Creating an Inspection Plan

As Quality Planner, Petra is responsible to define an effective inspection plan to ensure that the inspection process is properly executed. Play the video to learn what she must consider when creating an inspection plan.

In the video, Petra shared an example of an inspection plan. The following figure summarizes the inspection plan structure and where she assigns which information.

As outlined above, an inspection plan is a task list type (task list type N) in the SAP S/4HANA system. The Quality Planner assigns the material to the header.

If you want to define special inspections for a material A that you purchase from supplier B, the Quality Planner enters the material/supplier combination in the inspection plan header. When selecting the inspection plan for a goods receipt inspection, the system first looks for a plan with the material/supplier combination. If it cannot find a plan, it ignores the supplier and looks for an inspection plan for the material. The same logic applies to goods issue inspections.

An inspection plan can contain several operations, which reflect the different inspection stages for the product. The Quality Planner can assign a work center and production resources/tools to each operation. Each operation can contain several inspection characteristics.

The following image displays the information that the Quality Planner maintains on the inspection plan header:

In the inspection plan header, the Quality Planner defines data that is valid for the whole inspection plan:

• The system automatically selects the inspection plan using the plant, material, usage, plan status, and lot size. For example, when creating an inspection lot for goods receipt or stock transfer of 150 PC, the system looks for an inspection plan with the assigned material. If there are two plans available, one for 1 .. 200 PC and a second one for 201 .. 9999 PC, it selects the first plan.

• The usage indicates where the inspection plan is used, for example, at goods receipt or for a model inspection. The Application Consultant enters the plan usage when defining the inspection type.

• The task list group and group counter identify an inspection plan. The Quality Planner can combine similar inspection plans within one task list group, for example all plans for procurement of a certain type of materials. Within a task list group, each group counter (for example 1, 2, 3, and so on) represents one inspection plan with operations and inspection characteristics.

• In a planner group, the people responsible for maintaining the inspection plan are combined.

• If you use the inspection plan with physical samples, the Quality Planner assigns the corresponding sample-drawing procedure in the inspection plan header.

• If you use dynamic modification of the inspection scope, the Quality Planner defines in the inspection plan header the level of dynamic modification. You can either modify the entire inspection lot or apply dynamic modification to individual inspection characteristics.

The following image displays the data the Quality Planner maintains on the operation level:

The operations describe the individual inspection steps in an inspection plan. Each plan can have one or more operations.

• The Quality Planner uses the control key to determine how an operation is handled, for example:

  • The Quality Planner defined in the control key that characteristics can be assigned to the operation. However, if you forget to assign them, the system raises a warning message when you perform the consistency check for the task list.

  • The control key also defines whether the system prints an operation in the inspection papers.

  • If you want to record inspection costs during quality inspection, the Quality Planner marks the operations as costing-relevant. Furthermore, they define that the Quality Technician can record their inspection efforts during results recording.

• To describe an operation, the Quality Planner enters an operation short and long text.

  The standard text key serves as a default for the operation description. For example, the Quality Planner maintains a standard operation procedure (SOP) in a standard text. When they assign the standard text to the operation, the system automatically adds the SOP to the operation.

• The work center defines the physical location in your plant where the inspection is performed. You can copy default values from the work center to the corresponding operation in the inspection plan.

• If the Quality Technicians require a special equipment to perform a measurement, the Quality Planner assigns production resources/tools (test equipment) at the operation level. This test equipment is necessary for inspecting the inspection characteristics within an operation.

• Finally, the Quality Planner assigns one or more inspection characteristics to an operation to describe the quality inspection. They can either use a master inspection characteristic from the set of QM master data or define plan-specific characteristics that only exist in this specific inspection plan.

In SAP S/4HANA Quality Management, you use work centers for several scenarios. The following graphic provides an overview.

Work centers determine the location of an operation. The Quality Planner defines a list of work centers, for example lab 1, lab 2, and assigns one work center to each inspection operation. During quality inspection, the Quality Technicians filter their work list to only display operations that are to be performed at their work center.

Work centers contain default values, for example for control key and short/long texts. These values are referenced or copied into operations once a Quality Planner assigns a work center to a task list operation. You use short/long texts, for example, to describe how to perform the quality inspection. The Application Consultant defines control keys in Customizing. They define, for example, whether the Quality Planner must assign inspection specifications to these operations, whether the operation is costing relevant, whether the operation is printed, and so on. If a work center's settings are set as reference, the Quality Planner can't alter them in the task list. Otherwise, the system suggests these values, which the Quality Planner can adjust to meet business needs.

Work centers have costing data for operation cost calculations. The work center responsible assigns the work center to a cost center, which has defined activity types and prices. The Quality Technician records the inspection time during quality inspection. With activity types and prices, the system calculates and assigns inspection costs to a QM order.

In a real-world scenario, a Quality Engineer aims to monitor personnel and machine costs of quality inspections. The work center responsible collaborates with the controller to define two activity types with varying cost rates and assigns them to the work center. During the inspection, the technician records the machine's automated inspection time and the manual effort required. The system calculates the cost by multiplying both durations by the cost rate and charges the QM order. Later, the Quality Engineer analyzes the QM orders to optimize inspection costs.