Quality objectives are fundamental components of ISO 9001, serving as benchmarks for organizations to strive towards continual improvement and customer satisfaction. These objectives are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART), guiding the organization in defining and monitoring its quality performance. By setting clear quality objectives aligned with the organization’s strategic goals, ISO 9001 helps enhance product quality, streamline processes, and drive overall business success. To learn more, let’s explore GIAYCHUNGNHAN’s article on ISO 9001 quality objectives.

1. What is ISO 9001 standards?

ISO 9001 is part of the ISO 9000 standard – one of the most popular quality management system standards in the world today.

Up to now, the ISO 9001 standard has 4 versions and the current version is ISO 9001:2015. This standard is built on a high-level structure (HLS) that applies to all standards for management systems, applied the processes of creating and controlling products and services of enterprises to ensure that the needs are met and meet the expectations of customers and partners.

2. ISO 9001 quality objectives

Quality objectives are measurable objectives related to meeting customer requirements and in line with the quality policy of the business. According to the concept in ISO 9001:2015, the quality goal is the result that must be achieved in terms of quality.

Quality objectives will take the objectives of quality policy and turn these goals into viable improvement requirements. Quality objectives can be product conformity, process conformity, customer satisfaction, ability to meet orders on time, financial results, reduced production costs, etc.

For readers to better understand the quality goal, we will give the following example:

‘The quality policy of the enterprise has determined that the business’s requirement is to deliver the goods on time and without defective products, the goal of the quality policy will be: ”provide customers with products on time and without defective products”.’

Next, the business will have 2 quality goals that are to improve the ability to deliver products on time and solve the problem of defective products when delivered to customers. Specifically, these 2 quality goals are as follows:

• Quality objective 1: Improve on-time delivery from 93% to 98% in 2022.
• Quality objective: Reduce the rate of defective products from 5% to 2% in 2022.

In this way, the improvement requirements from the quality objective will be directly linked to the customer’s needs.

For more information on ISO 9001 design and development, check out this article!

3. ISO 9001:2015 quality target requirements

ISO 9001: 2015 has the following requirements for quality goals.

Quality objectives need to be set at relevant levels

Quality objectives should be set in all relevant departments even outside the business scope (3rd party but have a direct influence on customers).

Quality objectives need to be consistent with quality policy

Quality policy is the highest document of the quality management system therefore every other document below needs to be consistent and serve the quality policy. Without exception, the quality goal needs to help the organization achieve the quality policies set out.

Quality objectives need to be measured

If a quality objective cannot be measured, it will be difficult to manage and know if it has been achieved or not. Therefore, an effective quality objective is a quality goal that can be measured, with a specific time limit.

Quality objective must be consistent with products/services and satisfy customers

Quality objectives need to focus on two aspects:

• Products/services must meet the standards, in accordance with the requirements set out.
• Products/services need to satisfy customers.

Quality objectives need to be monitored

Quality target tracking is a new requirement updated to ISO 9001:2015. Quality goals when established need to be monitored to know whether they are on the right track, whether they are on the right track, …

At the enterprise, leaders are responsible for analyzing and orienting quality objectives.

Quality objectives need to be conveyed

Quality objectives need to be communicated to all members of the organization, helping members of the organization understand what goals are important, how far they have been carried out, how they have been achieved, how they are measured. Through this communication work, employees in the enterprise will work towards the goal of achieving quality objectives.

Quality objectives need to be updated regularly and whenever necessary

Quality objectives need to be updated regularly to promptly respond to the ever-changing organizational context. Not updating quality objectives will make businesses more passive to drastic and rapid changes in the market.

For more information on ISO 9001 design and development, check out this article!

4. How to set quality objectives according to ISO 9001: 2015

S – Specific (specific)

When setting a quality goal, businesses need to clearly define the target audience and the scope of application in a specific way. Specificity will facilitate the monitoring and evaluation of performance or even as a basis for implementing appropriate corrective actions. Ambiguous goals will produce vague results, lack accuracy and are difficult to track and evaluate.

M – Measurable (measurable)

‘What is not measurable cannot be managed; What is not measured cannot be improved.’ When developing quality goals, businesses need to come with evaluation methods, measurement criteria that can be measured and expressed in the form of clear and specific numbers. Specific measurement helps businesses manage their goals effectively, know whether they have achieved them or not, how to strive,…

A – Achievable (feasible)

Quality goals need to be feasible and achievable when striving and making efforts. If the goal is too easy, there will be no need to try because it has already been achieved, on the contrary, if it is too difficult, it will cause discontent for the implementer because of trying a lot but not being able to do it.

R – Realistic (realistic)

A realistic quality goal will be more transmissive and accepted in the business. The actual factor depends on 2 factors:

• Reliability and completeness of data analysis results on current status.
• The feasibility of the plan to implement the quality goal.

Enterprises need to assess the actual situation and context of the business to see if there is enough time and potential to build quality goals according to ISO 9001: 2015.

T – Time-bound (with specific time)

Quality goals are only valid when there is a specific completion time. When building quality goals, businesses need to provide specific timelines such as start, end and specific timelines. The absence of specific time will reduce the motivation and urgency of individuals and departments involved in quality goals and not give these subjects a specific reason to do the job.

The above article provides information about ISO 9001 quality objectives. GIAYCHUNGNHAN hopes this article will be helpful to you. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us for advice and support.”