From managing and updating quality levels to using control charts to control characteristic values, navigating Test Equipment Management functions to ensure proper calibration, improving the efficiency of your SAP business processes, and more, SAP Quality Management (QM) has the right tools for the job.
This article will discuss the SAP Quality Management module and its core components and capabilities, as well as where our team of SAP consultants at Surety Systems can fit in your organization.
Read on to learn more!
What is SAP Quality Management?
SAP QM, Quality Management, is a solution within the SAP ERP Central Component (SAP ECC) system designed to help companies implement the most important elements of their quality management system and run quality control processes to identify, assess, and resolve issues and enable continuous process improvement over time.
The Quality Management (QM) application also offers pre-built integrations that connect quality inspection, control, and management with other SAP applications, including Material Management, Plant Maintenance, Sales, Procurement, and more.
Key Components of Quality Management in SAP
Let’s take a look at a few of the key components of the SAP Quality Management solution…
1) Quality Planning
With SAP Quality Planning capabilities, business users are enabled to manage basic master data, standardize quality planning initiatives, and leverage inspection planning functions to meet inspection specifications and ensure proper material quality.
2) Quality Control
Quality Control functions help companies leverage a predefined information system that allows them to analyze various reports, including a list of quality notifications, control charts for characteristic values, and vendor validations. This component also provides quality notifications to simplify the identification of defects through root-cause analysis.
3) Quality Assurance
By leveraging Quality Assurance tools, companies can conduct inspection lot processing, capture quality results, produce certificates of analysis, and make better decisions when it comes to accepting or rejecting each inspection lot.
Core Integrations with the SAP QM Module
Business processes in SAP QM can be connected with other SAP applications, like SAP Material Management, Sales and Distribution, and Production Planning through pre-built integration capabilities.
Here are a few capabilities of integrations between SAP QM and other solutions across the SAP system:
SAP Material Management (MM)
- Manage core quality details for vendors, suppliers, and materials
- Stay up-to-date with the release status of material delivery from vendors
- Maintain quality agreements and RFP details when a quote or purchase order is requested
- Initiate and trigger inspections at supplier sites before delivery from the supplier
- Manage the inventory of goods and accept cleared goods in the inventory system
- Evaluate vendors based on their quality scores and determine characteristic values for materials
SAP Sales and Distribution (SD)
- Manage material quality information related to customers across the Sales and Distribution process
- Set up quality notifications and RCAs to process customer complaints and improve satisfaction
- Automatically initiate a quality inspection when a delivery is created against a purchase order
SAP Production Planning (PP)
- Perform inspection planning and work scheduling across SAP systems
- Manage quality inspection plans for existing manufacturing orders
- Maintain partial lots (i.e., lots that have different quality) of a material during production
- Set up final inspection from goods receipt after the production process is complete
- Validate quality information based on specific criteria in manufacturing orders
- Leverage control charts and reports in SAP PP to monitor production quality
Main Advantages of Quality Control Processes in SAP
- Improved management of the quality control process through predefined integrations
- Lower operating costs
- Efficient quality inspection plans to support product planning initiatives
- Automation of quality certificates to optimize customer-facing sales delivery processes
- Improved customer and vendor satisfaction
- QM quality notifications to monitor customer complaints and implement corrective actions
- More informed decisions and better compliance with manufacturing quality regulations
How Can We Help?
Our team of senior-level, US-based SAP consultants has the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to manage the implementation of a new SAP QM module, facilitate integrations between other SAP applications, and improve the efficiency of your core quality notification, inspection, and control processes.
Getting Started with Us
Interested in learning where our team of SAP consultants can fit in your organization?
Ready to get started with SAP Quality Management, but don’t know where to begin?
Contact us today to learn more!
