Features and Benefits of SAP QM

The QM application component fulfills the following tasks:

Materials Management

• Manages quality information for materials, vendors and manufacturers
• Releases vendors and manufacturers; Monitors their QM systems
• Manages the release status of delivery relationships, for example model or series deliveries
• Evaluates vendors on the basis of quality using quality scores from audits, goods receipt inspections, and problem notifications
• Dispatches quality documents (quality agreements, technical delivery terms) when requests for quotations and purchase orders are received
• Requests quality certificates and monitors their receipt
• Triggers source inspections to be carried out at the vendor’s premises before the vendor is due to make a delivery
• Triggers inspections for goods movements, for example, goods receipt
• Blocks payments until inspection lots are accepted
• Manages the inventory of goods during the inspection and takes the goods being inspected into account for materials planning purposes
• Transfers inspection results to batch characteristic values
• Carries out batch determination using characteristic values from quality inspections
• Monitors the shelf-life of batches and the deadline for recurring inspections
• Manages problems using quality notifications and processes complaints against the vendor

Production

• Integrates inspection planning and work scheduling
• Handles inspection characteristics and setup characteristics for operations
• Manages quality inspections for manufacturing orders
• Handles in-process inspections during production at freely defined inspection points
• Triggers final inspection upon goods receipt from production
• Manages partial lots of a material during production that differ in quality and assigns partial lots to batches
• Confirms quality and quantity information for manufacturing orders
• Monitors production quality with the help of control charts and determines process capability scores
• Manages problems in production using quality notifications and by processing corrective tasks

Sales & Distribution

• Manages customer-related quality information
• Triggers an inspection at shipping when the delivery is created
• Creates quality certificates with the delivery
• Manages problems in sales & distribution with the help of quality notifications and by processing customer complaints

Controlling

• Settles appraisal and nonconformity costs