefore, quality objectives must be measurable; we must make use of indicators.

At this point, there must be a clear implication from top management to facilitate these measures.
key. It is not advisable to set more than 10 objectives. The perfect number would be between 4 and
The more objectives there are, the more fragmented our mission will be and the more unfocused it will become. Try to
cover a wide range of interests and thus they will be involved and ultimately benefited more
part of the company.
Measurement without critical analysis is useless. Do not collect data without purpose if you are then unable to
analyze. The ISO 9001 standard establishes a monitoring of objectives within the
review of the management system. But let's not fall into the mistake of doing an annual follow-up. If
your strategy to achieve the goal is not working don't wait until the end of the year to
realize it. Set a shorter frequency and thus your response capacity will be
optimized. Take into account a series of issues so as not to rush to conclusions.
Regarding the objectives, for example, are there seasonal cycles in your production? Don't limit yourself.
flat alarms, adapt it to your seasonality.

Step 4: Training of the involved personnel

It is vital to train the personnel involved in the objectives of their areas.

Staff must have a clear understanding of what is being worked on in their department.
to achieve and how they can contribute to this effort, the staff must understand their
clear objectives.

Establish the relevant responsibilities at all levels.

Avoid phrases like 'We are trying to improve' and 'We want to make the best quality.'
possible. You must provide data, indicators, strategy, methods, deadlines, responsible parties, everything as much as possible.

concrete possible.

Errors You Should Avoid with Quality Objectives

The use of quality objectives, simply as a way to meet the

ISO 9001 requirements instead of as a tool for decision making and
strategic management

The use of objectives that have no connection to the mission or strategy of the
organization

The use of objectives that cannot be measured

The use of objectives that are not clearly defined

Not properly training staff on the practical sense of their objectives and the
the way each employee can contribute to its achievement

How to write good quality objectives

Quality Objectives

According to the ISO 9001 standard, organizations that implement a QMS under certification
From this standard, they will need to define good quality objectives. At this point, we
we ask, how to determine those quality objectives that are beneficial for
our organization.

To begin with, we start from the premise that quality objectives are the way to translate.
the quality policy of our organization, that is, through these, everything will be organized
the efforts to be made in the organization in question to achieve the much-desired improvement
continue, essential requirement of theISO 9001 standard.

That is, quality objectives are the means through which organizations
They can focus the objective of the Quality Policy on the so-called Improvement Plans. How
we know well, the Quality Policy is always determined with a focus on satisfaction
of the client.
Let's see the above translated into an example:

Let's say that the Quality Policy of an electronic device manufacturer is to carry out
the deliveries on time and without any defects. In this case, the objective of the Policy of
Quality could be defined as 'Making deliveries to our suppliers just in the
moment when they need it and without presenting defects.

Thus, in light of this, the organization can define two good quality objectives:
Achieve improvements in terms of delivery times: for example, establish that the improvement
to reach in this way next year a pass rate from 90 to 95%.

Achieving improvement in terms of defects in the pieces: for example, we could define
this quality objective, how to achieve that the number of defects goes from 4 to 3% in the
next year.
Como vemos, las mejoras que se buscan a través de estos buenos objetvos de
quality is always oriented towards the needs of the customers.

How to write good quality objectives

Once these quality objectives are defined, they must be communicated to the different levels of the
organization to guide their objectives and plans towards the achievement of the general objective
planned.

Once the organization has defined what the objective to achieve in terms of quality is,
The next step is to find a way for those objectives to be truly effective.
time to achieve the desired outcome. In this sense, it is worth noting the need to define
such objectives in a way that they are important at all levels of the organization and
that meet the following requirements:

Be specific: by this we refer to the importance of defining objectives that are

characterized by clarity and conciseness. For example, returning to the previous case of the
manufacturing of electronic devices, if we detect that the most problematic area
in production it is the third line, we will define the quality objective to achieve
how to reduce the non-conformities of the electronic device in the third line.

Be measurable: all good quality objectives must be measurable in order to

to ensure they are effective. Thus, considering the previous example,
we will continue defining the quality objective as 'reducing non-conformities'
of the electronic device in the third line from 15 to 5%. In this way, it is
It is possible to define action plans aimed at reducing defects.

