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SAP ERP
Quality Management
with SAP® ERP
A comprehensive approach
to quality management –
one that integrates informa-
tion and processes across
departments and corporate
boundaries – empowers
your employees and supply
chain partners to maintain
and improve quality levels.
The SAP® ERP application
provides a single, powerful
solution that lets you take
a comprehensive, broad-
based approach to total
quality management. It
delivers a wide range of inte-
grated quality management
functionality and supports
collaborative business pro-
cesses for cost-effectively
ensuring the quality of your
products and processes and
transforming quality man-
agement into a competitive
advantage.
CONTENT
With the SAP® ERP application, SAP SAP ERP enables the comprehensive This document targets project plan-
has transferred its vision of increasing and efficient approach you need to ners, decision makers, and people
efficiency within an organization to soft- transform quality management into a interested in implementing QM with
ware for enterprise resource planning competitive advantage. SAP ERP deliv- SAP ERP. It explains how QM with SAP
that helps automate end-to-end busi- ers a wide range of integrated quality ERP is integrated in SAP Business
ness processes and extends those management functionality and supports Suite applications and service-oriented
processes to the entire business eco- collaborative business scenarios for architecture (SOA), powered by the
system, including customers, partners, cost-effectively ensuring the quality of SAP NetWeaver® technology platform.
and suppliers. With SAP ERP, you can your products and processes. As your It provides you with insight into the cur-
increase your employees’ productivity employees work throughout the entire rent functional scope of QM with SAP
and provide them with the insight product lifecycle along the supply ERP. It also shows how QM functions
needed to make decisions that set chain, SAP ERP helps ensure that qual- are integrated in SAP ERP and support
you apart from the competition. ity is efficiently built into your pro- the business processes of the supply
cesses, systems, and products, from chain.
Quality is a vital core competency for the shop floor to the top floor.
manufacturers industry-wide – and For detailed information about
given today’s complex and often global If you are considering implementing SAP ERP, visit our Web site at
production cycles, it cannot be treated or have already implemented quality www.sap.com/erp or visit the
as simply an afterthought. You have to management (QM) with SAP ERP in SAP Service Marketplace extranet
engineer quality into the design of prod- your company, and you want informa- at www.service.sap.com/erp
ucts and processes; you have to track tion on current functions and new (login is required).
quality through procurement, produc- developments, then this document
tion, and delivery; and you have to con- contains all the information you need.
stantly improve quality to keep pace
Offering a Total Quality Manage Audit Processes Stand Out at Quality Control
Management Solution The audit management functions of SAP ERP gives you quality control
SAP ERP let you plan, conduct, and functionality that supports strategic
The SAP® ERP application provides a evaluate audits throughout the enter- planning, continuous monitoring, and
single, powerful solution that lets you prise. You can perform internal or quick problem resolution. The applica-
take a comprehensive, broad-based external audits of systems, processes, tion lets you share quality information
approach to total quality management products, and environmental condi- and control quality processes across
(QM). Far more than a traditional iso- tions; conduct a range of assessments the supply chain. You can plan, con-
lated computer-aided quality system or and reviews; and monitor the effective- duct, and manage quality inspections –
a laboratory information management ness of all corrective and preventive and integrate them into processes
system, SAP ERP supports quality actions linked to quality notifications. throughout the product lifecycle. You
processes in any industry. All this helps you comply with legal can accurately track results and defect
requirements, support benchmarking data; record and charge inspection
Practice Continuous Improvement efforts, and uncover opportunities for costs; manage and maintain laboratory
You can quickly identify and analyze improvement. Audit management func- data related to samples, tests, and
problems, then rapidly eliminate their tions support a wide range of industry stability studies; automatically create
root causes. With the quality notifica- standards, such as ISO 9000:2000, quality certificates for customers and
tions functionality, for example, you can QS-9000, Good Manufacturing exchange that information with busi-
ensure that all problems and unplanned Practice (GMP), ISO 14011, and ness partners; and connect, monitor,
events are captured directly when they ISO 19011. and maintain test equipment to ensure
occur, that they are correctly assigned data accuracy.
