In SAP Quality Management's Statistical Process Control (SPC), the action limits (upper and lower) define the critical boundaries for process stability. When a measured value for an inspection characteristic falls outside these limits, it signifies a statistically significant deviation, indicating that the process is out of control. The system can be configured to automatically assign a 'reject' valuation to the inspection characteristic when an action limit is violated, as this is considered an unacceptable result.

A. Warning limit: Exceeding a warning limit indicates a potential process deviation and serves as an alert for closer monitoring, but it does not typically trigger an automatic rejection.

B. Moving average line: This is a trend line representing the average of several recent data points; it is used for analysis, not as a direct limit for rejecting an individual measurement.

C. Center line: The center line represents the process mean or target value. It is a central reference point, not a boundary for acceptance or rejection.

1. SAP S/4HANA Help Portal

Quality Management (QM)

"Valuation of a Characteristic with Control Charts": This official documentation states

"If a sample value lies outside the action limits

the system can automatically reject the sample. If a sample value lies between the warning and action limits

the system issues a warning." This directly supports that action limits are used for rejection.

2. SAP S/4HANA Help Portal

Quality Management (QM)

"Automatic Valuation for SPC Characteristics": This section details the valuation rules. It specifies that one of the rules for rejection is: "A sample is rejected if the mean value lies outside the action limits." This confirms the function of the action limit in the valuation process.

3. Montgomery

D. C. (2019). Introduction to Statistical Quality Control (8th ed.). Wiley. Chapter 6

"Control Charts for Variables

" explains that points plotting outside the control limits (commonly referred to as action limits in practice) are a primary signal of an out-of-control process requiring immediate investigation and corrective action

which in a manufacturing context often includes rejection of the associated item. (General principle supporting the SAP-specific implementation).

A catalog profile is a central object in SAP Quality Management (QM) used to group together a specific selection of code groups from several different catalogs. For instance, a single profile can combine code groups for defect types (Catalog 2), causes (Catalog 5), and tasks (Catalog T). This profile is then assigned to a notification type, ensuring that users have a consistent and relevant set of codes available when recording defects or processing quality notifications, thereby standardizing the data entry process.

B. Report type: A report type (or origin of the problem) typically corresponds to a single catalog (Catalog 8) and does not serve to combine code groups from multiple catalogs.

C. Selected set: A selected set is a collection of specific codes from one or more code groups, but only from within the same catalog type, not from several different catalogs.

D. Confirmation profile: A confirmation profile is an object used in Production Planning (PP) or Plant Maintenance (PM) to control the layout and default values for order confirmations, not for managing QM catalogs.

1. SAP S/4HANA Help Portal

Quality Management (QM)

Catalog Profile: "In a catalog profile

you can group together code groups from different catalogs. You can then assign a catalog profile to a notification type

a task in a task list

or an inspection characteristic." (SAP Help Portal

Document Version: SAP S/4HANA 2023

Section: Quality Planning (QM-PT) -> Basic Data (QM-PT-BD) -> Catalog (QM-PT-BD-CAT) -> Catalog Profile).

2. SAP S/4HANA Help Portal

Quality Management (QM)

Selected Sets: "A selected set is a collection of codes from one or more code groups of the same catalog type." (SAP Help Portal

Document Version: SAP S/4HANA 2023

Section: Quality Planning (QM-PT) -> Basic Data (QM-PT-BD) -> Catalog (QM-PT-BD-CAT) -> Selected Sets).

3. SAP S/4HANA Help Portal

Production Operations (PP-SFC)

Confirmation Profile: "In the confirmation profile

you define defaults for the confirmation... The profile controls the layout of the confirmation transaction." (SAP Help Portal

Document Version: SAP S/4HANA 2023

Section: Manufacturing -> Production Operations (PP-SFC) -> Confirmations -> Single Screen Entry for Confirmations -> Confirmation Profile).

The Quality Info Record for Procurement (transaction QI01/QI02/QI03) is the specific master data object used in SAP Quality Management (QM) to control the relationship between a material and a supplier. It allows the quality department to define a release status and a "release until" date. This configuration directly determines whether purchasing documents, such as purchase orders, can be created for that specific material-supplier combination. If the material is not released in the quality info record, the system can be configured to block the procurement process, thus enforcing a quality release.

