¶ Basic QM Processes: Goods Receipt, In-Process, and Goods Issue Inspections
Quality Management (QM) in SAP plays a vital role in ensuring products and services meet customer expectations and regulatory requirements. Central to QM are inspection processes that help detect defects early and maintain quality standards throughout the supply chain. The three foundational inspection types in SAP QM are Goods Receipt (GR) Inspection, In-Process Inspection, and Goods Issue (GI) Inspection.
This article introduces these basic QM processes, explaining their importance, workflows, and how they integrate into broader SAP logistics and production modules.
SAP QM inspections are designed to verify the quality of materials or products at various stages of the production and supply chain. Each inspection type serves a specific purpose:
- Goods Receipt Inspection: Checks the quality of incoming materials from suppliers.
- In-Process Inspection: Ensures quality during manufacturing or production.
- Goods Issue Inspection: Verifies quality before materials or products are issued to the next stage, such as delivery to customers or internal use.
Goods receipt inspections are performed when materials arrive from external vendors or production plants. The goal is to confirm that the delivered materials meet predefined quality standards before acceptance into inventory.
- Creation of Inspection Lot: Automatically triggered upon goods receipt against a purchase order.
- Inspection Execution: Inspectors perform tests according to inspection plans linked to the material.
- Recording Results: Inspection results and defects are recorded in the system.
- Usage Decision: Based on results, the material is accepted, rejected, or accepted with restrictions.
- Linked with Materials Management (MM) for purchase order and inventory updates.
- Affects inventory status, preventing the use of rejected materials.
In-process inspections occur during the manufacturing process to ensure the product meets quality requirements before proceeding to the next stage. This helps in early defect detection and reduces scrap and rework.
- Inspection Lot Creation: Generated during production order processing or at defined production steps.
- Inspection Execution: Quality checks are carried out on semi-finished goods or components.
- Result Recording and Usage Decision: Similar to GR inspection, results determine if production continues, requires rework, or stops.
- Enables real-time quality control within the production cycle.
- Helps maintain process consistency and reduce production delays.
Goods issue inspections ensure that materials or finished products meet quality requirements before being issued for shipment, consumption, or internal use.
- Inspection Lot Creation: Triggered when goods are posted for issue.
- Inspection and Results Recording: Products undergo final quality verification.
- Usage Decision: Determines if goods can be issued, need rework, or must be scrapped.
- Final quality check before delivery to customers.
- Ensures internal quality standards are maintained for critical consumption.
- Inspection Plans: Define inspection characteristics, methods, and sample sizes.
- Quality Notifications: Raised if defects are found, enabling corrective actions.
- Integration with Other Modules: Inspections are closely linked to MM, Production Planning (PP), Sales and Distribution (SD), and Financial Accounting (FI).
- Early defect detection reduces costly recalls and rework.
- Maintains supplier and production quality standards.
- Enhances customer satisfaction by delivering defect-free products.
- Provides traceability and audit trails for compliance.
Basic SAP QM inspection processes—Goods Receipt, In-Process, and Goods Issue Inspections—are crucial to embedding quality control across the supply chain and production lifecycle. By systematically inspecting materials and products at strategic points, organizations can ensure consistent quality, reduce waste, and improve operational efficiency. Leveraging SAP QM’s integrated capabilities, companies gain real-time insights and control over their quality processes, enabling them to meet stringent quality requirements and customer expectations.