Scenario 18 — QM Integration (GR into Inspection Stock + Usage Decision)
QM works on this system, and PakSteel's QM setup is built. Two of the four pieces it needs are invisible traps: nothing asks for them up front, and they only announce themselves once you are halfway through and stock is already locked. Impact: that is why they are listed as prerequisites here instead of as steps — you want them in place before the first goods receipt, not after. Every object below was read from the real system, not from a book.
The whole chain has now been run live, start to finish. Every configuration object exists, and a real inspection lot was created, valued and released. Here is the live evidence trail you can look up yourself:
| Step | What was created | Look it up with |
|---|---|---|
| QM plant settings | TQSS1 row for PK01 (copied from plant 1000) | SE16 → TQSS1 |
| Usage-decision codes | QPAM PK01 / catalog 3 / set 01 + 19 codes | SE16 → QPAM |
| What to measure | characteristic PS_SULF — limits 0.00–0.06 % | QS23 |
| ⭐ 18.1 the material | its own material RM-IRON-QM-01 "Iron Ore Lump Grade A 50-100mm" — ROH, PK01, SLoc RAWM, QM view with type 01 active | MM03 → Quality management |
| can it be bought? | info record 5300079967 (250,000 PKR/TO) + a source list entry (ME01) | ME13 / ME03 |
| The test sheet | inspection plan group 70122744, counter 01, operation 0010 "Lab test sulfur" | QP03 |
| 18.3 buy + receive | PO 4500032795 (50 TO @ 250,000) → GR 5000047755, stock type 2 Quality Inspection | ME23N / MB51 |
| the quality gate | inspection lot 10000007502, 50 TO held in quality inspection, status REL CALC SPRQ with 1 characteristic | QA32 |
| 18.4 results | Sulfur 0.05 % recorded, valued Accept — "Results were saved for operation 0010" | QE51N / QA33 |
| 18.5 decision | UD code 01/0001 → 50 TO to unrestricted; status went INSP RREC SPRQ → UD ICCO SPRQ | QA13 |
| ⭐ the proof | MARD PK01/RAWM: unrestricted 0 → 50 TO, quality inspection 100 → 50 → 0 TO | SE16 → MARD / MMBE |
| ⭐ a failure worth seeing | lot 10000007501 — stuck at CRTD CHCR SPRQ with no characteristics, because its plan was made after the goods receipt. Reversed with doc 5000047756 | QA32 → status LTCA |
💡 You can still practise every step — create your own characteristic, your own plan, your own PO. The config is simply no longer in your way.
| Thing | Live status | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| QM switched on in this client | ✅ yes — 200+ materials in plant 4100 have inspection type 01 active (QMAT) | ready — nothing to activate |
| Transactions QA32 · QA11 · QE51N · QS21 · QP01 | ✅ all open | ready |
| Inspection types available on the material | ✅ 01 Goods Receipt Insp. for Purchase Order · 03 In-process insp. for manufacturing order · 04 Goods receipt inspection from production | you will use 01 |
| A finished example to copy from | ✅ material 3200000002 in plant 4100 — type 01 active, Post to Insp. Stock ticked | ⭐ open it in MM03 whenever you are unsure what "done" looks like |
QM inspection setup on any PK01 material | ❌ none — QMAT is empty for PK01/PK02/PK03 | ⚠️ you create it in 18.1 |
| Master inspection characteristic for PakSteel | ❌ none — no PS* entry in QPMK | ⚠️ you create it in 18.2 (QS21) |
Inspection plan for PK01 | ❌ none — PLKO task-list type Q is empty for PK01 (200+ exist in plant 4300) | ⚠️ you create it in 18.2 (QP01). Without it QE51N has nothing to measure |
| ⛔ How you create that selected set | ❌ QS51 / QS53 / QS54 / QS55 all REFUSE it — "Transaction no longer valid for catalog '3'" and "You need to maintain catalog 3 (Usage Decisions) in Customizing" (msg Q3 340) | ⚠️ it must be done in SPRO. We also checked all 92 OQ* QM customizing transactions — there is no standalone t-code for it |
| ⛔ Getting the QM view onto a material | ❌ MM02 never offers it — it lists only the views a material already has (15 for RM-IRON-01, QM not among them). ✅ MM01 offers all 47 views allowed for ROH, including Quality Management | ⚠️ use MM01, not MM02 — whether you are creating a new material or adding a view to an existing one. Material type ROH allows QM; the view simply has to be created |
⭐⛔ QM plant settings for PK01 (table TQSS1) | ❌ WAS MISSING — TQSS1 had 13 rows (0001–6000) and none for PK01/PK02/PK03. Symptom: QP01 warns "Maintain QM plant settings for plant PK01" (QP 123) and then opens the characteristic screen as "Display" — read-only, so the plan can never be finished.✅ NOW FIXED and verified: we created PK01 by copying plant 1000 (SM30 → view V_TQSS1 → Copy As…), saved on customizing request DEVK904800. TQSS1 now has 14 rows. | ✅ done for you — this was the hidden blocker nobody warns about |
| Master inspection characteristic | ✅ created live: PS_SULF in plant PK01 — quantitative, %, 2 decimals, limits 0.00 – 0.06, status 2 Released (msg QS 190) | ✅ already there — or build your own by following 18.2 |
Inspection plan for RM-IRON-QM-01 / PK01 | ✅ created live: plan group 70122744, counter 01, usage 5, status 4, operation 0010 control key QM01 "Lab test sulfur", characteristic 10 = PS_SULF (0.00–0.06 %) | ✅ already there — inspect it with QP03. ⚠️ and it was created BEFORE the goods receipt — that order is not optional, see prerequisite ③ |
⭐ Usage-decision selected set for PK01 (table QPAM, catalog 3) | ❌ WAS MISSING — every SAP plant had set 01 "Goods receipt", PK01/PK02/PK03 had nothing. Without it QA11's UD-code F4 is empty and received stock is stranded in inspection.✅ NOW FIXED and verified: created via the IMG (see 18.0) by copying plant 1000's set with "copy all" — 19 dependent code entries came with it. QPAM now shows PK01 / catalog 3 / set 01, status 2 Released. | ✅ done for you |
💡 Why the ORDER of these steps matters. Go straight to QE51N and QA11 and this is what happens: the goods receipt posts, 50 TO of ore locks into quality-inspection stock, and only then do you discover you cannot release it — because the plant has no list of usage-decision codes to choose from. Impact: the stock is stranded until somebody makes a configuration change. On a training system that is an afternoon; on a production system it is a change request, an approval and a wait, while the material sits unusable. That is why the missing objects are built first.
📊 Business Case
With QM active in procurement, a goods receipt does not drop straight into usable stock. It lands in quality inspection stock, an inspection lot is created, and the material is locked until QC records results and makes a usage decision. That decision is the quality gate that stops out-of-spec material — bad iron ore, expired chemicals, off-grade steel — from ever reaching production.
🕐 When to use it
Whenever incoming material must pass inspection before use — raw materials with spec limits (sulfur %, purity), regulated goods, or any supplier whose quality you must verify on receipt.
❓ Why it matters
It's a quality gate in the P2P flow. Inspection stock is not freely usable, so defective material can't be issued to production by mistake. A failed lot is rejected back to the vendor instead of becoming a costly production failure.
👤 Who triggers it
Stores post the GR (which auto-creates the inspection lot); QC records results (QE51N) and makes the usage decision (QA11); the buyer handles rejected lots returning to the vendor.
🔁 The key distinction
Without QM, GR mvt 101 goes straight to unrestricted stock. With QM, the same 101 goes to quality inspection stock — usable only after a usage decision releases it (321) or rejects it (122).
