By John Horst, MESA member, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
and Barry Ezell,Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC)
Humans go through distinct phases of life: from dependence to learning to producing to sharing and back to dependence. We call this a lifecycle. The phases of life keep repeating as new persons are born and the elderly complete their lives.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) also have a lifecycle with a similarly cyclic pattern: from definition to collection to set composition to implementation to assessment and back to definition.
Manufacturers who use KPIs naturally implement this lifecycle, but there is some real value to clearly and carefully articulate the elements of the lifecycle.
An accurate and detailed model of the KPI Lifecycle:
- Enables efficient and effective performance management
- Enables a cottage industry of performance methods and software tools
- Provides a basis for open standards on KPI use
Assuming the target proceses have been identified, here is an outline of five elements to consider to successfully use KPIs in your manufacturing process throughout their entire lifecycle.