It's time to understand ISO 9001:2015 Clause 6.2 Quality Objectives

In this article, I’m going to cover ISO 9001 clause 6.2 Quality objectives, and planning to achieve them. I’m going to break this clause down and turn it into something you can all understand. You’ll then be able to apply this to your own organization's system and understand what the requirements will look like for you. No more guessing! 

Let’s take a look at what Clause 6.2 wants us to do. There are a couple of subclauses in 6.2 so I will break each of them down separately for you.

Now, subclause 6.2.1 is all about the establishment of quality objectives. And by the way, you can call them anything you want – objectives, goals, targets, KPIs – this is completely up to you. For consistency, I’ll refer to them as objectives throughout this article.

This subclause states that:

The organization shall establish quality objectives at relevant functions, levels and processes needed for the quality management system.

When I read this I see that these objectives aren’t just high-level corporate objectives or just operational objectives. These objectives are to be established at all functions, levels, and right down to processes for the quality management system.

So you might start with the corporate quality objectives and then they should filter down to each department or function in the business and even where they apply to processes of the business. So, as an example, if one of the company quality objectives is to despatch customer orders within 3 business days from the date of the order, there would be several departments or functions that would also require objectives set to be able to meet this objective.

Customer Service would have an objective to provide the order details to the warehouse within 4 hours of taking the order.

Then the warehouse team would have an objective of picking and packing the order within 1 business day of the receipt of the order (the clock is ticking now at 1.5 days!).

The dispatch team then would have an objective set to schedule pick up no longer than the 1 business day after the receipt of the package. This takes us 2.5 days allowing half a day for the ‘just in case’.

There could even be objectives documented in the processes they follow so that it is clear at every step of every process what the timeframes are to meet these objectives.

Now, moving along in clause 6.2.1 it does state that The quality objectives shall:

a) be consistent with the quality policy.

Well, look at that?! When we set our quality objectives they need to somehow align with our intent and commitment that we documented in our quality policy. I would hope so! What a great way to ensure that our intent from our policy is met. Be sure to check out our video for clause 5.2 Quality Policy if you need a refresher.

then the clause states that the quality objectives are to:

b) be measurable.

Another stroke of genius! Of course when objectives are set you need to be able to measure them. It’s no good setting an objective and you’re not able to monitor it. Make sure you collect the data, and can generate the reports needed to track how well you are going in achieving your objectives.
Otherwise, you don’t have a clue where you’re at. And then also to make your objectives measurable it’s important to have a timeframe.

A timeframe that you want to achieve your objective by – just like in the example I used earlier. Another could be that you want to reduce warranty claims to 5% of purchases by December 31^st <insert year>.

Then you know what you want to achieve and by WHEN. I’m sure you’ve all heard of SMART goals. This helps you to set Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely goals.

Then point c) states to:

take into account applicable requirements.

Rather vague don’t you think? What are these applicable requirements? Well, we will determine these applicable requirements as other clauses are actioned throughout the Standard.

For instance, when you understand the needs and expectations of interested parties as per clause 4.2 you will identify some applicable requirements based on what your interested parties expect from you. If this is the case wouldn’t it be beneficial to set an objective to ensure that this is met – and met to a standard and timeframe that’s expected?

For example, an interested party is your customers and they expect that their order is despatched no later than 3 days after they placed the order. So as per my previous example, set an objective to ensure that this is monitored and has the plan to achieve this timeframe.

Another area in which you will identify applicable requirements will be from clause 8.1 Operational Planning and Control where it is stated that the organization is to determine the requirements for the products and services. So again, and you will be the best person to know this of your own business – what requirements do you need to meet for your specific products and services?

As an example, here at ATOL, we have to meet compliance requirements for our training so that the assessments meet Exemplar Global criteria, which we are audited against. So an objective for us is 100% compliance with Exemplar Global performance criteria for each annual audit.

Right, then we move to d) where it states to:

be relevant to conformity of products and services and to enhancement of customer satisfaction.

This is really what our objectives are all about. What does the business want to achieve in regard to delivering your product or service? Just like in my earlier example – 3 days to despatch an order – will this result in customer satisfaction? What is it that your customers expect from you or your service? What objectives can you set to ensure you do meet customer satisfaction or even better still – exceed their expectations?

Then of course once you’ve set and established your objectives point e) states:

that they are to be monitored.

If you’re going to set objectives you need to monitor them to see the extent to which you’re meeting them. Are you on track? If not, what can you do differently so that you can make changes in enough time to meet your objective by the set timeframe?

Point f) then states that the objectives are to:

be communicated.

That’s it – just communicated, so this clause doesn’t provide any other ‘hints’ as to who to or how often etc. which does align with clause 7.4 Communication where it is up to the organization to determine what, when, with whom, who, and how to communicate.

So if we apply the knowledge from clause 7.4 it is up to the organization to determine the communication requirements of the quality objectives. Although clause 7.3 Awareness does include the statement that the organization shall ensure that persons doing work under the organization’s control are aware of relevant quality objectives.

So that’s a big hint for you. If persons doing work under the organization’s control are to be aware of relevant quality objectives there’s our answer right there as to what is to be communicated as part of clause 6.2 Quality objectives.

It is also a requirement in g) that the objectives are to:

be updated as appropriate.

Meaning as, or when the objectives do need to be updated as a result of a change in the business then do it! Objectives may not always stay the same. As the business changes, products change, and customers' requirements change then this will influence the objectives that have been set too.

The final requirement in the section of 6.2.1 is that:

The organization shall maintain documented information on the quality objectives.

Ok, now we understand what is needed and we know that these quality objectives actually have to be documented. If you are implementing a system then you need to ensure that your measurable SMART objectives are documented.

Ok, that’s a great start, we now have documented quality objectives set, and now it’s time to figure out how these objectives can be achieved. This is where subclause 6.2.2 comes into play.

This subclause states that

When planning how to achieve its quality objectives, the organization shall determine:

• a) what will be done.
• b) what resources will be required.
• c) who will be responsible.
• d) when it will be completed and finally.
• e) how the results will be evaluated.

I love this! This means that the quality objectives that we set and document aren’t to sit on the shelf and get dusty. Or they’re not to be pinned to the wall so everyone can walk past and just get a warm fuzzy feeling.

You actually have to figure out what actions you are going to take to achieve the objectives, who is going to be responsible for these actions, and whether you need any other resources (such as people, knowledge, skills, equipment, training, and so on).

We’ve already talked about setting a timeframe for these objectives as part of being measurable which aligns nicely with the requirement for determining when the objectives will be completed by. Now you just have to figure out how you will evaluate the results of the objectives to see how you are tracking with the objective set within the timeframe set.

So, what does all of this normally look like? Normally what I see with the audit clients I visit is a table or matrix of some description. The objective is documented, including what is to be achieved and by when – this could be in a single column or over a couple of columns, with the timeframe separated.
Then there are additional columns that reference the strategy of what will be done – now this could be as simple as documenting a procedure or procedures.
Other columns then might list who’s responsible and then the monitoring or measurement that will be conducted – which may reference different reports or statistics.

Develop what works for you – keep it simple, real, and relevant to the scope of your system and how you normally document within the business.

Now that I’ve explained all of these requirements, can you see more clearly how you could action and demonstrate these requirements in your management system?

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