💰 Financial Impact — The Easy-Money Example
PakSteel receives 50 TO of iron ore on a PO. With QM the stock is held in quality inspection until QC tests the sulfur content — it is not available for production and is not part of usable inventory until released:
| ⭐ Material · Plant · Storage location | RM-IRON-QM-01 · PK01 · RAWM | the scenario's own iron ore, Karachi Factory, Raw material store. Not the shared RM-IRON-01 — see the warning box below |
| Purchasing org · group · Company code | PKLO · RMT · PSPK | RMT is the purchasing group "Raw Materials" |
| Vendor | MUGHAL21 | the supplier for the goods receipt |
| Purchasing info record · source list | 5300079967 · ME01 row for MUGHAL21 / PKLO | the price comes from the info record; the source list is what lets the PO be created at all |
| Our live documents | plan 70122744 · PO 4500032795 · GR 5000047755 · lot 10000007502 | look every one of them up — this whole chain was posted live |
| Inspection type | 01 | "Goods Receipt Insp. for Purchase Order" — the one this scenario uses |
| Selected set (catalog type 3) | 01 "Goods receipt (Wareneingang)" | the Accept/Reject code list for QA11 — ⚠️ missing for PK01, see prerequisite ④ |
| Reference example to copy | material 3200000002, plant 4100 | a working inspection setup — look at it in MM03 |
| Reference inspection plan | group 70101451, counter 01, plant 4300 | a real plan, to see the shape of one |
| Other useful QM t-codes (all verified present) | QA12 · QA13 · QVM3 · QA10L | change UD with history · display UD · lots without a UD · log of automatic UDs |
| Key tables (via SE16) | QMAT · QALS · PLKO · QPMK · QPAM | inspection setup · inspection lots · inspection plans · master characteristics · selected sets |
What switching QM on actually does: from that moment, every goods receipt of that material lands in quality-inspection stock and cannot be used until somebody makes a usage decision in QA11. It is not a setting that only affects your exercise — it changes the material for everyone, in every other scenario that touches it.
💡 Everyday picture: it is like putting a padlock on a shared store-room door. Your delivery is safe. Everybody else's delivery is now locked in too, and they have no key.
What it costs if you get this wrong. Switch QM on the shared material RM-IRON-01 — the one also used by Scenario 14, 15 and 16 — and from that moment every goods receipt of PakSteel's main iron ore lands in inspection stock and waits for a QC decision. Impact: nothing announces the change. Buyers and storekeepers simply find that deliveries stop being usable, and the cause is a tick on a material master that somebody set weeks earlier for an unrelated exercise.
The undo, if it has already happened: MM02 → Quality management → Insp. Setup → untick Active on the type-01 row → Save ("Material RM-IRON-01 changed"). Cheap to reverse — expensive to diagnose.
✅ The rule, for every scenario: if a scenario needs a special switch on a material, create a new material for it. Fifteen minutes of master data now beats a side effect that surfaces months later on somebody else's delivery. Impact: a dedicated material also means you can leave your practice settings switched on and come back to them, instead of having to undo them so the rest of the business keeps working.
Read all five before you touch anything. ①②③ you build as steps 18.1–18.2. ④ is a small piece of configuration that nobody warns you about — and it is the one that traps people at the final step. ⑤ is a plant rule at PakSteel that stops your very first purchase order.
① A material of your OWN that can be bought and received MM
- 🎯 What it's for: the iron ore whose quality you will inspect — and, just as important, a material no other scenario uses (see the warning box above).
- ❓ Why: QM adds a gate to an ordinary purchase; you still need the ordinary purchase to work first. And the gate must not be strapped onto somebody else's material.
- 💥 What breaks without it: the PO fails with ME047 (no Accounting view) or "Net price must be greater than 0" (no purchasing info record) — both hit us in Scenario 16, and ME047 hit us again here, because copying a material does not bring its Accounting view along.
- ✅ Already done for you:
RM-IRON-QM-01exists at plantPK01/ SLocRAWM— created with MM01 as a copy ofRM-IRON-01, plus its own Accounting 1 view (valuation class3000, price controlV, price 250,000) and its own info record5300079967(MUGHAL21 /PKLO/PK01, 250,000 PKR/TO, taxI0). - 💡 Copy, don't type from scratch: MM01 → Copy from →
RM-IRON-01gives you the right unit, material group and purchasing data for free. Just remember the two things a copy leaves behind: the Accounting view and the info record.
② A master inspection characteristic — the thing you actually measure MM
- 🎯 What it's for: one named measurement with limits, e.g. "Sulfur % must be between 0 and 0.06".
- ❓ Why: QM's whole job is comparing a reading to a limit. With no characteristic there is nothing to compare.
- 💥 What breaks without it: the inspection lot is created, but QE51N shows no rows to fill in, so no result can be recorded and no verdict can be justified.
- ✅ Already done for you:
PS_SULFexists in plantPK01(quantitative, %, 2 decimals, limits 0.00–0.06, released). Look at it with QS23, or follow 18.2 to build your own. ⚠️ Name limit: the field takes only 8 characters —PS_SULFUR(9) is rejected outright, which is why ours isPS_SULF.
③ An inspection plan that links the characteristic to the material MM
- 🎯 What it's for: the test sheet — "for this material, in this plant, measure these characteristics".
- ❓ Why: the material's inspection setup has Insp. with Task List ticked, which tells SAP "go and find a plan". A plan is that task list.
- 💥 What breaks without it: the lot is created but stays without characteristics; QA32 shows it with no task list assigned, and you cannot record results.
- ✅ Already done for you: plan group
70122744exists forRM-IRON-QM-01/PK01(usage5, status4released, operation0010, characteristicPS_SULF). Display it with QP03. ⚠️ It could only be created after the QM plant settings existed — see the pre-flight table. - ⭐⚠️ ORDER MATTERS — the plan must exist BEFORE the first goods receipt. Proven live. SAP copies the test sheet onto the lot at the moment the lot is created, and never again. Our first lot
10000007501was received before the plan was saved: it froze at system statusCRTD CHCR SPRQ("created · characteristics required"), QE51N answered "No entries found" (QE 651), and QA02 offers no way to attach the plan afterwards. The only cure is to reverse the goods receipt and post it again (MIGO → A03 Cancellation / R02 Material Document) — the old lot flips toLTCA(cancelled) and the fresh lot picks the plan up. Ours came back as10000007502, statusREL CALC SPRQ, 1 characteristic.
⛔ ④ A usage-decision selected set for plant PK01 — THE BLOCKER MM config
- 🎯 What it's for: the list of verdicts QA11 lets you choose from — "A = Accept", "R = Reject", and so on. SAP calls this a selected set, and it belongs to catalog type 3 (usage decisions). It is plant-specific.
- ❓ Why: a usage decision is not free text. You must pick a code, and the codes come from the selected set for your plant.
- 💥 What breaks without it: you reach QA11 with the stock already locked in inspection, press F4 on the UD code field, and get nothing. The 50 TO stays stuck. This is the single most annoying way to fail this scenario.
- ✅ Already done for you: SE16 →
QPAM→KATALOGART=3,WERKS=PK01now returns set01"01 Goods receipt (Wareneingang)", status 2 Released, with 19 codes behind it. Before we built it there were zero rows for PK01/PK02/PK03. - 🔧 How it was fixed — and why the obvious route fails: QS51, QS53, QS54 and QS55 all refuse catalog 3 ("Transaction no longer valid for catalog '3'", then Q3 340 "You need to maintain catalog 3 (Usage Decisions) in Customizing"), and none of the 92
OQ*QM customizing transactions is this activity. The route is the IMG — the exact path and clicks are in step 18.0.
⭐ ⑤ A source-list entry for the new material — or your first PO is refused MM
- 🎯 What it's for: the source list is a plant's list of approved suppliers for one material — "for iron ore at Karachi Factory, we may buy from Mughal Steel."
- ❓ Why: plant
PK01enforces source lists. The material's Source list flag was switched on in Scenario 14 and is copied along with the material. With enforcement on, SAP refuses any purchase order whose supplier is not on the list. - 💥 What breaks without it: ME21N stops with 06 722 "Material RM-IRON-QM-01 not included in source list despite source list requirement". It reads like a pricing or vendor problem; it is neither. Every new material at PK01 needs this.
- 🔧 How to set it: ME01 → Material
RM-IRON-QM-01, PlantPK01→ Enter → on the row fill Valid from / Valid to, SupplierMUGHAL21, POrgPKLO, and tick Fix (fixed supply source) → Save. - ✅ How you'll know: SAP answers "Source list changed" (06 790) and ME03 shows the row. The PO then prices itself from the info record and saves.