and resolved, and that all actions are Deliver Quality-Related Information
monitored for maximum effectiveness. Where It’s Needed You can collect and analyze all the
A service-oriented approach allows Web-based enterprise portal technol- quality-related data needed to conduct
employees as well as business part- ogy and ready-made SAP content give Six Sigma projects. With the applica-
ners to create requests or notifications, your employees and your partners a tion’s built-in workflow functions, you
work together online to record informa- single point of access to all the infor- can automate and accelerate many of
tion, dispatch information, and track mation, applications, tools, and ser- your business processes. Meanwhile,
the processing status of requests – vices they need to collaborate on the SAP Manufacturing Integration
providing the full functionality needed quality initiatives. The intuitive, context- and Intelligence (SAP MII) application
to ensure corrective and preventive driven portal increases the reach of lets you rapidly integrate SAP ERP
actions. In addition, the analytic func- your quality management efforts to with other manufacturing software –
tionality of SAP ERP and the SAP include both everyday and occasional enabling production-line personnel to
NetWeaver® Business Warehouse users in quality processes. For exam- record inspection results directly from
(SAP NetWeaver BW) component ple, quality inspectors can work more the shop floor. Leveraging a service-
enables you to monitor quality perfor- efficiently by using the portal to access oriented architecture (SOA), SAP ERP
mance and adjust quality strategies to the specific work list they need to com- offers a wide range of enterprise ser-
eliminate problems. Using the flexible plete each inspection lot. vices for quality management. In an
QM cockpit for evaluations in SAP interconnected world, the ability to
ERP, for example, you can analyze both exchange data across applications and
online and archived quality manage- with various partners is rapidly becom-
ment data to support your company’s ing as important as statistical process
Six Sigma projects. control and test equipment interfaces.
Inspection Quality
Planner Inspector
Figure 1: Internal and External Integration of Quality Management with SAP® ERP
Batch tracking
The batch where-used list helps you
determine which raw-material batches
or semifinished products make up the
batch of a finished product (top-down
analysis) or, conversely, which batches
of semifinished or finished products
are made up of a particular batch of a
raw material (bottom-up analysis). The
where-used list also forms the basis
for printing inspection results from the
previous assembly stages (for example,
semifinished products) for an end
product on a quality certificate.
As inspection planner or quality all components, and is the basis for the FMEA is an analytical method for early
engineer, you implement predefined third step, maintaining the operational detection and elimination of possible
planning strategies in your company. inspection plans and routings. failures and issues in products and
This includes: processes. In the context of quality
• Performing closed-loop inspection As soon as the product is produced, management, this method is used for
planning with FMEA and control plans the supplier has to implement a closed- preventive failure avoidance. SAP ERP
• Defining the trigger, type, and scope loop process starting with a continuous offers tools for monitoring as well as a
of quality inspections improvement process. Each internal or cockpit for building an FMEA product
• Creating and managing task lists as external complaint must be checked or process structure. FMEA can be
the basis for quality inspections against the preventive actions, which used for root-cause analysis in Six Sig-
• Managing and processing the basic have been defined in the FMEA during ma projects, risk assessment during
data used in task lists the first step of the closed-loop inspec- product development, and operational
• Determining the procedure for statis- tion planning. One result of the com- quality control and planning. FMEA sup-
tical process control plaint could be to change the FMEA ports compliance with ISO/TS16949
and control plan as well as operational (automotive industry).
To complete these tasks, you can use plans.
the reusable basic data as building
blocks and a flexible planning tool.
Planning Tools
Engineering Workbench
The engineering workbench, shown in
Figure 12, is an efficient tool that you
can use to process several task lists
simultaneously (routings, reference
operation sets, and inspection plans).
The data you require can be read from
different task lists and restructured.
