¶ Characteristics: Creating and Managing Quality Characteristics
Subject: SAP Quality Management (QM)
In SAP Quality Management (QM), Characteristics form the foundation of quality inspection and control processes. They define the specific attributes or properties of materials, products, or processes that must be measured, tested, or evaluated during inspections. Properly creating and managing quality characteristics is critical for ensuring accurate inspections, consistent quality standards, and compliance with industry regulations.
This article provides an overview of quality characteristics in SAP QM, outlining how to create, configure, and manage them effectively.
A Characteristic in SAP QM represents a measurable quality attribute. Examples include:
- Dimensional attributes (e.g., length, width, thickness)
- Physical properties (e.g., hardness, weight, temperature)
- Visual checks (e.g., color, surface finish)
- Functional tests (e.g., electrical conductivity)
Characteristics provide the criteria against which inspection results are compared, and they are essential for defining inspection plans and recording inspection results.
Quality characteristics are created in the Classification System within the SAP QM module.
¶ Step 2: Define Value Ranges and Limits
- Upper and Lower Limits: Define acceptable tolerance levels.
- Target Value: Ideal measurement or standard.
- Defect Limits: Specify criteria for defective items.
- These limits enable automated usage decisions during inspection.
Characteristics are grouped into Classes which represent sets of characteristics for materials, processes, or equipment.
- Classes are assigned to inspection plans or material master records to standardize inspections.
- This helps in reusing characteristics and maintaining consistency.
¶ Editing and Updating Characteristics
- Use transaction QS22 (Change Characteristic) to update attributes, inspection methods, or limits.
- Changes should be controlled and documented to maintain data integrity.
- Use QS25 (Copy Characteristic) to create new characteristics based on existing ones, accelerating setup.
- Characteristics can be versioned to reflect changes over time without losing historical data.
- Ensure consistent usage across projects by locking outdated versions.
Quality characteristics are directly linked to:
- Inspection Plans: Define which characteristics are inspected for specific materials or processes.
- Inspection Lots: During inspections, results are recorded against each characteristic.
- Usage Decisions: Based on characteristic results and predefined limits, SAP QM facilitates automatic or manual decisions to accept, reject, or rework materials.
- Standardize Characteristic Naming: Use meaningful and consistent naming conventions.
- Reuse Characteristics: Avoid duplication by leveraging classes and templates.
- Regularly Review and Update Limits: Reflect changes in quality standards or product specifications.
- Train Inspectors: Ensure understanding of characteristic definitions and measurement techniques.
- Document Changes: Maintain audit trails for changes to characteristics.
Quality characteristics are a vital component of SAP QM that ensure inspections are accurate, consistent, and aligned with organizational quality goals. Creating well-defined characteristics and managing them effectively across inspection plans improves quality control and supports compliance efforts.
By leveraging SAP QM’s tools to create, maintain, and integrate characteristics, organizations can enhance their quality assurance processes and drive continuous improvement.