🔧 Step-by-Step
| Step | T-code | What it does | Why this step exists | Who |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18.0 | SPRO | Create the Accept/Reject code list for plant PK01 (not QS51 — see below) | ⛔ without it the last step is impossible | ✅ already done — read it to learn where it lives |
| 18.1 | MM01 | Add the Quality Management view, switch on inspection type 01, tick Post to Insp. Stock | no inspection setup = no quality gate, ever | ✋ your turn |
| 18.2 | QS21 → QP01 | Define what to measure, and put it on a test sheet for the material | a verdict needs something measurable behind it | ✅ already done (PS_SULF, plan 70122744) — ⚠️ and it must come before 18.3 |
| 18.3 | ME21N → MIGO 101 | Post the GR; stock lands locked in quality inspection | goods must be checked before use | ✋ your turn |
| 18.4 | QE51N | Record the lab's measured values on the lot | evidence first, verdict second | ✋ your turn |
| 18.5 | QA11 | The verdict: Accept releases the stock, Reject returns it | only QC's decision unlocks the stock | ✋ your turn |
⚠️ Why 18.0 comes first. Every other step on this page can be corrected afterwards with no harm. This one cannot: without the usage-decision code list, a goods receipt locks stock in inspection that nobody can release until the configuration is added. Impact: do it last and you are fixing config with 50 TO of ore already frozen — do it first and the rest of the scenario simply flows.
⚙️ Config & master data
18.0 · DO THIS FIRST Create the usage-decision code list · SPRO
⚡ This step will: give plant PK01 a list of verdict codes, so that when you reach the usage decision there is something to choose. 📄 paper: — (QM catalog data) · 📦 stock: no change · 💰 money: no posting
QPAM now holds PK01 / catalog 3 / set 01 "01 Goods receipt (Wareneingang)", status 2 Released, with 19 codes. You can look at it any time through the same IMG activity below, or with SE16 → QPAM. The value of this step now is knowing where it lives and why a new plant never has one.
- QS51 / QS53 / QS54 / QS55 → "Transaction no longer valid for catalog '3'", then Q3 340 "You need to maintain catalog 3 (Usage Decisions) in Customizing".
- SM30 → view
V_QPAM_UD→ SV 792 "can only be displayed and maintained with restrictions". It needs its own dialog. - All 92
OQ*QM customizing transactions checked — none is this activity. There is no short-cut code.
- SPRO → button SAP Reference IMG
- Quality Management → Quality Inspection → Inspection Lot Completion
- run "Edit Selected Sets for Usage Decisions" (its sibling "Edit Code Groups and Codes for Usage Decisions" holds the codes themselves — those are client-wide, which is why only the set is missing for a new plant)
- You land on Change View "Selected Sets for Usage Decision": Overview — a view cluster whose Dialog Structure has two levels: Selected Sets for Usage Decision and, underneath, Selected Set Codes for Usage Decision.
Columns: Plant · Sel. Set · Short Text · LT · Status · Def. Group · Def. Code · Short Text for Code · U (usage) · Created/Changed by-on.
- Select the row plant
1000, Sel. Set01→ press Copy As… (F6). - Change Plant to
PK01. - ⚠️ Blank out Def. Group and Def. Code before pressing Enter. They are copied too, and they point at a code that does not exist yet in your new set — you get QS 060 "Code 0001 is not assigned to the selected set 01 in plant PK01" and cannot continue. (You can set a default afterwards, once the codes are in.)
- Press Enter → a popup "Specify object to be copied" appears: "copy all" or "only copy entry". ⭐ Choose "copy all" — that brings the codes with it. SAP then reports "Number of dependent entries copied: 19". Choosing "only copy entry" gives you an empty set and QA11 still shows nothing.
- Save → a customizing request is required (this is configuration, not master data) → "Data was saved".
If you build one from scratch instead, the three keys are asked in this order: Catalog → Plant → Selected Set.
| Field | Fill | What it asks — in plain words | Why — and the impact if wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Catalog | 3 | Which kind of code list? SAP keeps several catalogs; 3 = usage decisions. | Other catalogs hold defect codes or characteristic attributes. Impact: the wrong catalog builds a list QA11 will never look at |
| 2 · Plant | PK01 | Which plant may use this list? Selected sets are per plant. | ⭐ This is exactly why PakSteel has none — the SAP demo plants have theirs, but a new plant starts empty. Impact: create it for the wrong plant and QA11 at PK01 is still blank |
| 3 · Selected Set | 01 | The name of this list. 01 is SAP's own convention for the goods-receipt list. | Matching SAP's numbering keeps you consistent with every demo plant. Impact: cosmetic, but a different name is harder to find later |
| Body · a code that releases stock | e.g. A — "Accepted, release to unrestricted" | What does a PASS look like, and what should it do to the stock? | The code carries the follow-on action. Impact: a code with no release action passes the lot but leaves the stock locked — the classic "I accepted it and nothing happened" |
| Body · a code that rejects stock | e.g. R — "Rejected, return to vendor" | What does a FAIL look like? | Gives QC a real choice. Impact: with only an Accept code, bad material can only ever be accepted |
| Save | — | Commit the list. | ✅ How you'll know: SE16 → QPAM → KATALOGART=3, WERKS=PK01 now returns a row. Before you start it returns nothing — that is your before/after proof |
01 "Goods receipt (Wareneingang)" in catalog 3. Copy plant 1000's inside the same Customizing activity rather than designing your own. (You can confirm what exists at any time with SE16 → QPAM → KATALOGART=3.)
18.1 · MUST DO Switch on the quality gate for the material · MM01 ✋ YOUR TURN
⚡ This step will: create the scenario's own material RM-IRON-QM-01 with the Quality Management view, and flip the quality switch on it — from now on every goods receipt for it is held in inspection stock instead of going straight to usable stock. 📄 paper: — (material master created) · 📦 stock: no change · 💰 money: no posting
Newcomers get lost because the setting is not on the Quality Management view itself — it is behind a button on it.
| Order | Where | What you see / do |
|---|---|---|
| ⚠️ 1 | MM01 — material RM-IRON-QM-01, Industry M, Material type ROH, Copy from → RM-IRON-01 → Enter | the Select View(s) popup. Tick Quality Management together with the views you need: Basic Data 1 · Basic Data 2 · Purchasing · General Plant Data/Storage 1 · Accounting 1 · Plant Stock. ⭐ Why MM01 and not MM02: MM02 only lists the views a material already has, so it can never add one. MM01 lists all 47 views allowed for ROH. This is also true if you later want to add the QM view to a material that already exists — use MM01, nothing is overwritten.⚠️ Selecting several rows in this popup is fiddly — there is no tick-box column, you select whole rows. Check the tabs you actually got before you save. |
| 2 | Organizational Levels popup | Plant PK01 → Enter |
| 3 | Quality management tab | Two boxes: General Data (Base Unit of Measure · Unit of Issue · QM Material Auth. · a read-only Inspection Setup tick · Documentation Required · GR Processing Time · Inspection Interval · Catalog Profile · Valid From · P-S Mat. Status) and Procurement Data (QM in Procur. Active · QM Control Key · Certificate Type · Target QM System · Tech. Delivery Terms). |
| ⭐ 4 | press the [ Insp. Setup ] button | on the right of the General Data box. This popup is where the real work happens — the view itself has no inspection-type fields at all. |
💡 The read-only Inspection Setup tick on the view is a status light, not an input — it lights up by itself once a type is active inside the popup.
📌 What our copy actually ended up with: Basic Data 1 · Basic Data 2 · Extended SPP Basic Data · Quality Management · Purchasing · General Plant Data/Storage 1 · Accounting 1 · Plant Stock · WM Execution. MM03 on the finished material shows the same list.
Because we copied from a material that already had QM switched on, RM-IRON-QM-01 arrived with inspection type 01 already listed, already Active, Post to Insp. Stock already ticked, and Automatic UD already unticked. If you then press Create Inspection Types anyway, SAP answers "Inspection type 01 has already been assigned".
So: open the Insp. Setup popup and READ the grid first. If the row is there and Active, your job in 18.1 is only to confirm the four fields below. If you copied from a material without QM, the grid is empty and you create the row yourself.