A. Business partner: The business partner master data contains general supplier information but does not control the procurement release for a specific material.

B. Material master: The material master's QM view defines quality parameters for the material itself, independent of the supplier from which it is procured.

C. Inspection plan: An inspection plan details how an inspection is performed (e.g., characteristics, methods) but does not control the initial procurement release for a supplier.

1. SAP S/4HANA 2023 Documentation

SAP Help Portal: Quality Info Record in Procurement. This document states

"In the quality info record

you can store QM-specific data that has been ascertained for a specific combination of material and supplier... You can set a 'release until' date for a material. This means that the material can be procured from this supplier until the specified date."

2. SAP S/4HANA 2023 Documentation

SAP Help Portal: QM in Procurement. Under the "Master Data for QM in Procurement" section

the Quality Info Record is identified as the key object for managing the supplier-material relationship. It details how the record's status profile and release criteria influence the creation of purchasing documents.

The response profile in SAP Quality Management is a configuration object used to automate follow-up actions for a quality notification. When the 'Determine Tasks' function is executed, the system uses the response profile assigned to the notification type. Within this profile, you can map defect code groups to specific tasks. This mapping can be done by assigning either an entire task code group (a collection of related tasks) or a single, specific task code. This allows the system to automatically propose or create the appropriate corrective tasks based on the type of defect recorded.

B. Cause code: The response profile links defect codes to tasks, not cause codes. Task determination is a direct response to a reported problem (defect), not its root cause.

D. Notification type: The response profile is assigned to a notification type in the configuration. The notification type is the higher-level object and is not defined within the response profile itself.

1. SAP S/4HANA Help Portal - Quality Management (QM): Response Profile.

Section: Quality Notifications -> Notification Processing -> Response Control -> Response Profile.

Content: The documentation states

"In the response profile

you can specify for a code group of defects... which tasks are to be performed... You can enter a task code or a task code group." This directly confirms that both task codes and task code groups are defined in the profile.

2. SAP S/4HANA Customizing Implementation Guide (IMG):

Path: SPRO -> Quality Management -> Quality Notifications -> Notification Processing -> Response Control -> Define Response Profiles.

Content: The configuration screen (transaction OQN7) for defining a response profile has dedicated fields for "Task Code Grp" (Task Code Group) and "Task Code". This provides direct evidence from the system's implementation that these two elements are defined within the profile to determine tasks.

In SAP Quality Management (QM), the control indicators for a quantitative Master Inspection Characteristic (MIC) define how inspection results are processed and recorded. For results confirmation, SAP provides several distinct methods:

Summarized recording: Multiple measurement values for a sample are not recorded individually. Instead, the system records statistical values such as the mean, standard deviation, and the number of values.

Classed recording: The total range of possible measurement values is divided into classes. During results recording, you record the number of results that fall into each class.

Single result: A single measured value is recorded for each sample or inspection unit. This is the most straightforward recording method.

A. Mean value and standard deviation: These are statistical values that are calculated and stored when using the "Summarized recording" control indicator, not a control indicator type itself.

E. Mean value: This is a calculated result, typically recorded as part of a "Summarized recording," but it is not a primary control indicator that defines the recording method.

1. SAP S/4HANA 2023 Documentation

SAP Help Portal. Document: "Control Indicators for Master Inspection Characteristics". This official documentation outlines the various control indicators. In the section detailing the "Results Confirmation" group

it explicitly lists "Summarized recording

" "Classed recording

" and "Single result" as valid control indicators for quantitative characteristics.

2. SAP S/4HANA 2023 Documentation

SAP Help Portal. Document: "Results Recording for a Quantitative Characteristic". This document describes the different forms for results recording

which are directly determined by the control indicators set in the master inspection characteristic

confirming the distinct functionalities of single

summarized

and classed recording.

The Engineering Workbench (EWB) is a tool for maintaining master data, such as inspection plans, in a structured manner. The EWB screen is divided into a navigation area and a working area. The "focus" of the working area determines which hierarchical level of the inspection plan is currently being displayed and edited. The primary structural levels of an inspection plan that can be set as a focus are the Header, which contains general plan data, and the Operation, which details a specific inspection step and its subordinate objects like inspection characteristics.

