External process performance measurements

Let us look into a process:

First, think about the purpose of the process: Why does this process exist? What is the rationale for its existence? Consider a process, any process, for example: 

• Manufacture parts. 

What can be the purpose of this process?

• Comply with the production plan, without defects and at budgeted cost

How will you know that the purpose is being met? 

One way of measuring performance is at a macro level, measuring the purpose effectiveness.

For this particular case indicators can be:

• production plan compliance rate; 
• defects rate; 
• deviation from budget, or unitary cost. 

Another way of measuring process performance is at micro or internal level. Let us zoom and see what is happening inside the “Manufacture parts” process:

Whenever I see a flowchart of a process, I think about possible indicators of process performance, mainly efficiency indicators:

• 1 – output rate (units/hour)
• 2 and 3 – defects rate 

Whenever you see a decision box in a flowchart you can check if there are any relevant indicators concerning rates (rate of good over bad, rate of one decision over another decision)

A third kind of indicator is about quantity. For example:

• How many orders were processed? 
• How many units were produced? 

Please consider our free webinar on demand - Measurement, analysis, and improvement according to ISO 9001:2015 -  https://advisera.com/9001academy/webinar/measurement-analysis-and-improvement-according-to-iso-9001-2015-free-webinar/ There one can find the rationale for developing effectiveness indicators and a monitoring plan:

On our free webinar on demand – The Process Approach - What it is, why it is important, and how to do it - https://advisera.com/9001academy/webinar/iso-9001-process-approach-free-webinar-on-demand/ one can find an example of a flowchart that describes the flow of activities.

The following material will provide you information about indicators:

• Article – ISO 9001: The importance of the process approach - https://advisera.com/9001academy/blog/2015/12/01/iso-9001-the-importance-of-the-process-approach/ 
• Free online training ISO 9001:2015 Foundations Course – https://advisera.com/training/iso-9001-foundations-course/ 
• Book - Discover ISO 9001:2015 Through Practical Examples - https://advisera.com/books/discover-iso-9001-2015-through-practical-examples/