You can perform a variety of tasks
using the engineering workbench, Structural Detail screens Integration into
display document
including the following:
management
As a quality inspector, you are respon- Inspection Lot Processing There are different variants for inspec-
sible for proving that a material meets tion lot processing. In QM with SAP
predefined quality requirements. With Supported by quality planning specifi- ERP, these are defined as inspection
QM with SAP ERP, you can show that cations, inspections supply important types (for example, goods receipt
these requirements have been met. data for quality control purposes (see inspection and inspection during pro-
Inspections can be triggered for inspec- Figure 13). The inspection lot is the duction). The variants include:
tion points during production, for physi- central element for the quality inspec- • Inspection with or without a task list
cal samples in the process industry, tion in QM with SAP ERP. It contains or material specification
or automatically for goods movements. all information related to the quality • Recording of inspection characteris-
inspection, such as inspection specifi- tic results and defect data
Planned inspections in QM with cations, inspection results, and usage • Manual or automatic specification
SAP ERP can be used to document decisions. assignment, sample determination,
quality using quantitative and qualitative and usage decisions
inspection results. In addition, you • Control of inspection stock posting
can also create a record of unplanned
events in the form of defect data or
quality notifications.
Create inspection lot
For all quality inspection tasks, SAP Inspection Lot Select inspection specifications
ERP and SAP NetWeaver provide you Creation Determine samples
with the tools you require for the role of
Print shop papers
quality inspector, as well as the oppor-
tunity to customize the settings:
Confirm activities
• With SAP NetWeaver Portal you
have a role-based portal with work Complete inspection
Inspection
centers that are tailored specifically Record defect data
to the needs of the quality inspector
Request characteristic inspection results
for results and defects recording,
notification creation and processing,
Perform follow-up actions
confirmation processing for produc-
tion orders, and execution of quality Update QM information system
reports. Inspection Lot Update quality level
• With QM functions in SAP ERP you Completion
Determine quality score
have support for all the required
steps for recording and documenting Make usage decision
quality-related data as well as tools
for integrated processing and evalua- Figure 13: Stages in Inspection Lot Processing
tion of the data.
• With support for collaborative busi-
ness, your internal and external busi-
ness partners can record inspection
results on an intranet or the Internet.
Inspection Lot Creation Examples of shop papers and their con- Direct transfer of inspection results is
QM with SAP ERP generally creates tent include the following: possible if you link electronic test
inspection lots automatically (see • Sample-drawing instructions contain equipment to SAP ERP. You can also
Figure 14), but you can also create the information required for the record inspection results for serial
lots manually. Inspection lots may be physical-sample drawing and for numbers and batches, and you can
created as a result of the following: distributing samples to work centers transfer the inspection results recorded
• Goods movements (for example, or laboratories. in SAP ERP to batch classification.
goods receipt, goods issue, stock • Physical-sample labels are used to
transfer, and returns from a label samples. Flexible specifications
customer) • Inspection instructions list informa- Flexible specifications are used to influ-
• Deadline monitoring for batches tion about the test equipment and ence the specification data on creation
(recurring inspection) inspection characteristics for each of an inspection lot or during results
• Release of production orders, pro- inspection operation and specify the recording. Flexible inspection specifica-
cess orders, maintenance orders, inspection methods, specifications, tions allow you to select or deselect
service orders, and production and sample size for each inspection the relevant inspection characteristics
versions characteristic. Quality inspectors can and adjust the given specifications as
• Delivery creation in shipping record inspection results on the needed. As a standard setting in the
inspection instructions, if the layout SAP ERP application, the process is
For inspections with an inspection plan, is suitable. active for inspection lots related to a
SAP ERP selects the corresponding stability study. However, it can also
inspection specifications (for example, Inspection be of interest for other business sce-
the inspection plan or material specifi- During an inspection, you can: narios, where inspections cannot be
cation). If a customer has specific prod- • Record, valuate, and close inspection planned completely in advance, such
uct requirements, these can be copied results for characteristics as the following:
from variant configuration or batch • Record defect data and quality • Inspection performed as a service
determination to the inspection. Shop notifications • Inspection of a complaint
papers are printed, and inspection • Confirm activities • Inspection for a stability study
results are recorded on the basis of the
inspection specifications.
