​A Quality Management System (QMS) should be a dynamic system, and provide a framework, for planning, executing, monitoring and improving the performance of quality management activities. In order to take QMS performance to higher levels, we must first understand and track where we are at, in terms of our current level of performance.
 
Performance can be related to the management of activities, processes, products, services, systems or organizations. Performance indicators, therefore, are the metrics we use to track our current performance at functions, levels and processes, in order to make data driven decisions related to the improvement our QMS. Understanding whether our QMS is effective, requires determining and evaluating these performance indicators against established performance criteria. 
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To aid the reader in understanding the above concepts, I’m including several different metrics as examples. Business is not a one-size-fits-all activity, so the usefulness of these may vary. If any of these metrics are key to your business strategy, they would then be considered Key Performance Indicators (KPI's). Otherwise, they could still be considered, but in such case, they would simply be considered performance indicators.
 
Sample Business Metrics:

• Revenue Growth Rate
• Churn Rate
• Acquisition Rate
• Relative Market Share
• Return on Equity

 
Sample Financial Metrics:

• Monthly Recurring Revenue
• Net Profit Margin
• Operating Cash flow
• Working Capital
• Current Ratio
• Budget Variance

 
Sample Sales Metrics:

• Monthly New Leads/Sales
• Lead-to-Customer Conversion Rate
• Cost per Acquisition
• Sales Qualified Leads
• Customer Lifetime Value

 
Production Metrics

• First Pass Yield
• Rework
• Scrap
• On-Time Delivery
• Capacity Utilization
• Operating Efficiency 
• Overall Equipment Effectiveness
• Machine Downtime
• Machine Set Up Time
• Inventory Turns
• Inventory Accuracy
• Supplier Returns
• Customer Returns
• Training Hours
• Employee Turnover
• Revenue or Profit per Employee

 
Sample Marketing Metrics:

• Website Traffic Per Source
• Cost Per Acquisition
• Marketing Qualified Leads
• Net Promoter Score
• Conversion Rate

 
Sample Project Management Metrics:

• Planned Value
• Actual Cost
• Earned Value
• Cost Variance
• Schedule Variance

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While an organization may likely have many performance indicators, not all metrics are key to its business strategy, and the strategic outcomes determined by the organization.
 
While it’s common to use performance indicators interchangeably with Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s), such a description is incorrect. It is important to understand that, while all KPI’s are performance indicators, not all performance indicators are KPI’s. To keep these differences clear, just remember the following: “KEY” = key to our business strategy.