Inside the Insp. Setup popup — the grid at the top lists the inspection types; the box below shows the detail for whichever row you selected.
| Where on screen · Field | Fill | What it asks — in plain words | Why we choose this — and the impact if wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
Inspection Types grid · leftmost tick column, row 01 | ✓ tick the row for 01 Goods Receipt Insp. for Purchase Order | At WHICH moment should SAP inspect? Each type is one trigger moment. | 01 = "check it when it arrives against a purchase order". Impact: tick 04 instead and only receipts from your own production are inspected — a PO receipt would sail straight into usable stock |
| Inspection Types grid · Active column | ✓ | Is this check switched ON right now? A type can exist and sleep. | Both ticks are needed. Impact: the setup exists but no lot is ever created — and nothing tells you why |
| Inspection Types grid · Preferred Insp. Type | leave blank | If several types could fire at once, which wins? | Only matters with multiple active types. Impact: none here |
| ⭐ Detail box · Post to Insp. Stock | ✓ tick | Should the received quantity be held in quality-inspection stock, or just recorded and left freely usable? | ⭐⭐ This is the field that creates the quality gate, and the one most guides forget. Ticked = stock is locked until the usage decision. Impact: leave it unticked and you still get an inspection lot, but the stock lands in unrestricted — production can use untested ore, and the whole scenario is pointless. Our live reference material 3200000002 has it ticked |
| ⭐ Detail box · Insp. with Task List | ✓ tick | Should SAP look for an inspection plan and copy its characteristics onto the lot? | Ticked = the lot arrives with real things to measure. Impact: tick it and forget the plan (prerequisite ③) and the lot is created but cannot be processed. Untick it and you get a lot with no characteristics — a verdict with no evidence |
| Detail box · 100% Inspection · Inspection % | tick 100% Inspection while learning | Check EVERY delivery, or only a sample? | 100% keeps it simple and predictable. Impact: a trusted-vendor setup would use a Smpl. Procedure or an Inspection % instead, to cut QC workload. Note: our live reference material leaves 100% unticked and uses a sampling procedure — both are valid, they are business choices |
| ⚠️ Detail box · Automatic UD | leave UNTICKED | Should SAP make the usage decision by itself once results are in? | ⚠️ Tick this and step 18.5 never happens — SAP decides silently and you never see the gate work. Great in a real high-volume plant; useless for learning. Impact: this is the most likely reason "my stock released itself" |
| Detail box · Insp. for HU · Insp. with Mat Spec. · Insp. by Configuratn | leave unticked | Other sources of the characteristics — handling units, a material specification, or a configuration. | Alternatives to an inspection plan. Impact: none here; we use a plan |
| Detail box · Automatic Assignment · Inspect Charcs | leave as defaulted (both ticked) | Find the plan automatically, and inspect its characteristics. | Sensible defaults. Impact: untick Automatic Assignment and you must attach a plan to every lot by hand |
| Detail box · Control Lot Creation · Insp. Lot Summary · Q-Score Procedure · Allowed Scrap Share · Avg. Insp. Duration · Dyn. Mod. Rule · Skips Allowed · Serial Numbers Poss. · Individual QM Order / QM Order | leave as defaulted | Fine-tuning: how many lots per delivery, how the quality score is calculated, whether inspections may be skipped, and whether QC costs go to their own order. | All optional refinements. Impact: low for this exercise — but Control Lot Creation matters in real projects, because it decides whether one delivery with three lines makes one lot or three |
| Green tick, then Save the material | — | Commit. | ✅ How you'll know: SE16 → QMAT → material RM-IRON-QM-01, plant PK01 → a row with ART=01, AKTIV=X, INSMK=X. ⭐ QMAT is also how you audit which materials carry a quality gate: one row per material and inspection type, AKTIV=X where it is switched on. Impact: if a material's receipts have unexpectedly started landing in inspection stock, this table tells you in one look whether an inspection type was left active on it. |
Different feature, easy to confuse. Those two fields control whether QM can block the purchasing process itself — refuse to release a PO to a vendor without a valid quality certificate, for example. They are not needed for this scenario, and on our live reference material they are both empty while inspection type 01 works perfectly. Leave them alone.
18.2 · MUST DO Define what to measure, and put it on a test sheet · QS21 → QP01 ✋ YOUR TURN
⚡ This step will: create the measurement ("Sulfur %, allowed 0–0.06") and the test sheet that links it to RM-IRON-QM-01 at PK01. After this, an inspection lot will arrive with something real to fill in. 📄 paper: master inspection characteristic + inspection plan · 📦 stock: no change · 💰 money: no posting
SAP attaches the test sheet to an inspection lot at the instant the lot is born, and there is no second chance. Receive the goods first and the lot is created empty: status CRTD CHCR SPRQ, QE51N says "No entries found", and no transaction will attach the plan afterwards. Your only way out is to reverse the goods receipt and post it again. We did exactly this live — see the errors table.
Two objects, in this order. The characteristic is the question; the plan is the exam paper that asks it about one material.
Part 1 — the master inspection characteristic · QS21
| Where on screen · Field | Fill | What it asks — in plain words | Why — and the impact if wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial screen · Plant | PK01 | Which plant owns this measurement? Characteristics are per plant. | ⭐ Same trap as the selected set. Impact: create it in the wrong plant and the inspection plan at PK01 cannot find it |
| Initial screen · Master Insp. Charac. | PS_SULF | Its name. | ⚠️ Maximum 8 characters — verified live: PS_SULFUR (9 chars) is rejected by the field itself, exactly like the 10-character batch limit in Scenario 16. Impact: pick a short name up front; renaming later means recreating it |
| Initial screen · Valid From | today (pre-filled) | From when may it be used? | Leave the default. Impact: a future date hides it from today's plan |
| Initial screen · Class Characteristic | leave blank | Should this reuse a classification characteristic instead? | Not needed. 💡 Interesting link: you could point it at PS_SULFUR_PCT from Scenario 16 and share one definition between batches and QM. |
| Initial screen → box Template · Plant · Insp. Characteristic | optional — e.g. plant 1000 and one of its ZFIB* characteristics | Copy an existing one instead of starting blank? | ⭐ Fastest safe route. Impact: saves you from missing a mandatory control indicator |
| General Data screen · box Control Data · ⭐ Quantitative Charc | ✓ tick Quantitative Charc (leave Qualitative Charc empty) | Is the answer a number (quantitative) or a pass/fail judgement (qualitative)? They are two separate tick boxes, not a radio pair. | Sulfur is a number, so quantitative — that is what lets SAP compare it to limits automatically. Impact: qualitative gives a yes/no with no automatic valuation against limits |
| General Data · Status | 2 Released (the dropdown offers 1 Being Created · 2 Released · 3 Can No Longer Be Used · 4 Deletion Flag · 5 Archived) | Is it ready for use? | It defaults to 1 Being Created. Impact: leave it on 1 and the characteristic cannot be put into an inspection plan |
| General Data · Short Text | Sulfur content % | What a QC user reads on the results screen. | This is the label that appears in QE51N and on the plan. Impact: cosmetic, but it is all the person typing will see |
| ⚠️ General Data · Search Field | SULFUR | A short keyword for finding it later. | ⚠️ Mandatory — verified live. Leave it empty and you get "Make an entry in mandatory field Search Field" the moment you try to go further. Nothing on screen marks it as required |
| ⭐ toolbar → Control Indicators button (Shift+F1) | page 1: tick Lower Specif. Limit and Upper Specif. Limit → Enter → page 2: leave defaults → Enter | Which kinds of limit does this characteristic have, and how should results be recorded? | ⭐⭐ The limits are NOT on the General Data screen — you first declare here that limits exist. Page 1 also holds Check Target Value, Sampling Procedure, SPC Characteristic, Destructive Insp., and the Summ. Recording / Required Charc radios. Page 2 holds Inspection Scope, Docu. Confirmation, Record Measured Vals (already ticked), Print and Formula. Impact: skip this and there is nowhere to type the numbers |
| ⭐ then the new Quantitative Data button appears → press it | Decimal Places 2 · Msmt Unit % · Lower Limit 0 · Upper Limit 0.06 | The actual numbers: how precise, in what unit, and what range is acceptable. | ⭐ This popup is where "in spec" is really defined. It also offers Target Value, LowPlaus./UpPlaus. Limit, 1st/2nd Lower and Upper Limit. Impact: with no limits SAP cannot mark a reading pass or fail, and the traffic light in 18.4 stays blank. Notice the summary line that appears at the top afterwards: "Quantitative char. (lower/upper tolerance), Summarized recording, Required char., Fixed scope" — that line is your confirmation. |
| Save | — | Commit. | ✅ How you'll know: SAP answers "Characteristic PK01 PS_SULF … was created" (QS 190), and SE16 → QPMK now finds it |
Part 2 — the inspection plan · QP01
| Where on screen · Field | Fill | What it asks — in plain words | Why — and the impact if wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial screen · Material | RM-IRON-QM-01 | Which material is this test sheet for? | The link between the plan and the goods receipt. Impact: a plan for the wrong material is never found |