Statistical interface
The QM statistical interface (QM-STI)
links QM functionality with SAP ERP
to external evaluation systems. As a
result, you can perform evaluations that
are not supported by the statistical
functions in SAP ERP for results
recording (control charts, histograms,
and process capability indexes). You
Figure 17: Example for Portal Work Center for a Quality Inspector can use a format defined by SAP to
Creation
Certificate Processing logo. You define required content in the predefined strategies. You can enhance
in Sales and Distribution certificate profile. Due to the flexible the data procurement functions and
interaction of the certificate profile and replacement strategies available in SAP
Your company produces high-quality form, you can meet multiple require- ERP by programming function modules.
products. As quality manager, it is your ments using just a few forms.
responsibility to provide evidence of The form master record allows you to
the quality of your goods for your cus- You specify the data origin for each tailor your certificates to your compa-
tomers. Whether you require certifi- characteristic in the certificate profile. ny’s needs. To simplify this process,
cates of analysis for the chemical or For each characteristic, you can include SAP ERP provides examples based on
pharmaceutical industry, or certificates texts (such as inspection methods) and SAPscript forms, a proprietary tool for
of conformity, test certificates, works- values (specification values and inspec- text management and form printing,
test certificates, or inspection certifi- tion results) in the certificate. and Adobe forms (PDF-based print
cates for material inspection laborato- form).
ries in the steel industry – the quality SAP ERP selects data from inspection
certificate fulfills all of your lots, batch specifications, or character- In addition to printing characteristics
requirements. istic master records. Texts for charac- that are directly linked to the product
teristics can also be obtained directly requiring the certificate, you can also
In addition to the usual output forms from the certificate profile. Only those define which characteristic data (from
for certificates (printer or fax), you can inspection lots that meet specific selec- raw materials and semifinished prod-
make certificates available to your tion criteria that have been defined in ucts used when creating the finished
customers on the Internet, or you can the certificate profile are considered for product) are printed on the certificate
transfer certificate data electronically data formatting. (see Figure 19).
for further processing.
Consequently, inspection lots that At this point, you can refer to inspec-
Flexible Certificate Planning have, for example, reached a pre- tions or batch classifications. SAP ERP
You define the layout and content of a defined quality score can be selected. selects batches for data formatting that
certificate in certificate planning. The If there is no inspection result for a are linked to one another by production
form determines the layout of the docu- characteristic due to a skip, SAP ERP orders, process orders, or production
ment – that is, the appearance and searches for other data sources using versions. The characteristic values for
Figure 19: Example of a Quality Certificate for a Finished Product with Characteristic Values from Raw Materials and Semifinished Products
IDOC* IDOC
Reference Data Reference Data Reference Data
EDI**
Certificate
Quality Data Quality Data
XML Record
Optical Archive
Improved Quality Through implement corrective tasks for quality quality notifications, you can deal with
Targeted Problem Handling improvement using the quality both simple problems and problems
notification. related to complex processes in the
To optimize business processes in logistics supply chain (for example,
your company, you must respond to In addition to the quality notification, complaints processing for deliveries
requests and problems quickly and effi- the following notifications are available or processing of returns), as shown
ciently. As the notification processor, to you: in Figure 22.
you coordinate the processing of • General notification for general
incoming requests or problem notifi requests or subjects (without a busi- Notification Types
cations and propose suitable tasks. ness assignment) The subjects defined in quality notifica-
You can ensure that all problems are • Maintenance notification for record- tions generally refer to exceptions in
assigned and solved correctly. You ing and processing problem notifica- everyday business processes. If you
are involved in the analysis, cause tions for technical objects create a notification, you use the notifi-
determination, and handling of prob- • Service notification for processing cation type to define the subject from
lems. You are also responsible for service activities a business viewpoint. The notification
checking the implemented tasks for • Feedback notification for requests type determines the process flow.
