Quality Inspection

Quality inspection governs the activities required to select and control the flow of products selected for inspection. Basic product data structured by characteristics is used to perform quality inspection.

You can perform quality inspections on the following:

  • Purchased Products
  • Sales Products
  • Manufactured Products
  • Products stored in Inventory
  • Products during Warehouse Transfer

  • Master data

    You can use master data to define the characteristic of the product that must be inspected, the location of the inspection, and also the effect on the product that must be inspected.

  • Characteristic

    A characteristic describes an individual feature or property of an item that will be tested. For example, diameter, length, weight.

  • Aspect

    An aspect defines different occurrences of the same characteristic. For example, the characteristic for a tube diameter can be used to measure both the internal and external aspect of a piece of metal tubing.

  • Quality group

    Quality group is a group of items with similar quality characteristics. The data defined for a quality group are the default values for the items in that quality group.

  • Algorithms

    Algorithms are used to perform complex calculations based on measurements required for quality inspections that may include product specifications. Each algorithm is an expression that contains the variables and standard mathematical expressions that can be used in the algorithm, such as logarithms, sine, cosine and so on.

  • Sampling plan

    A sampling plans determine the sample size and criteria for accepting or rejecting a batch based on the quality of a sample, using statistical principle.

  • Sampling rule

    A sampling rule defines the standard criteria that is used for the skip lot inspection and to decrease the frequency of inspection. The sampling rule is defined for a combination of Code Letter Table, Sampling Plan, Inspection Level, and Inspection. The sampling rule also defines the alternative sampling plans that is used to decrease or increase the severity of the inspection regime along with the associated rules for switching plans.

  • Sampling Rules- Characteristic Categories

    Characteristics are grouped into three different categories. These categories are:

    • Critical
    • Major
    • Minor

    The default acceptable quality level, order acceptance/rejection levels, and the sampling rule switching criteria are defined by characteristic category.

  • A Characteristic Level Sampling Rule Switching enables you to define sampling rule switching for a group of characteristics. When characteristic level sampling rule switching is selected, you can create, view, and specify a default acceptable quality level for a characteristic category.

  • Item sampling rules

    The sampling rule is linked to a test group, which is linked to a Standard Test Procedure. The standard test procedure is linked to an item or group of items (via the Quality Group). To manage changes in the inspection regime, item sampling rules are used to store the actual/ current inspection regime at the level of origin/ business partner/ item/ standard test procedure/ test group.

  • Testing combinations

    A very important functionality in Quality is the Testing Combinations. Use this functionality to link quality IDs to an origin. These testing combinations are the primary input for the creation of inspection orders and consist of three parts:

    • The module from which inspections originate.
    • The item or quality group that applies to the combination.
    • The quality ID that applies to the combination.

  • Inspection order

    Inspection orders are used to structure the inspection of products that are purchased, produced, or sold. Inspection orders can be generally applied or be order specific.

  • The Inspection Order status, Cancelled has these key features:

    • Open Inspection Order can be cancelled.
    • Existing inspection results are removed when the inspection order status is changed to Cancelled.
    • Logistical process blocks associated with the inspection order are removed when the status is changed to Cancelled.
    • Inspection Orders with the status, Cancelled are transferred to history.

  • Storage inspections

    Storage inspections can be used to generate inspection orders that are inventory specific. If a storage inspection is generated for the selected items, these items are blocked for use and are considered as inventory on hold.

  • Order Inspection Workbench

    Using the order inspection workbench, you can create, view, specify, and maintain order inspections and the related inspection order. You can also view a graphical representation of the inspection orders for the current day or a specified time range.

  • Export inspection data

    You can export the inspection data to an external program, for example, MS-Excel.

  • Lots and/or serial numbers not in inventory

    You can define actual test data for the combination of sample, sample part, inspection order line, test sequence, item, lot, serial number, aspect, and characteristic. You can use sampling plans for the inspection of all lots and/or serial numbers. You can also select and link multiple lots and/or serial numbers to a NCMR.

