Table 1:

KPI Criteria and Definitions (Adapted from Horst and Weiss, 2015)

Criterion	Definition
Quantifiable	The degree to which the KPI’s value can be numerically specified.
Relevant	The degree to which the KPI enables performance improvement in the target operation.
Predictive	The degree to which the KPI is able to predict non-steady-state operations and is accompanied by a record of the past performance values for analysis and feedback control.
Standardized	The degree to which a standard for the KPI exists and that standard is correct, complete, and unambiguous; also, the more broad the scope of the standard, the better, for example, plant-wide is good, corporate-wide is better, and industry-wide is best.
Verified	The degree to which the KPI can be shown to be true and correct with respect to an accepted standard and has been correctly implemented Note: The verified criterion is zero if no standard exists, but this is an indication that a KPI used without a standard can be a costly problem
Accurate	The degree to which the measured value of the KPI is close to the true value.
Timely	The degree to which the KPI is computed and accessible in real-time, where real-time depends on the operational context, and real-time means the updated KPI is accessible close enough in time to the occurrence of the event triggering a change in any metric affecting the KPI.
Traceable	The degree to which the steps to fix a problem are known, documented, and accessible, where the particular problem is indicated by values or temporal trends of the KPI.
Independent	The degree to which the KPI collection, transfer, computation, implementation, and reporting are performed independently from process stakeholders.
Actionable	The degree to which a team responsible for the KPI has the ability and authority to improve the actual value of the KPI within their own process.
Buy-in	The degree to which the team responsible for the target operation are willing to support the use of the KPI and perform the tasks necessary to achieve target values for the KPI.
Understandable	The degree to which the meaning of the KPI is comprehended by team members and management, particularly with respect to corporate goals.
Documented	The degree to which the documented instructions for implementation of a KPI are up-to-date, correct, and complete, including instructions on how to compute the KPI, what measurements are necessary for its computation, and what actions to take for different KPI values.
Inexpensive	The degree to which the cost of measuring, computing, and reporting the KPI is low.