After production has finished, the manufactured goods are delivered to the warehouse. However, before further use of the goods, you want to ensure that all quality standards are fulfilled and you execute a goods receipt quality inspection. Assuming that all goods are in good shape, you use the goods in follow-up processes (for example, manufacturing or sales). In case of deviations, you transfer the goods to blocked stock until further clarification and/or rework.
Variants of Inspections at the End of the Production Process
Depending on our business process, you can:
- Execute the quality inspection as final operation of an order (inspection lot origin 03)
- Execute the quality inspection at goods receipt for the order (inspection lot origin 04)
- Execute the quality inspection parallel to the manufacturing steps, but record them in a stock-relevant goods receipt inspection lot (early goods receipt inspection lots, inspection lot origin 04)
When executing the quality inspection as final operation of an order, the quality inspection logically belongs to the manufacturing. In this case, you define quality inspection operations in the routing/recipe and process the quality inspection similarly to all other manufacturing steps. The SAP S/4HANA system creates the inspection lot already at order release.
Note
Due to the fact that the inspection lot is created at order release, there is a 1:1 relationship between the order and the inspection lot. Furthermore, the created inspection lot is not stock-relevant as the quantities are managed by the order.When quality inspection shall be executed independently from the manufacturing steps (for example, shortly before the goods are put into stock), you execute the second process variant: In the SAP S/4HANA system, the inspection lots for inspection origin 04 (goods receipt from production) are created when you post the goods receipt for the (production or process) order. Unlike the inspection lots for the inspection lot origin 03, these inspection lots are stock-relevant. Furthermore, the inspection requirements for the inspection originate from an inspection plan and/or from a materials specification instead of a routing/master recipe. Depending on the complexity of your quality inspection process, you can execute a simple defects recording, a more comprehensive results recording, or a combination of both.
Note
Due to the fact that the inspection lot is created when posting the goods receipt, it is possible that several inspection lots (one corresponding to each goods receipt posting) exist. If required, you can also configure lot summary in the inspection type configuration of the material master such that, for example, the system only creates an inspection lot for the first goods receipt of an order.If you want to use stock relevant goods receipt inspection lots, but you must, for example, due to technical reasons, execute quality inspection steps already parallel to the manufacturing operations, you can configure the SAP S/4HANA system to create early goods receipt inspection lots. These lots are created when you release the order.
Note
This process will be discussed in detail in a later unit.Posting to Inspection Stock
The Post to Inspection Stock indicator specifies whether the material is subject to quality inspection (without inspection lot processing) and whether a goods receipt is posted to inspection stock. If set in the material master, the indicator is copied to the production order header and goods receipt items as a default value.
You can distinguish the following business scenarios:
If no stock-relevant inspection type has been activated in the inspection setup of the material master, and therefore no stock-relevant inspection lots are created by default, you can still select this indicator in the order or when posting goods receipt. In this case, the goods receipt is posted to quality inspection stock without an inspection lot. You can transfer the quantities from quality inspection to unrestricted use stock using, for example, the app Transfer Stock.
If you activate a stock-relevant inspection type in the material master, you can no longer maintain this field in the material master as the system hides this field. In this case, a corresponding indicator in the inspection type controls whether goods are posted to inspection stock. You can transfer the quantities from quality inspection to unrestricted use stock using, for example, the app Manage Usage Decisions.
Note
If the Post to Inspection Stock indicator is set to the QM view in the material master in the inspection settings (inspection type for inspection origin 04), you can no longer change this field in the order header or at goods receipt.Processing Quality Inspections at Goods Receipt for Production Order
Assuming that your business process requires that you execute a quality inspection after production when receiving the goods at the warehouse, you execute the following process steps:
- If an appropriate inspection type is entered in the material, an inspection lot is automatically created as soon as you post the goods receipt for the order in the warehouse (→ steps 1 and 2).
- If configured in the inspection type, the SAP S/4HANA system searches an inspection plan and assigns the inspection characteristics to the inspection lot (→ step 3). Alternatively, you can also just record defects. In this case, an inspection plan is not required.
- If enabled in the inspection type, the goods are posted to inspection stock for the duration of the quality inspection (→ step 4).
- You execute results recording for all characteristics and/or defects recording (→ step 5).
- You post a usage decision. If goods are in inspection stock and the quality inspection was successful, the SAP S/4HANA system usually posts the goods to unrestricted use stock together with the usage decision (→ step 6). In case of deviations, you can also post the goods to blocked stock until further clarification (→ step 7). To orchestrate the analysis, you can use a quality notification of type internal deviation, or the production/warehouse defect.