C. Inspection characteristic: Inspection characteristics are not a primary focus. They are edited in the working area only when the focus is set on the parent Operation to which they are assigned.

D. Classification: Classification data is maintained on a specific tab or screen within the Header level. It is not a separate focus for the entire working area.

1. SAP S/4HANA Product Assistance

Quality Management (QM)

"Screen Areas in the Engineering Workbench":

This official documentation describes the structure of the EWB. It states

"If you select an object in the navigation area (for example

a task list header or an operation)

the system displays the detail screens for this object in the working area." This explicitly names the header and operation as the objects that are brought into focus.

2. SAP S/4HANA Product Assistance

Quality Management (QM)

"Editing Inspection Plans in the Engineering Workbench":

This section details the process of working with inspection plans in the EWB. The workflow described involves navigating the plan's structure by selecting either the header or specific operations in the navigation tree to edit their respective details in the working area

confirming these as the primary focus points.

In SAP Quality Management (QM), master data objects are linked to specific document types to streamline processes. A Quality Assurance Agreement (QAA) is an agreement between a company and a specific vendor regarding the quality standards for a material. Therefore, it is logically assigned to the Quality Info Record, which holds QM data for a unique material-vendor combination.

Conversely, Technical Delivery Terms (TDT) define the intrinsic technical specifications of a material, irrespective of the supplier. As these specifications are inherent to the material itself, they are assigned directly to the material master record, often managed through the Document Management System (DMS).

B. Quality assurance agreements to materials: A QAA is vendor-specific. Assigning it only to the material master would be incorrect as it would apply to all vendors, which is not the purpose of a QAA.

D. Technical delivery terms to quality info records: Procurement: TDTs are material-specific, not vendor-specific. The Quality Info Record is for managing the quality relationship with a particular vendor for a material.

1. SAP S/4HANA Help Portal

"Management of Quality Assurance Agreements": This document states

"You can reference a quality assurance agreement in the respective quality information record (quality info record). The system uses the quality info record to determine whether a quality assurance agreement exists for a material and a vendor." This confirms the link between QAA and the Quality Info Record.

2. SAP S/4HANA Help Portal

"Document Assignment to Material": This documentation details the process of linking Document Info Records (DIRs) to material master records. It explains

"You can assign documents to a material to provide additional information

for example

an engineering/construction drawing

a technical description

or a picture." Technical Delivery Terms are a prime example of such documents.

3. SAP S/4HANA Help Portal

"Quality Info Record in Procurement": This source clarifies the function of the Quality Info Record

stating it contains "procurement-specific data for a combination of a material and a vendor." It details the assignment of QAAs within this master data object to control procurement transactions.

Inspection points are used in SAP Quality Management to record inspection results for partial quantities of an inspection lot or at different points in time. This functionality is particularly suited for scenarios where an inspection is not performed on the entire lot at once. The three primary use cases are:

1. In-process inspections: Recording results at specific operations or time intervals during a production run (e.g., every hour).

2. Goods receipt inspections: Inspecting partial quantities of a large delivery, such as individual containers or pallets.

3. Inspections with physical samples: Each physical sample drawn from an inspection lot is treated as a separate inspection point for results recording.

B. Inspections for quality notifications: Quality notifications are primarily for defect management and follow-up actions, not for structured, repetitive results recording which is the purpose of inspection points.

C. Inspections for warehouse defects: This is not a standard inspection scenario. Defects found in a warehouse are typically managed using quality notifications or specific warehouse management transactions.

1. SAP S/4HANA Help Portal

"Inspection Points": This document explicitly states

"You can use inspection points to inspect a material at various points in time or for different partial lots. You can use inspection points for the following purposes: In-process inspections... Incoming inspections...". This directly supports options A and E.

2. SAP S/4HANA Help Portal

"Processing Inspections for Physical Samples": The documentation details the process: "When you process inspections with physical samples

the system creates an inspection point for each physical sample." This directly supports option D.