| Initial screen · Plant | PK01 | Where? | Must match the plant on the inspection setup. Impact: mismatch = lot created with no plan |
| Initial screen · Group | leave blank — SAP assigns it | The plan's number. Blank = let SAP number it internally. | Write the number down when it appears. Impact: none; you can always find it again by material |
| Initial screen · Key date | today (pre-filled) | Valid from when? | Leave the default |
| ⭐ Header Details · box General Data · Usage | 5 (Goods receipt) | At which point in the business process may this plan be used? | ⭐ Verified: every live reference plan in plant 4300 uses usage 5. Marked mandatory on screen. Impact: the wrong usage means the plan exists but is never picked for a GR inspection |
| Header Details · Overall Status (not just "Status") | 4 | Is the plan live? | Also mandatory. Impact: a plan left in "created" status is invisible to lot creation — a very common "why is my lot empty?" cause |
| Header Details · Lot Size From / To · Planner Group · Planning Work Center | leave the defaults (Lot Size To pre-fills 99,999,999 TO) | For which order sizes does this plan apply, and who owns it? | The plan only applies inside the lot-size range. Impact: a narrow range means your goods receipt finds no valid plan |
toolbar → Operations · row 0010 · ⭐ Control Key | QM01 | What kind of step is this, and what is SAP allowed to do with it? | ⭐ Mandatory and easy to miss — the column is narrow and headed just "Co…". Plant and Base Quantity (1 TO) pre-fill themselves. Impact: without a control key the operation is rejected |
| Operations · Description | Lab test sulfur | What is the step called? | A plan needs at least one operation to hang characteristics on. Impact: no operation = nowhere to put the characteristic |
| ⚠️ select the operation row, then toolbar → Inspection Characteristics | tick the row for 0010 first | Which operation are you adding measurements to? | ⚠️ Verified: pressing the button without selecting the row gives "No operation selected (please select)" (CP 603). Impact: a 10-second confusion that stops many people |
| ⭐ Characteristic Overview · Master Insp. Charac. + Plant | PS_SULF · PK01 | Which measurement belongs to this operation, and which plant owns it? | ⭐ Both columns are needed. Press Enter and SAP copies the short text, unit, decimals and Lower Limit / Upper Limit down from the characteristic automatically — that copy-down is your proof the link worked. Impact: an empty characteristic list is the exact reason QE51N shows no rows |
| Save | — | Commit the plan. | ✅ How you'll know: SAP answers "Inspection plan with plan group … for material RM-IRON-QM-01 is saved" (QP 063) and gives you the group number. Ours came back as 70122744. Cross-check it in SE16 → MAPL (material ↔ plan link) and PLKO (usage 5, status 4) |
💡 Want to see a finished one? QP03 → our own plan 70122744 for RM-IRON-QM-01 / PK01, or SAP's reference plan 70101451 counter 01 in plant 4300.
🔄 Run it
18.3 · MUST DO Buy it and receive it — into the waiting room · ME21N → MIGO ✋ YOUR TURN
⚡ This step will: bring the goods IN but not into usable stock: quantity and value post, an inspection lot is created, and production still cannot touch the material. 📄 paper: purchase order, then material + accounting document + inspection lot · 📦 stock: ↑ at PK01, held in Quality Inspection · 💰 money: Dr Inventory / Cr GR-IR
| Step · Where | Fill / see | What it means — in plain words | Why it matters — and what to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · ME21N | NB · MUGHAL21 · Org data PKLO/RMT/PSPK · RM-IRON-QM-01 · 50 TO · plant PK01 · SLoc RAWM · delivery date today · Tax code I0 → Save | An ordinary purchase order — QM changes nothing here. | The price fills itself from the info record (ours: 250,000 PKR/TO). Impact: price 0 = info record missing (prerequisite ①); 06 722 = source list missing (prerequisite ⑤). The harmless warning "Role VN not defined in master record for supplier MUGHAL21" (ME 329) appears on every PakSteel PO — press Enter past it, and on Save answer Save to the "System messages issued" popup. Ours: 4500032795 |
| 2 · MIGO | Action Goods Receipt · Reference Purchase Order · mvt 101 · Storage location RAWM · Delivery Note · tick Item OK → Post | The same 101 you always post — no special movement type exists for QM. | ⚠️ Check the small box beside the movement type is empty. ⭐ Before you post, look at the Stock Type column: it must already read 2 Quality Inspection — SAP fills that in from the material's inspection setup, and it is your early warning that 18.1 worked. ⚠️ Two traps on the Delivery Note on this system: it must be 10 characters or fewer, and it must be one you have never used before — see the errors table. Ours: DN-QM-1803, giving material document 5000047755 |
| 3 · Look at the stock | MMBE → the 50 TO appears under "Quality inspection", not Unrestricted | The waiting room: goods are physically in and counted in value, but production cannot draw on them. | Like a parcel held at customs until it is checked. Raw proof: SE16 → MARD → INSME goes up, LABST does not. Impact: if it landed in Unrestricted, Post to Insp. Stock was not ticked in 18.1 — go back and fix it |
| 4 · Find the lot number | QA32 → plant PK01 + material RM-IRON-QM-01 → your lot is listed. Ours: 10000007502 | The inspection lot is the test file: one number collecting the measurements and the verdict. | ⭐⭐ Read two columns here before you go on. System Status must say REL CALC SPRQ — released, sample calculated, stock posting required. And STChar (short-term characteristics) must be 1, not 0. Impact: CRTD CHCR SPRQ with 0 characteristics means the plan was not found — usually because it was created after this goods receipt (see 18.2's warning). That lot can never be processed; reverse the GR and post again |
18.4 · MUST DO Record the lab's results · QE51N ✋ YOUR TURN
⚡ This step will: write the measured values into the lot's test file — evidence only, so the stock stays locked and nothing moves yet. 📄 paper: results saved on the inspection lot · 📦 stock: no change (still in quality inspection) · 💰 money: no posting
QE51N is a worklist, verified live: a selection screen first, then the list of lots waiting for results, then a per-characteristic entry screen. There is no tabbed "Enjoy" layout here.
The results screen has three tabs: General · Summarized · Indicators. It opens on General, and General has a "Result" column that you cannot type in. People stare at it and conclude the lot is broken. It is not.
The route, verified live:
- On General, type how many units you inspected into Inspected — for us
1. Press Enter. - Switch to the Summarized tab. Now there is one open box per characteristic — that is where the reading goes. Type
0.05. Press Enter. - A Manual Valuation popup appears naming the characteristic, with two radio buttons: Accept / Reject. Choose Accept → Continue.
- Press the Closing button in the button row to finish the characteristic. SAP answers "Successfully closed" (QE 448).
- Save. SAP answers "Results were saved for operation 0010" (QE 265).
💡 Why the popup asks you at all, when the value is clearly inside 0.00–0.06: with summarized recording SAP records one figure for the whole lot rather than every single reading, so it asks the inspector to confirm the verdict rather than deciding silently. Our characteristic's summary line said "Quantitative char. (lower/upper tolerance), Summarized recording, Required char., Fixed scope" — that is what "Summarized" refers to.
| Where on screen · Field / Action | Fill | What it asks — in plain words | Why — and the impact if wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Selection screen · Plant (and optionally the lot number) | PK01 | Which lots do you want to work on? | Narrow it down or you get every open lot in the system. Impact: none, just noise |
| Worklist · pick your lot | the lot from 18.3 — ours 10000007502 | Which test file are you filling in? | ⚠️ If your lot is not in the list, results recording is not yet possible — almost always the inspection plan. Impact: go back to 18.2 rather than hunting here. The left-hand tree shows the shape of it: lot → operation 0010 Lab test sulfur → characteristic 0010 Sulfur content %. |
| Results screen · characteristic rows | a row for Sulfur content % | WHAT must be measured? Each row is one characteristic copied from the plan. | ⭐ An empty list here is the #1 failure of this scenario — it means the lot has no characteristics. Impact: the cause is always 18.2 or the Insp. with Task List tick in 18.1 |
| ⭐ General tab · Inspected | 1 | How many units did you actually test? | ⭐ Do this first — it is what tells SAP a reading is coming. Impact: leave it blank and the value box on the Summarized tab does nothing |
| ⭐ Summarized tab · the single result box | 0.05 | What did the lab actually read? | ⭐ The number goes HERE, not in General's "Result" column, which is display-only. Type the real reading. Impact: a wrong number makes SAP pass bad stock or fail good stock at the next step |
| Manual Valuation popup · Accept / Reject | choose Accept (0.05 is inside 0.00–0.06) | Is that reading acceptable? | SAP shows you the limits it copied from 18.2 next to the row (0.00 .. 0.06 %) so you can see the comparison. Impact: if no limits are shown, the characteristic has none — go back to 18.2 Part 1 |
| Closing button, then Save | — | Finish the characteristic, then lock the results in. | ✅ "Successfully closed" (QE 448), then "Results were saved for operation 0010" (QE 265). The key point: saving results moves no stock. The 50 TO stays in quality inspection until 18.5 |
What this step IS: the lab writing its findings into the file. Like a doctor noting your test values before giving the diagnosis. Verify: QA32 shows the lot with results recorded, yet MMBE still shows the 50 TO under Quality inspection — nothing has been released.