their effectiveness. or problems related to SAP ERP
• Claim for documenting deviations SAP ERP contains the following quality
Notifications in an SAP Environment from a project plan (for example, notification types (see Figure 23):
The integrated notification function schedule deviation or cost variance) • Customer complaint
supports you when you create and • Complaint against the vendor
process various issues and problems. Using Quality Notifications • Internal problem notification
As a special feature of QM with SAP
ERP, you can record quality problems, Notifications are an efficient tool for Requests or problems that cannot, at
document defects and causes, and processing exception situations. Using first, be assigned at a business level
Notification Processing
Internet/ Evaluations
Solution
intranet
Workflow database Action Status
box management
Quality control involves strategic plan- QM with SAP ERP takes the quality • Tightening or reducing the inspection
ning, continuous monitoring, and rapid level into account when determining the scope based on the results of a pre-
intervention to deal with unexpected inspection scope and defining the vious inspection is controlled either
events. SAP offers you a complete set inspection specifications in the inspec- by the valuation of the inspection lot
of tools for this purpose. tion instruction. Inspection lots are (dynamic modification by lot) or by
• The role of quality manager in SAP summarized in a quality level according the valuations of the individual
NetWeaver Portal provides the basis to specific criteria. For example, inspec- inspection characteristics (dynamic
for your quality control–related tasks, tion lots in production are summarized modification by characteristic).
which range from strategic planning according to material, plant, and task
to monitoring and evaluating inspec- list, while inspection lots for goods When several lots of the same material
tions and notifications. receipt inspections are summarized are to be inspected simultaneously,
• iViews (portlets) provide an overview according to material, vendor, manufac- there are two times when the software
of all important key figures and evalu- turer, plant, and task list. can dynamically modify the inspection
ations in QM with SAP ERP. As a scope:
result, you can continuously evaluate Figure 25 shows how master data and • The inspection scope is modified in
your quality strategy and modify it on transaction data interact during dynam- advance by assuming that all open
the fly if a problem arises. ic modification of the inspection scope. characteristics will be accepted. If a
• An intuitive data warehouse, which is The main features of this interaction are lot is rejected unexpectedly as a
included in SAP NetWeaver BW, as follows: result of an inspection, the inspection
brings related data together to give • Dynamic modification rules apply scope will be updated again after the
you the reliable company key figures uniformly for all inspection character- usage decision has been made.
you need. istics of a task list, individually for • The inspection scope is modified
certain inspection characteristics, or after the usage decision for the cur-
Dynamic Modification of the generally for the inspection type that rent inspection lot has been made.
Inspection Scope is active for the material.
The subcriteria for quality, the main Evaluations: Keeping You QM Cockpit for Evaluations
criterion, come from the following Up-to-Date With the help of the QM cockpit for
sources: evaluations, you can analyze quality-
• Goods receipt inspection – the aver- The following evaluation tools are related data based on inspection lots,
age of the quality scores of all goods available in QM with SAP ERP: defects, and quality notifications (see
receipt lots from the vendor for a • Results history of mean and single Figure 29). Batch where-used lists pro-
specific time period values with integrated analysis of vide quality-related data of components
• Complaints – the number of com- trends or preliminary products. During the
plaints received in relation to total • QM cockpit for evaluations with SAP analysis you can use tables or informa-
sales or total revenue, for example ERP for online and archived QM data tive graphics to visualize the results.
• QM audit – either the average quality • SAP NetWeaver BW with integrated These graphics can be adjusted to suit
score of all audits executed during a business content your requirements. Multiple graphics
specified time period or the quality • QM information system can be displayed at the same time, for
score of the most recent audit • SAP MII for integrated quality analyt- example, with reference to an inspec-
ics based on disparate systems tion lot, to facilitate comparisons. You
You define the criteria and their relative • Report lists programmed using the can calculate key figures, which you
weighting according to your company ABAP™ programming language can define to meet your needs.
requirements. – Predefined SAP reports
– Logical databases as the basis for
customer-specific reports
As a test equipment manager, you are Using the results history, you can verify Master Data in a
responsible for managing, monitoring, the suitability of each piece of equip- Calibration Inspection
calibrating, and maintaining test equip- ment and the accuracy of the inspec-
ment. Test equipment management tions performed using this equipment. Several master data records are used
involves the following activities: during a calibration inspection: equip-
• Planning and performing calibration Tracking Test Equipment ment master data, maintenance plan,
inspections SAP ERP provides you with test equip- and maintenance task list.