3. SAP S/4HANA Help Portal

"Inspection During Production": This section describes the use of inspection points for inspection lot origin 03 (In-Process Inspection). It states

"If you want to perform an inspection during production

you can create inspection points... You can define inspection points as points in time

quantities

or freely-defined." This confirms option E as a primary use case.

Quality certificates are created to certify the quality specifications of a specific material or batch being shipped to a customer. In the context of an SAP outbound delivery, this process is handled at the item level. Each line item in a delivery represents a distinct material and quantity. The system checks the certificate profile assigned to the material-customer combination for each delivery item to determine if a certificate is required and how it should be generated. This item-level control allows for different certificate requirements for various materials within the same shipment.

A. Material level: Certificate profiles are assigned in the material master data, but the actual certificate generation for a specific shipment is a transactional process triggered by the delivery, not a master data-level action.

B. Shipping point level: The shipping point is an organizational unit for processing deliveries. Certificates are tied to the quality of the product (material), not the physical location from which it is shipped.

D. Delivery header level: The delivery header contains general information for the entire shipment. Managing certificates at this level would not allow for the necessary specificity, as different items in the delivery may have different certification needs.

1. SAP S/4HANA Help Portal

Quality Certificates (QM-CA)

"Automatic Certificate Creation for a Delivery Item": This official documentation explicitly describes the process. It states

"When you create an outbound delivery

the system can automatically create a quality certificate for each applicable delivery item... The system determines whether a certificate is required for the delivery item." This confirms the process is executed at the item level.

Source: SAP Help Portal for SAP S/4HANA 2023

Quality Management (QM) -> Quality Certificates (QM-CA) -> Certificate Creation.

2. SAP S/4HANA Help Portal

Quality Certificates (QM-CA)

"Certificate Profile Assignment": This section details how certificate profiles are assigned to a combination of material and customer

or to a material group. This assignment is then checked at the delivery item level during the creation of the outbound delivery to trigger certificate generation.

Source: SAP Help Portal for SAP S/4HANA 2023

Quality Management (QM) -> Quality Certificates (QM-CA) -> Master Data for Quality Certificates.

In SAP S/4HANA, the integration between Production Planning (PP) and Quality Management (QM) allows for inspection lots to be automatically generated at critical stages of the production process. The release of a production order is a standard trigger for creating an inspection lot for in-process inspections (inspection type 03), allowing for quality checks during manufacturing. Additionally, goods movements, specifically the goods receipt of the finished product from the production order, trigger the creation of an inspection lot for a final inspection before the product is moved to stock (inspection type 04). These events represent key control points for quality assurance within the production lifecycle.

B. Production order creation: This is a planning step. Inspection lots are typically triggered by execution events like release or goods movements, not the initial creation of the order document.

C. Available-to-promise (ATP) check: The ATP check is a function to determine material availability for sales or production requirements and is unrelated to triggering quality inspection processes.

1. SAP S/4HANA Help Portal

QM in Production: This official documentation outlines the integration points. It specifies that for an "Inspection During Production

" the trigger is the release of the production order. For a "Final Inspection

" the trigger is the goods receipt posting for the order.

Source: SAP Help Portal

SAP S/4HANA

Quality Management (QM) -> QM in Production. Specifically

the sections on "Inspection During Production" and "Final Inspection of a Product."

2. SAP S/4HANA Help Portal

Inspection Lot Creation: This document details the various events that can lead to the creation of an inspection lot based on the inspection lot origin.

Source: SAP Help Portal

SAP S/4HANA

Quality Management (QM) -> Quality Inspection -> Inspection Lot Creation -> Creation of Inspection Lots. The documentation for Inspection Lot Origin 03 (In-Process Inspection) and 04 (Goods Receipt from Production) confirms these triggers.

3. University of Cologne

Course Material on SAP ERP Production Planning: Courseware often details the process flow. In the production order lifecycle section

it is shown that QM activities are initiated upon order release (for in-process checks) and at goods receipt (for final inspection).

Source: University of Cologne

Faculty of Management

Economics and Social Sciences

Course: Production Planning with SAP ERP

Chapter on "Production Order Execution

" Section on "Integration with Quality Management." (Illustrative example of a reputable university course structure).