18.5 · MUST DO The verdict — usage decision · QA11 ✋ YOUR TURN
⚡ This step will: close the test file with QC's verdict — Accept releases the stock to usable (mvt 321 fires by itself), Reject sends it back to the vendor (mvt 122). 📄 paper: usage decision + material document · 📦 stock: Accept → quality inspection becomes unrestricted; Reject → returned · 💰 money: Accept = no new posting · Reject = Dr GR-IR / Cr Inventory
Verified live: QA11 opens on a screen with exactly one field — Inspection Lot. Type the lot number and press Enter to reach the usage-decision screen.
| Where on screen · Field | Fill | What the field asks — in plain words | Why we choose this — and the impact if wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial screen · Inspection Lot (the only field) | the lot number from 18.3 — ours 10000007502 | Which test file are you closing? A usage decision always belongs to exactly one lot. | Impact: the wrong lot number releases or returns goods you never meant to touch. Check the System Status line on the next screen: it should read INSP RREC SPRQ — results are in, stock still waiting. |
| ⭐ Usage-decision area · UD code (with the selected set from 18.0) | code group 01 · code 0001 — or press F4 and pick your Accept code | May this stock be USED now? The code is QC's stamp. | ⛔ If F4 shows nothing, prerequisite ④ is missing — the plant has no usage-decision selected set, and by the time you find out, the stock is already locked in inspection with no way to release it. Impact: accept out-of-spec ore and defective material reaches production — the exact failure this gate exists to stop. Two boxes sit side by side: the left is the code group, the right the code. Press Enter — the status jumps to UD ICCO SPRQ, meaning the decision is in but the stock still has to be posted. |
| Inspection Lot Stock tab · To Unrestricted Use | 50 | How much of the held stock moves where? | ⭐ The tab is only enabled after the UD code is entered — that is why it looks greyed at first. The To Be Posted column already shows 50 as the total, and the storage location RAWM is pre-filled; you just tell SAP which row it goes to. Impact: leave it 0 and the decision is recorded but the stock never moves — "I accepted it and nothing happened" |
| Save | — | Commit the verdict. | ✅ "Usage decision for lot PK01 10000007502 is saved" (QV 116). Saving posts mvt 321 by itself. You never type 321 — the decision triggers it |
| OR — the Reject path | pick your Reject code · put the quantity to blocked / return | What happens to FAILED goods? | Posts the return movement (122) back to the vendor. Impact: forget to reject failed material and it silently stays available to issue into production |
✅ How you'll know it worked: MMBE → the 50 TO has moved out of Quality inspection and into Unrestricted use (Accept), and MB51 shows a material document for mvt 321 that you never typed. ⭐ The hard proof we read live: SE16 → MARD → RM-IRON-QM-01 / PK01 / RAWM — LABST (unrestricted) went from 0 to 50 and INSME (inspection) fell from 100 to 50. Those two numbers are the whole scenario in one row.
Being straight with you, so you know where to be careful:
| ✅ Read from the live system | ⚠️ Standard SAP, but NOT yet seen on this system |
|---|---|
QM active in the client · all t-codes open · which inspection types exist · the whole Insp. Setup popup field by field · the QM view layout · MM01-vs-MM02 view lists · QS51/53/54/55 rejecting catalog 3 · every missing object for PK01 · QA11's initial screen · all four QS21 screens (General Data, Control Indicators pages 1–2, Quantitative Data) · all three QP01 screens (Header Details, Operation Overview, Characteristic Overview) · the TQSS1 blocker and its fix, proven cause-and-effect · a real characteristic and a real plan created end to end |
Nothing is left unverified. The only variation not run is the Reject path (UD code → To Blocked Stock / return to vendor) — we deliberately posted the Accept path so the stock ended up usable. The Reject route uses the same screen and the same stock tab, one row lower. |
💡 How the whole chain was proven: on a material created for this scenario alone (RM-IRON-QM-01), so nothing else at PakSteel was disturbed — PO 4500032795 → GR 5000047755 → lot 10000007502 → results → usage decision, with MARD read before and after. If anything on your screen differs, tell me what you see and I will correct the page.
OPTIONAL ADD-ONS What else QM can do once the basics work
Steps 18.0–18.5 are the whole quality gate. Everything here is extra — pick only what a real business asks for. Each one says when you would use it, and whether we have run it on this system.
| If somebody asks for… | Use this | Where | Status here |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Send failed stock back to the supplier" | the Reject path of the usage decision | B1 | 📖 same screen as 18.5, not posted by us |
| "Don't inspect every delivery — just a sample" | Sampling procedure | B2 | 📖 concept — field seen, not built |
| "Trusted suppliers should be inspected less often" | Dynamic modification & skips | B3 | 📖 concept — Skips Allowed is already on |
| "Close obvious lots automatically, don't tie up QC" | Automatic usage decision | B4 | ✅ the setting is live — we deliberately switched it OFF |
| "Block a supplier who has no quality agreement" | QM in Procurement — QM control key | B5 | 📖 fields seen on the QM view, not built |
| "Demand a test certificate with every delivery" | Certificate type | B5 | 📖 field seen, not built |
✅ proven live · 📖 concept = the field or setting was seen on the real screen, but we did not build the scenario around it. Nothing here is guessed.
B1 · OPTIONAL Reject the lot and send it back · QA11
It is the same QA11 screen as 18.5 — you simply choose a different code and a different row on the stock tab.
| Where on screen · Field | Fill | What it asks — in plain words | Why — and the impact if wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usage Decision box · UD Code | a reject code from your set (press F4 — our set 01 has 19 codes to choose from) | The verdict stamp. Accept and Reject are just two different codes in the same list. | The code carries the quality score and any follow-up action. Impact: pick an accept code by mistake and failed material silently becomes usable stock |
| Inspection Lot Stock tab · To Blocked Stock | the quantity, e.g. 50 | Where should the failed goods go? Blocked = still in your plant but nobody may use it. | Blocked stock is the holding pen while you argue with the supplier. Impact: leave it in inspection stock and the lot never closes |
| OR Return Posting row | the quantity | Send it straight back to the supplier. | This is the return movement. Impact: the goods leave your books — make sure the supplier has agreed first |
| Save | — | Commit the verdict. | ✅ How you'll know: MMBE shows the quantity under Blocked (or gone), and not under Unrestricted |
📖 Honest status: we posted the Accept path (so the 50 TO ended up usable) and did not post a Reject. The screen, the stock rows and the code list are all confirmed live — only this particular button press is untested.
B2 · OPTIONAL Inspect a sample, not the whole delivery · sampling procedure
Right now our lot says Sample Size 50 TO out of an Insp. Lot Qty of 50 TO — in other words, inspect everything. That is the default when no sampling procedure is set, and it is the honest choice while learning.
A sampling procedure changes that. It is attached in two possible places, both of which you have already seen:
- On the characteristic — QS21 → Control Indicators → tick Sampling Procedure, then name it on the plan.
- On the inspection plan characteristic — QP02 → Characteristic Overview → column Sampling Procedure.
- Or per inspection type — MM02 → Quality management → Insp. Setup → row detail → Smpl. Procedure (the field sits right next to 100% Inspection).
📖 Honest status: all three fields are confirmed present on the live screens. Building a sampling procedure itself (QDV1) is a Quality-Planning exercise and is not part of this scenario.