• Releasing or blocking test equipment ment tracking functions. During a cali-
• Documenting the calibration history bration inspection, you might notice Equipment
• Creating trend analyses that a piece of test equipment is no In SAP ERP, your company’s test
• Determining calibration costs longer fit for use. In this case, you can equipment data is stored in an equip-
• Tracking test equipment with usage check in the test equipment history to ment master record. This master
lists see which inspection lots and charac- record contains all of the data relevant
teristics were inspected using this to test equipment (such as acquisition
Calibration Inspections piece of equipment. You are then able value and date, manufacturer, work
and SAP ERP to initiate the appropriate actions. center, cost center, and location).
As shown in Figure 30, test equipment Monitoring Technical Installations To organize your test equipment and
management in SAP ERP combines In addition to calibration inspections, make it easier to locate, you can:
important planning and processing you can use inspection lots created for • Combine similar test equipment into
functions from QM with SAP ERP that maintenance orders for the extended groups
are needed for master data manage- recording of measured values in plant • Use the classification function to cat-
ment and for planning and performing maintenance (for example, to monitor egorize test equipment according to
calibration inspections. technical installations where critical val- technical features
ues have to be recorded on a regular • Assign test equipment to a construc-
Releasing Test Equipment basis). Consequently, you can record tion type (material)
You can use the inspection results to inspection results for functional loca-
decide whether a piece of test equip- tions as well as for test equipment.
ment can be released for further use.
Inspection Order
Results
Decisions Processing
History
Usage
List Work
Master Data
Lists
Calibration Planning
Calibration
Orders Calibration Inspection Notifications
The Enterprise LIMS Approach This integrated approach means that Stability Study – Supporting
quality management functions can Product Development and
Over the years, LIMS have evolved be embedded into business processes Product Improvement
from custom-developed in-house sys- such as procurement, manufacturing, or
tems used to track data in quality labs controlling, helping to eliminate redun- Functionality for stability studies is an
to proprietary commercial products. dant data and increasing information important feature to enable the use of
More recently, LIMS have evolved into transparency throughout the organiza- quality management with SAP ERP as
standards-based systems. As a result, tion. On a more technical level, integra- a LIMS. Stability studies, also known
companies are beginning to think in tion means having fewer systems and as shelf-life studies, are carried out for
terms of “enterprise LIMS” that not interfaces to maintain. Overall, the sim- self-produced or externally procured
only support the full range of functions plicity of SAP ERP as a LIMS can help goods, especially in the chemical,
within the laboratory, but are integrated companies reduce costs and increase pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food
with systems throughout the company. profits and customer satisfaction. industries. Such studies are required
to determine expiration dates during
The challenges labs face as they man- The SAP ERP application supports all the development of new products (in
age quality are related to turnaround essential functions in a LIMS, including research and development), and they
time of lab tests, access to results those shown in Figure 33. are mandatory in order to obtain legal
data, accuracy of analyses, resource approvals for products.
