As the year draws to a close, performance measurement becomes more critical than ever. The final quarter is not only about closing results, but it is a decisive period for validating strategic priorities, identifying performance gaps, and setting a solid baseline for the year ahead. At this stage, organizations rely heavily on well-defined key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure financial discipline, operational stability, and informed decision-making.

The fourth quarter of 2025 placed a strong emphasis on controlling costs, strengthening incident response capabilities, and optimizing inventory levels. The featured KPIs for October, November, and December reflect key performance areas that help organizations finish the year with clarity and confidence, while also preparing for a smooth transition into 2026.

KPI of October: $ Cost of goods sold (COGS) – tracks the expenses directly associated with producing the goods a company sells, providing visibility into manufacturing and procurement spending. This KPI supports organizations in monitoring cost structures and maintaining control over production-related expenditures.

Effective monitoring of $ COGS helps leaders identify cost inefficiencies, optimize supplier and production decisions, and protect margins—making it essential for maintaining competitiveness and accurate pricing, especially at year-end. Download the free digital poster, via the TKI Marketplace, to learn more about how to define, measure, and apply the $ COGS effectively within your organization.

KPI of November: # Mean time to resolve (MTTR) –  measures the average duration required to identify, resolve, and prevent the recurrence of a security incident. It is used to evaluate an organization’s ability to respond to incidents efficiently and effectively and is one of several essential KPIs in incident management.

# MTTR offers insight into how quickly teams can detect issues, coordinate responses, and restore operations, and should be tracked alongside related indicators for a more complete view of incident response performance. Explore this indicator further by downloading the digital poster from the TKI Marketplace.

KPI of December: % Slow moving inventory – measures the share of inventory items that have remained unsold for a specified period (e.g., 90 or 180 days) compared to total inventory. This KPI helps organizations identify stock that may be at risk of becoming obsolete.

Monitoring slow-moving inventory enables organizations to make informed decisions on markdowns, promotions, redistribution, or discontinuation of underperforming items. Proactive management of this KPI supports healthier cash flow, leaner operations, and more accurate demand planning as organizations prepare for the new year. Download the digital poster from the TKI Marketplace to learn more.

These digital posters are part of the KPI of the Month series by The KPI Institute. It is a free infographic series designed to provide practical insights into the application of key performance indicators. Each edition focuses on one specific KPI, offering clear explanations of terminology, addressing common challenges in its use, and outlining essential details such as its definition, calculation, balanced scorecard relevance, data profile, typical targets, and actionable recommendations. Explore the other featured KPIs from the past quarters, visit the TKI Marketplace today!

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are used to understand and improve performance across a diverse range of industries, departments, and teams. For companies that produce goods and commodities, KPIs are absolutely essential as they offer a detailed view of their performance—for both individual employees and the organization as a whole. Production capacity and adherence to production schedules are just a few examples of areas in such an industry where KPIs can be used.

The importance of KPIs is even more prominent nowadays, as production has slowed considerably across the globe, caused by various compounding issues such as semiconductor, iron ore, and chemical shortages just to name a few. Such problems must be dealt with, and a reliable way to determine if the implemented solutions are working is through the use of KPIs. 

On top of the production slowdown, many companies that produce goods and commodities are also dealing with the changes brought about by Industry 4.0 —chief of which is the issue of proper integration. New technology and old processes typically don’t mix, a maladjustment that is exacerbated by skills gaps. Fortunately, there are ways to close these gaps, namely through reskilling and upskilling. Reskilling and upskilling are both training-centric methodologies, requiring employees to learn new skills or update their existing skill sets to match the new technology they will be using. This is not enough, however, as the effectiveness of training must be measured, which is where the use of KPIs comes into play. 

Due to the importance of KPIs in production, The KPI Institute (TKI) has diligently collated the 10 most widely used production KPIs. This information comes from smartkpis.com, TKI’s comprehensive database comprising 21,334 KPIs, covering 16 functional areas and 25 industries. The top 10 production KPIs are as follows:

1. % Production schedule attainment – Measures the rate at which the production target for a given time period has been attained.
2. # Units per man-hour – Measures the number of completed units of a product realized per man-hour of work.
3. % Production schedule adherence – Measures the deviation between the actual production units and the planned production units for the same period.
4. % Production uptime – Measures the percentage of utilized operation time from the planned available production time.
5. # Production plants – Measures the number of manufacturing plants (e.g. assemble lines) available and functional for the production process.
6. % Recovery yield rate of returned products – Measures the percentage of product returns that were valued again from overall returned products.
7. % Production capacity utilization – Measures the percentage of the production volume actually realized from the total production capacity.
8. # Ideal run rate – Measures the theoretical ideal production rate expected to be achieved in optimal circumstances.
9. # Production capacity – Measures the volume of products that one plant or company can produce with its actual resources in a specific timeframe.
10. $ Penalties cost due to unsatisfied demand – Measures the penalty values generated by the inability to satisfy demand.

Keeping track of these metrics can prove pivotal to the survival and success of any production business. For a detailed breakdown of these KPIs, including how to calculate them and when to measure them, download the free poster on the TKI marketplace.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are metrics that gauge how effectively a business meets its goals. They have diverse applications, including monitoring performance, evaluating employees, improving processes, managing projects, and ensuring compliance. 

Moreover, KPIs provide an unbiased assessment, leading to informed decision-making and a better understanding of business dynamics. Regardless of their specific use, KPIs are essential for effective business management. 

The KPI Institute analyzed the most viewed KPIs in the first quarter of 2023 on smartKPIs.com, the largest database of documented KPIs (+21,300 KPI examples) with 75,000 community members, in their most recently published whitepaper, “TOP 10 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 2023: Expert Tips For Choosing The Right Metrics.” These KPIs reflect key metrics that provide insights into various aspects of business performance. Analyzing these metrics helps organizations understand their operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, financial health, and employee performance. 

However, choosing the right KPIs continues to be a challenge as they should match the company’s strategy and targets. Based on findings from The KPI Institute’s 2022 State of Strategy and Performance Management Practice Report, KPI selection ranks among the top three most challenging processes for businesses globally, regardless of industry. KPI selection requires meticulous planning, analysis, and cooperation among different departments and stakeholders. 

Thus, the TOP 10 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 2023: Expert Tips For Choosing The Right Metrics delves into the KPI selection process developed by The KPI Institute. It primarily involves scope clarification, selection criteria and techniques, leading up to the initial performance review meeting.

To discover the top 10 KPIs for 2023 and gain deeper insights into the best practices for KPI selection, download the TOP 10 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 2023: Expert Tips For Choosing The Right Metrics for free on the TKI Marketplace.