B3 · OPTIONAL Inspect trusted suppliers less often · dynamic modification & skips
The idea in one line: the inspection severity moves up and down by itself based on the supplier's recent record — tighter after a reject, looser after a run of passes. A skip means "this delivery needs no inspection at all".
| Where | Field | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| MM02 → QM view → Insp. Setup → row detail | Skips Allowed | ✅ already ticked on our type 01 — permission for SAP to skip inspections |
| same screen | Dyn. Mod. Rule | the rule that decides how severity moves. Blank on ours = no loosening ever |
| QP02 → plan header | Dynamic Modif. Level · Modification Rule | the same idea set on the plan instead of the material |
📖 Honest status: every field above is confirmed on the live screens. Creating a modification rule (QDR1) is Quality Planning and is not part of this scenario.
B4 · OPTIONAL Let SAP make the decision itself · automatic usage decision ✅ SETTING PROVEN LIVE
RM-IRON-QM-01 so you can do the decision by hand — and because a copied material inherits the setting, a copy of it will already be correct.
| Where · Field | Fill | What it asks | Why — and the impact |
|---|---|---|---|
MM02 → QM view → Insp. Setup → type 01 row detail · Automatic UD | ✓ to switch it on | May SAP close the lot without a person? | Only sensible once your limits are trustworthy. Impact: switched on too early, bad stock is released before anybody looks |
| The decision is then made by a job | — | Who actually presses the button? | A background job runs QA40 (production) / the equivalent for GR lots, and writes a log you can read with QA10L / QA40L (both confirmed present on this system) |
| The code it uses | from your selected set | Which verdict does it stamp? | It comes from the Def. Group / Def. Code on the selected set — the very fields that caused error QS 060 in 18.0. Impact: no default code means the job has nothing to stamp |
B5 · OPTIONAL Control the supplier, not just the goods · QM in Procurement & certificates
These four fields sit in the Procurement Data box of the same QM view you filled in 18.1 — all confirmed live, all currently blank on RM-IRON-QM-01:
| Field | What it does — in plain words | Why you would use it |
|---|---|---|
| ☐ QM in Procur. Active | The master switch for supplier-side quality control on this material. | Nothing else in this box works until it is ticked |
| QM Control Key | The rulebook: may we order at all? must a certificate arrive? is a goods receipt blocked without one? | ⭐ This is how you stop a purchase order to a supplier who is not quality-approved |
| Certificate Type | Which kind of test certificate the supplier must send. | Common in steel, pharma and food — the mill's test certificate must match the delivery |
| Target QM System | The quality-management standard the supplier must hold, e.g. ISO 9001. | Enforces "we only buy from certified mills" |
📖 Honest status: the fields are confirmed on the live QM view; we did not switch them on, because doing so would block purchase orders for a material other scenarios use. 💡 Related: the certificate printing chain is output determination — see the Customisation Guide.
🐞 Blockers you will hit — and the fix
Everything marked ✅ was confirmed on our own system while pre-checking this scenario. The rest are the standard SAP behaviours this configuration runs into.
| Step · Where | Symptom | What it really means | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ⭐✅ 18.2 / 18.3 ordering · QE51N | "No entries found" (QE 651) — the lot exists, but there is nothing to measure. In QA32 the lot sits at system status CRTD CHCR SPRQ with 0 short-term characteristics. |
⭐⭐ The inspection plan was created AFTER the goods receipt. SAP copies the test sheet onto the lot only at the moment the lot is created. CRTD = created but never released; CHCR = characteristics required. The lot is permanently empty, and QA02 gives you no way to attach the plan afterwards. Nothing is corrupt — the link simply never happened. |
Reverse the goods receipt and post it again. MIGO → Action A03 Cancellation · Reference R02 Material Document → the GR number → tick Item OK → Post. The old lot flips to status LTCA (cancelled) and the new goods receipt creates a fresh lot that does find the plan. We did exactly this: lot 10000007501 (empty) → reversal 5000047756 → new GR 5000047755 → lot 10000007502 with REL CALC SPRQ and 1 characteristic. ✅ Prevention: always finish 18.2 before 18.3. |
| ⭐✅ 18.3 · MIGO refuses to post | Hard error 00 001 "Delivery note already exist" — and then the whole screen turns grey (display-only), so you cannot even correct the field. |
⭐ Another faulty custom check on this system, from the same family as the crash below. It rejects any delivery-note text that has been used before. The message number 00 001 is SAP's generic slot, which is the giveaway that this is custom code and not standard MIGO. The grey screen is a side effect of the error firing during the post. |
Press Enter, close the Display logs popup, then type a fresh, never-used delivery note and post again. So on this system a MIGO delivery note must be ≤ 10 characters and unique. Ours: DN-QM-1803. Same lesson as the row below — see the Customisation Guide. |
| ⭐✅ 18.3 · ME21N | 06 722 "Material RM-IRON-QM-01 not included in source list despite source list requirement" | Plant PK01 enforces source lists, and the material's Source list flag came across when we copied the material. Until the supplier is on that list, no purchase order for it can be created. It looks like a vendor or pricing fault; it is neither. |
ME01 → material + plant PK01 → row: Valid from/to, Supplier MUGHAL21, POrg PKLO, tick Fix → Save ("Source list changed", 06 790). See prerequisite ⑤. ⚠️ Every new material at PK01 needs this, not just QM ones. |
| ⭐✅ 18.4 · QE51N | The lot opens, the characteristic row is there with its limits — but the Result column will not accept typing. | You are on the General tab, where Result is display-only. The typeable box lives on the Summarized tab. Nothing is locked or missing. | Enter the count in Inspected on General, then switch to Summarized and type the reading there → Manual Valuation popup → Accept → Closing → Save. |
| ⭐✅ 18.1 design mistake · shared material | No error message at all — which is what makes it dangerous. Weeks later, every goods receipt of PakSteel's main iron ore starts landing in quality-inspection stock and needs a QA11 decision. | ⭐ QM was switched on for a material other scenarios share (RM-IRON-01, used by Scenarios 14, 15 and 16). An inspection type is a property of the material, not of your exercise — so the quality gate applies to everyone who touches that material, from then on, and SAP issues no warning when it starts. That silence is what makes it expensive: the symptom appears days later, far away from the change that caused it. |
Undo: MM02 → Quality management → Org. Levels PK01 → Insp. Setup → untick Active on the type-01 row → Enter → Save ("Material … changed", M3 801). Confirm in SE16 → QMAT that AKTIV is blank. Prevention: give every scenario its own material. A dedicated material keeps the quality gate where you want it, and lets you leave your settings switched on instead of having to undo them so everybody else’s deliveries keep working. |
| ✅ 18.0 · QS51 | "Transaction no longer valid for catalog '3'", then "You need to maintain catalog 3 (Usage Decisions) in Customizing" (Q3 340) | Usage-decision selected sets are customizing, not master data, in this release. QS51/QS53/QS54/QS55 all refuse catalog 3. |
Use SPRO → Quality Management → Quality Inspection → Inspection Lot Completion → usage-decision selected sets. There is no OQ* short-cut — we checked all 92. |
| ⭐✅ 18.3 · MIGO — the whole transaction crashes | Runtime error SAPSQL_DATA_LOSS (CX_SY_OPEN_SQL_DATA_ERROR) in program ZCL_EXM_IM_MB_MIGO_BADI, method IF_EX_MB_MIGO_BADI~LINE_MODIFY: "Data was lost while copying a value … The value was 'DN-QM-18-01' … target has type C length 10" |
⭐ A custom enhancement on THIS system is faulty. Somebody implemented the MB_MIGO_BADI BAdI and writes the 16-character Delivery Note into a 10-character field. Any delivery note longer than 10 characters dumps MIGO before anything posts. |
Keep the Delivery Note to 10 characters or fewer (we used DN-QM-1801, then DN-QM-1803). ⚠️ This is a perfect live example of the warning in the Customisation Guide: buggy custom code stops goods receipts system-wide. Long-term it is a developer fix, not a config one. |
| ⭐✅ 18.1 · MM01 QM view | The Post to Inspection Stock checkbox disappears from the view | Not a bug. As soon as an inspection type is active, SAP removes the material-level tick because the decision now belongs to the inspection type. The greyed Inspection Setup box lights up ✓ at the same moment — that is the status light telling you a type is live. | Set it inside Insp. Setup → [row detail] instead: Post to Insp. Stock, which is already ticked by default for type 01. |