utilization, data exchange, record keep-
ing, and productivity. With SAP ERP, a
full range of quality management func- • Audit management • Master data maintenance
tions addresses these challenges in • Bar coding and labeling • Multiple specifications
both commercial and industrial labora- • Batch management (batch traceability • Nonconformance reporting and processing
and electronic batch record) • Notification processing
tories. In addition, SAP ERP offers an • Calculations and formulas • Order management
integrated LIMS as part of a larger, • Calibration of instruments • Post-process control
more comprehensive quality manage- • Certificates of analysis • Problem solving and event handling
ment solution, simplifying implemen • Change management (audit trail) • Quality assurance
tation and integration as well as • Complaint and problem management • Quality planning
and corrective and preventive action • Quality data interchange
streamlining quality processes. And • Data retrieval and archiving • Recurring inspections
SAP ERP is more than just another • Digital signatures • Results recording and copy
LIMS. Unlike traditional LIMS, it offers • Document management • Returns inspections
tight integration into the supply chain • Engineering change management • Sample management (unplanned and
and other key areas within the enter- (audit trail) planned samples)
• Flexible inspections • Skip-lot functionality
prise. By enabling companies to take • Goods receipt inspections • Specification management
an enterprise approach to LIMS, SAP • Information system and reporting • Stability (shelf-life) studies
ERP does the following: • In-process control • Statistical process control
• Provides a standard basis for integrat- • Inspection plan maintenance • Statistical quality control
ing quality management processes • Interfaces (inspection data and • Test equipment interfacing
statistical data) • Quality cost tracking
across the enterprise • Inventory control • Vendor evaluation
• Enables visibility of quality data • Invoicing and billing of analysis • Web services
throughout the organization • Laboratory statistics • Work lists and workflow
• Enhances communication among
quality groups and other departments Figure 33: Overview of LIMS Functionality with SAP® ERP
Assessments: Methods for environment, and industrial safety, in audits, revisions, or inspections can be
Audit Criteria one integrated management applica- performed using the audit management
tion. Combined audits can greatly functionality. The process phases are
An audit is a systematic examination reduce expenses. based on the standard ISO 19011.
used to determine to what extent an
object meets previously specified crite- Audit objects can be freely defined by The audit management functionality
ria. Audits are usually performed using groups of fields; for example, audits supports all phases of auditing – from
question lists, which represent the can be performed with reference to the planning of a comprehensive audit
criteria. organizations, enterprise areas, prod- program and of the individual audits,
ucts, and vendors. If an audit object is through the definition of the audit crite-
Audit management means to plan and described using data elements from the ria or question lists, to the actual audit-
process audits, grade the audit objects, application repository, for example, by ing process and the assessment of the
monitor corrective and preventive the combination vendor and material, audit object in the audit report. It also
actions that were based on the find- the information related to these data supports you in defining and monitoring
ings, and document and analyze audit elements is available – a clear advan- corrective and preventive actions. Audit
data. Audit management supports all tage of integration. management functionality also provides
appraisals based on predefined criteria effective tools for the evaluation of all
(audits, checks, inspections, reviews, The versatility of the audit management audit data.
and examinations) and can subsequent- functionality stems from being able to
ly be used to valuate the object. customize the properties of the audit A typical process includes the following
components (audit plan, question list, phases and tasks:
The audit management functionality audit, and action) as well as the proce- • Planning audit criteria
is very versatile and can be used for dures for assessing the criteria and Planning of general question lists
various application areas. Examples of grading the audit object. For example, (general criteria), depending on rele-
audit usages are: employees can provide question lists vant standards, regulations, or rules
• Quality management (system audit, with hierarchical tree structures to suit of the application area
process audit, and product audit) and their own requirements. • Planning the audit program
GMP Definition of a scheme, for example,
• Environment management and Audit Processing: Evaluate in the form of an annual schedule,
hygiene management Risks and Confirm Information taking into consideration the scope,
• Safety and security management object, and date of the audits
(facility safety, fire safety, and data To keep the process description that • Preparing the individual audits
protection) follows as simple as possible, the Determination of the individual audit
example is based on a quality system question lists and of the partners
Suitability for a wide variety of audit audit performed in accordance with involved in the audit, distribution of
usages meets the need of companies ISO 9000. However, if regarded in a roles, and preparing the required
to unify different management systems, broader sense, the example below can documents
for example, for quality assurance, also show you how various other
Measure
Improve
Control
Sophisticated analysis to control KPIs and monitor
continuous improvement
The Six Sigma approach to quality Of all the ERP and dedicated QM soft- A structured DMAIC problem-solving
improvement focuses on reducing pro- ware solutions, SAP Business Suite is road map comprising five steps – define,
cess variations and eliminating noncon- an excellent choice for implementing measure, analyze, improve, and control
formities, resulting in better quality, Six Sigma methodologies. In particular, – is commonly regarded as the core of
lower costs, and increased customer SAP ERP supports most of the ele- every Six Sigma project. Procedures
satisfaction. ments that are essential for Six Sigma. like these can be managed readily using
The enterprise services bundle “Integra- level. It can be used to exchange data The enterprise services supplied by
tion of Quality Management Systems” between LIMS and CAQ systems and this bundle can be used by quality
(IQM) provides enterprise services for SAP ERP directly, with more flexibility inspectors, operators, and lab
the exchange of inspection lot data, that is provided by existing interfaces. technicians who are executing quality
inspection results, and quality notifica- analyses and entering inspection data
tion data between SAP ERP 6.0 and IQM can be used to integrate LIMS and manually or transferring data from elec-
external quality management systems. CAQ systems via composite applica- tronic test devices. It is also applicable
tions. Integration with SAP ERP can be for production supervisors or quality
In comparison to the existing QM-IDI, achieved by using the enterprise ser- managers who want to perform analy-
the enterprise services bundle “Inte- vices provided in this bundle. SAP MII sis on this data.
