Material Master
The master data record of a material in SAP S/4HANA is split up into different views. Some views (for example, the Basic Data view) are valid for entities defined in the client. Other views (for example, the Quality Management view) are plant-specific such that the user can maintain different QM-related settings for different plants.
To activate an inspection-lot related process, the respective inspection type must be assigned to the material in the QM view of the material master and also activated. Usually, there is one inspection type defined and assigned for each inspection lot origin (for example, inspection type 04 is assigned to inspection lot origin 04).
For each inspection type, you can define a combination of parameters influencing the details of the quality inspection process, for example:
The quality inspection is defined in a material specification and/or an inspection plan.
If material specification and/or inspection plan are used, is it possible to capture actual inspection results or only defects?
Should the received stock be put into quality inspection stock?
Should the system overrule the sample calculation procedure of each inspection characteristic and trigger a 100% inspection?
Which procedure for calculating the quality score at usage decision is used?
Should the system create an early inspection lot for a goods receipt?
And so on.
To record inspection results by characteristic for the production order, the indicators Inspect with Task List (or Inspect with Material Specification) and Inspect by Characteristics must be set in the Inspection Type for Inspection Lot Origin 04 in the inspection setup of the material master.
Inspection Plan
Similar to task lists from production, inspection plans consist of an inspection plan header and one or more inspection operations which are used to structure the inspection process. Dynamic Modification Data (for skip of quality inspections) is defined at header level in the Inspection plan, whereas the Recording View is defined at operation level. The Inspection Characteristics are defined in the operations. You can either link existing master inspection characteristics, define your own plan-specific characteristics or use a combination of both. If required, additional QM basic data, such as dynamic modification rule, sampling procedure, and inspection method can be assigned to the inspection characteristics.
In our example, the inspection plan includes two inspection operations: Visual inspection and functional test. When performing the visual inspection, the Quality Technician checks if the serial number plate is correct and documents the finding as a result of a qualitative inspection characteristic. During the functional test, they measure the power consumption of the device and record the measured value as a result for a quantitative inspection characteristic. The Quality Planner can reuse other QM master data, such as master inspection characteristics, dynamic modification rules, sampling procedures, inspection methods, and PRTs (production resources and tools), when defining the inspection plan.