How to write good quality objectives

Quality objectives are requirements of the [Link] 9001but why? and for what?
son? And although the answers to these questions may be interesting, one more question
How can good quality objectives be written so that they can be
beneficial for your company? In summary, quality objectives can be the best
way to highlight the key elements of thePolestQuality Houseand find a central axis
for the efforts of the people in the organization to work towards improvement. The improvement
Yes, after all, the key reason why a company implements a system of
Quality Management.

Quality Objectives: The What and the Why

Quality objectives are the main method used by companies to focus on

purposes from the Quality Policy in plans for improvement. The Quality Policy is
created with the client's requirements in mind, therefore, the quality objectives
are linked to the client's requirements through the quality policy. The objectives of
quality takes the purposes indicated in the Quality Policy to achieve improvement, for
which will be necessary to develop plans.

For example, if the Quality Policy of a manufacturer of players has identified a

customer need for a just-in-time delivery without defects and with the most requirements
important, the purpose established in the Quality Policy could be: 'To deliver
players to our clients when necessary, without defects, and in any
moment." This company could therefore have two Quality Objectives: the first being
try to improve delivery time and secondly address any defective parts that may arise
be sent to the client. The first objective could be: 'improve delivery times between a
90%-95% next year" and the second could be: "reduce errors from 4% to 3% the
next year." In this way, the improvement derived from the Quality Objectives is
directly related to the needs of the customer.

These quality objectives should be communicated to each of the levels of the

organization with the respective objectives and plans for each level to help them achieve
the planned global purpose. If your organization uses a balanced scorecard, this
It can be a good format for communicating quality objectives.

Objectives must be established for different levels of the organization, including

the objectives for the product (example: for an objective for the entire Management System of the
Quality, there could exist individual objectives for the product or process that supports it.
general objective). These product or process objectives are often referred to as
Key Performance Indicators (or in English 'Key Performance Indicators - KPI'). Through the
use of KPIs that the company has identified as important indicators for the
correct functioning of the processes, the general objectives for the improvement of the System of
Quality management is easier to measure.

How to make quality objects work for t

After deciding which things will be monitored, measured, and improved, the important thing is
desarrollar Objetvos de Calidad efectvos para hacer frente a lo que se necesita mejorar. Los
objectives should be designed to be S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable,
Realists and Based on the time), and they must be relevant at all levels of the
company, which means that each employee must understand how their work supports the
quality objectives. To achieve this, the following must be addressed:

Specific. For the best results, an objective has to be clear and specific. Instead of
to improve the dissatisfaction of a product, a specific quality objective would be
reduce the grievances on the production line
showing data that can verify that it is the area that causes the most problems
product nonconformities.

Measurable. If an objective cannot be measured, how will you know if you have achieved it? For
establish an effective Quality Objective, it must be measurable, which means that
Having an objective like this 'reduce complaints from 15% to 5%' is much more
effect of "improving the quality of products." You can measure the defects that are occurring.
producing, and in this way develop plans to reduce the number of defects, but be cautious
keep in mind that a weak measure of 'quality' is more ephemeral and harder to plan.
improvements.

Achievable. For a goal to be achievable, it must first be created and approved by

the senior management. Once the management agrees on the objective, it needs to be communicated to
each level of the organization where it will be necessary to implement the plans to achieve the
objective, and the people at these levels of the organization have to agree that the plan is
achievable. Without this, the objectives will not serve to achieve the purposes and the plan may be
doomed to failure.
Realistic. Setting a realistic goal will make it easier to sell it to your
organization. If you tell your employees that you want to reduce defects from 50% to 2%,
they will not be able to see how this can be possible, especially if the plans around the
Objectives are not compatible with improvement. It is better to set realistic goals than little ones.
realistic and that always fall below expectations.

Based on Time. To be truly effective, an objective needs to have a timeline.

associated with him. To say 'reduce non-conformities in the production line from 15% to 5%'
next year" allows for better planning, as a plan needs to have dates
to be adequately supervised. Again, having the associated tempo, it will be possible to
monitor and track how close you are to achieving your goals.

Establishing quality objectives

The last required step when implementing the Quality Objectives is to be sure of
that they have not only been communicated to the relevant individual parties, but also that
they have understood its implication. If the objective is to 'reduce the complaints on the line of
production from 15% to 5% in the next year," the employees working on the line
production must understand not only what the objective says, but also how it will be
measured, what plans will be implemented to do so, and how the plans will be affected. The
Improvement is not achieved by having secret plans, but by having responsible people for it.
process involved in improving its functioning and work. This will not only enhance the
the process will also improve the morale and strength of the employees.