gration of Quality Management Sys- can consume the services to enable
tems” adds the following benefits and entry of quality data and visualization This bundle requires the use of QM in
advantages: without having external QM systems SAP ERP. The services expose func-
• New XML-based technology connected. tionality of QM business objects such
(Web services) as inspection lot, physical sample, and
• Greater flexibility (a subset of ser This bundle does not supply or assume quality notification, and can interoper-
vices can be deployed) a dedicated user interface. It is intended ate with an external QM solution.
• Enhanced functionality (quality notifi- as a way to integrate other applications
cations and unplanned inspection that provide front-end functionality. In the future, SAP will offer additional
points, for example) A dedicated user-interface template enterprise services in the area of
based on the supplied services could inspection planning.
The IQM enterprise services bundle be created using SAP MII or the Web
bridges data from the quality planning Dynpro development environment, the For more information about enterprise
level to the inspection data level and SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer tool, services, see the wiki documentation
right down to the instrument recording or Adobe technology. at http://wiki.sdn.sap.com/wiki/x/kww
and information about enterprise ser-
vices in the Enterprise Services Work-
place site at www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn
/esworkplace.
Summary
The SAP® ERP application provides a single, powerful solution that lets you take a compre-
hensive, broad-based approach to total quality management. It delivers a wide range of
integrated quality management functionality and supports collaborative business processes
for cost-effectively ensuring the quality of your products and processes and transforming
quality management into a competitive advantage.
Business Challenges
• Gain visibility into complex and global production cycles
• Engineer quality into the design of new products and business processes
• Track quality through procurement, production, and delivery
• Keep pace with customer expectations and competitive pressures
Key Features
• Inspection planning – Put quality strategies into action with integrated data and planning
tools
• Quality inspections – Achieve and document reliable results while automating and
streamlining inspection activities
• Problem management – Improve quality with targeted quality notifications and follow-up
actions
• Test equipment management – Automate the calibration of critical equipment and
maintain ongoing evaluations
• Audit management – Continuously check processes, products, and systems and trigger
corrective actions
Business Benefits
• Increased customer satisfaction and loyalty – Provide better product quality and
enhanced complaint management and tracking (corrective and preventive action)
• Accelerated employee performance – Increase efficiency with automated tasks that
guide employees through key steps 50 058 498 (11/11)
• Greater transparency – Make quality decisions based on reliable, integrated, traceable, ©2011 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
and accurate data SAP, R/3, SAP NetWeaver, Duet, PartnerEdge, ByDesign,
SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, StreamWork, SAP HANA, and other
• Enhanced collaboration – Integrate employees and business partners in your entire SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respec-
product lifecycle and the supply chain tive logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in
Germany and other countries.
For More Information Business Objects and the Business Objects logo, BusinessObjects,
Crystal Reports, Crystal Decisions, Web Intelligence, Xcelsius, and
For detailed information about SAP ERP, visit our Web site at www.sap.com/erp or contact other Business Objects products and services mentioned herein
your SAP representative. as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trade
marks of Business Objects Software Ltd. Business Objects is an
SAP company.
All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of
their respective companies. Data contained in this document serves
informational purposes only. National product specifications may vary.