  • Item revision and effectivity unit

    This functionality allows you to define the combination of PRP Project, PCS Project, Item Code, Item Revision and Effectivity Unit for all order origins.

  • BOM inspection

    You can use Routing and Operation to determine if an inspection is necessary for a component.

  • Inspection orders for multiple lots and serials by business partner

    For lot controlled and serialized items, LN allows you to generate storage inspection orders for a specific business partner.

  • Validate standard test procedure

    The Validate Standard Test Procedure option in the Testing Combinations (qmptc0119m000) session validates:

    • Whether an item is serialized.
    • Whether the item in the quality group, is serialized.

    If these conditions are met, LN checks if more than one Standard Test Procedure is defined. If yes, LN displays the following message:

    Item (Item code) is serialized and the Test Quantity is greater than one. Test data will be applied to all the serialized items in the test quantity.

  • First Article Inspection (FAI)

    This functionality allows you to verify if the engineering and specification requirements are met during the production and avoid scrap or rework at a later stage. FAI can be implemented partially or completely (full FAI), and is applicable for the orders originating from:

    • Purchase
    • Purchase Schedules
    • Production

  • Conformance Reporting

    Conformance reporting for an item linked to a specific business partner, at the supplier premises is required:

    • If an item’s compliance to standards cannot be verified by the receiving business partner or if equipment, significant gauge, test equipment correlation problems exists.
    • If the shipped items are assemblies comprising of component parts that cannot be verified except when unassembled.
    • If outsourcing/Improved scheduling of parts can be realized.
    • If source inspection is part of a supplier audit procedure (e.g. First Article Inspection)

    Conformance reporting is applicable only for the order type purchase.

  • Nominal Values

    Nominal value, is specified to provide tolerance limits for a nominal size, accommodating deviations, if any.

    Earlier, it was possible to only measure values between the norm and the upper and lower limits of inspection orders. The upper limit always had to be greater than the norm and the lower limit always had to be less than the norm.

    Using the nominal value functionality, you can specify a tolerance range for a nominal value. This functionality can also be used to process inspection orders.

  • Consolidation of Lots and Serials in Order Inspection

    You can now create inspections based on sampling and sample rules for non-serialized items as well as serialized and lot controlled items for all origins.

  • Quality Inspection Workbench

    The inspection workbench displays and updates all the order inspection data on a single screen. At the order inspection level, the screen displays key dates from the order origin, the aggregated information from the lower levels, maintains a count of the tests to be performed, and passed and rejected tests from all the inspection orders contained within an order inspection.

    You can define the line level test sequence in which inspection order lines are displayed to the users in the easy entry screens. The available options are:

    • Inspection Order, Sample, Line, Sample Part
    • Inspection Order, Sample, Sample Part, Line, Test Sequence
    • Inspection Order, Test Sequence, Sample, Line, Sample Part

    In the qualitative easy entry screen, it is now possible to select multiple test lines and enter one common result for all the selected test lines.

    It is now possible to process Conformance Documentation based inspection orders using the Inspection Workbench.

    It is now possible to select alternative lot/serial number combinations as part of the Inspection Workbench process.

  • Resource Allocation

    The Resource Allocation functionality enables users to manually allocate resources to Quality Management activities such as NCR, CAP and order inspections.

  • Specific Unit Set

    Using the Quality Management Parameters (qmptc0100m000) session, it is now possible to select a specific unit set to be used in Quality Management.

  • Contract Deliverables

    The Project Contract order origin enables the generation of Inspection Orders and Non-Conformance Reports related to the receipt of Project Contact specific Purchase Orders. Additionally, specific contract information “flow down” to individual Order Inspections has been enabled with the inclusion of user definable fields.

  • Resource Management

    Resource Management is required to analyze the skills and the availability of critical resources. This analysis helps to complete specific Quality related activities (product or project based) such as inspections, generation of non-conformance report (NCR) and corrective action plans (CAP).