| ⭐✅ 18.5 · QA11 never asks for a decision | The lot closes itself; there is nothing to do in QA11 | ⭐ In the inspection type detail, Automatic UD is ON by default on this system. SAP then makes the usage decision for you and the teaching step vanishes. | Untick Automatic UD in MM02 → Quality management → Insp. Setup → the type-01 row detail. Already unticked on RM-IRON-QM-01 — and because a copied material inherits it, your copy of that material will be correct too. |
| ✅ 18.0 · IMG copy | QS 060 "Code 0001 is not assigned to the selected set 01 in plant PK01" | Copy As… also copied the source set's Def. Group / Def. Code, which point at a code your brand-new set does not contain yet. | Blank out Def. Group and Def. Code on the copied row before pressing Enter. Add a default later if you want one. |
| ✅ 18.0 · IMG copy | The set is created but QA11 still offers no codes | On the "Specify object to be copied" popup you chose "only copy entry", so the 19 child codes were left behind. | Choose "copy all". SAP confirms "Number of dependent entries copied: 19". |
| ✅ 18.1 · MM02 | Quality Management is not in the Select View(s) list | MM02 only shows views the material already has — 15 of them for RM-IRON-01, and Quality Management is not one. It is not a material-type restriction: ROH allows the QM view (47 views offered in MM01). |
Use MM01 with the same material number to add the view. Nothing existing is overwritten. |
| ⭐✅ 18.2 · QP01 | Warning "Maintain QM plant settings for plant PK01" (QP 123), then the characteristic screen opens titled "Display Inspection Plan" | ⭐ The hidden blocker. Plant PK01 had no row in TQSS1 (QM configuration: plant level). Because it is only a warning, people click past it — and then cannot understand why the characteristic grid is read-only. |
Create the plant settings: SM30 → view V_TQSS1 → Edit → select plant 1000 → Copy As… → change Plant to PK01 → Enter → Save (a customizing request is required). Already done on this system. After the fix the same screen opens as "Create" — that is the proof. |
| ✅ 18.2 · QS21 | The Master Insp. Charac. field refuses your name | The field is only 8 characters long. | Shorten it — PS_SULFUR becomes PS_SULF. |
| ✅ 18.2 · QS21 | "Make an entry in mandatory field Search Field" | Search Field is mandatory but not visibly marked as such. | Type a keyword, e.g. SULFUR. |
| ✅ 18.5 · QA11 | F4 on the UD code shows nothing, so no verdict can be chosen | Plant PK01 has no usage-decision selected set. QPAM catalog type 3 is empty for PK01/PK02/PK03, while every SAP demo plant has set 01. Stock is already locked by this point. |
Do 18.0 before anything else — QS51, catalog 3, plant PK01, set 01, copying plant 1000's. |
| ✅ 18.1 · MM02 | You look for inspection-type fields on the Quality management view and cannot find them | They are not on the view. The view only shows a read-only "Inspection Setup" tick plus a button. | Press the [ Insp. Setup ] button on the right of the General Data box. |
✅ 18.1 · QMAT |
Nothing at all set up for PakSteel | QMAT has zero rows for PK01/PK02/PK03. Expected — this is the starting state, not an error. |
That IS step 18.1. Copy the pattern from live material 3200000002 / plant 4100. |
| ✅ 18.4 · QE51N | The lot has no characteristics to fill in, or does not appear in the worklist at all | No inspection plan for PK01 — PLKO type Q is empty there. Insp. with Task List is ticked, so SAP looked for a plan and found none. |
Build the characteristic and plan in 18.2. Check the plan's usage = goods receipt and status = released. |
| 18.3 · MMBE | Stock landed in Unrestricted, not Quality inspection | Post to Insp. Stock was not ticked. You still get a lot, but no quality gate — so the scenario proves nothing. | Go back into the Insp. Setup popup and tick it. Reverse the GR and post again. |
| 18.5 · stock released by itself | The lot is already decided before you open QA11 | Automatic UD is ticked in the inspection setup, so SAP made the decision for you. | Untick Automatic UD for learning. It is genuinely useful in a high-volume plant. |
| 18.4 · valuation stays blank | You type a value but SAP does not mark it pass or fail | The characteristic has no specification limits, so there is nothing to compare against. | Add lower/upper limits in QS22, and make sure it is quantitative. |
📖 Words and codes used on this page
Every term is explained where it first appears — here they are in one place.
| Word | What it means — in plain words |
|---|---|
| QM | Quality Management — SAP's quality module. It plugs into buying and receiving. |
| Inspection lot | The test file for one delivery. Created automatically by the goods receipt. Ours was 10000007502. |
| Inspection type | WHEN to inspect. 01 = when goods arrive against a purchase order. |
| Quality inspection stock | The waiting room. The goods are counted and valued, but nobody may use them yet. Field INSME in table MARD. |
| Unrestricted stock | Normal, free-to-use stock. Field LABST. |
| Blocked stock | In your plant but forbidden to use — where failed goods wait. |
| Master inspection characteristic | One thing you measure, e.g. sulfur %. Reusable across plans. Ours: PS_SULF. ⚠️ Name limit 8 characters. |
| Inspection plan | The test sheet for a material: which operations, and which measurements in each. Ours: group 70122744. ⚠️ It must exist before the goods receipt. |
| Operation | One step of the test sheet, e.g. "Lab test sulfur". Needs a control key (QM01). |
| Specification / limits | The acceptable range, e.g. 0.00 – 0.06 %. Outside it = fail. |
| Usage decision (UD) | QC's verdict that closes the lot and moves the stock. Made in QA11. |
| UD code / selected set | The verdict stamp, and the plant's list of allowed stamps. Ours: set 01 with 19 codes. |
| Catalog 3 | SAP's catalog that holds usage-decision codes. Maintained only in SPRO. |
| Quantitative / qualitative | A measured number / a pass-fail judgement. |
| Sampling procedure | The rule for how much of a delivery to test instead of all of it. |
| Skip | Permission for SAP to not inspect a delivery at all, for a trusted supplier. |
| System status | SAP's shorthand on the lot. In the order you meet them: CRTD created (not yet usable) · CHCR characteristics required · REL released · CALC sample size calculated · INSP inspection open · RREC results recorded · SPRQ stock posting still required · UD decision made · ICCO inspection closed · LTCA lot cancelled. A healthy new lot reads REL CALC SPRQ; a broken one reads CRTD CHCR SPRQ. |
| Source list | A plant's list of approved suppliers for one material. At PK01 it is enforced, so a material with no entry cannot be ordered at all (ME01 to maintain, ME03 to display). |
| Summarized recording | Recording one figure for the whole delivery instead of every individual reading. It is why QE51N asks you to confirm Accept/Reject in a popup. |
| TO | Tonnes — the unit iron ore is weighed in. |
| T-code | What it does | T-code | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| QS21/QS23 | create / display a master inspection characteristic | QA32 | worklist of inspection lots |
| QP01/QP02/QP03 | create / change / display an inspection plan | QE51N | record results |
| MM01/MM02/MM03 | add a view / change / display a material | QA11/QA12/QA13 | record / change / display a usage decision |
| ME21N · MIGO | purchase order · goods receipt | QVM3 | lots still waiting for a decision |
| MMBE · MB51 | stock per status · material documents | SPRO | configuration (the only route to catalog 3) |
| ME01 · ME03 | maintain · display the source list | ME11 · ME13 | create · display a purchasing info record |
✅ Verification
- SE16 →
QPAM→ catalog3, plantPK01→ your selected set exists (was empty before 18.0) - SE16 →
QMAT→RM-IRON-QM-01/PK01→ART=01,AKTIV=X,INSMK=X— andRM-IRON-01in the same list should showAKTIVblank, proving the shared material was left alone - SE16 →
MAPL→ materialRM-IRON-QM-01→ the plan link (PLNTY=Q,PLNNR=70122744, no deletion flag) - SE16 →
PLKO→PLNNR=70122744→ usageVERWE=5, statusSTATU=4, plantPK01 - ME03 →
RM-IRON-QM-01/PK01→ the source-list row forMUGHAL21/PKLO - QA32 → plant
PK01+ materialRM-IRON-QM-01→ the lot, its System Status and its STChar count - MMBE → watch the quantity move from Quality inspection to Unrestricted use
- ⭐ SE16 →
MARD→RM-IRON-QM-01/PK01/RAWM→LABSTup,INSMEdown. Ours ended atLABST50,INSME0 - MB51 → the mvt 321 document that the usage decision created on its own
🎓 Interview-Ready Answers
Q: With QM active, where does GR movement 101 post the stock?
Into quality inspection stock, not unrestricted — but only if the material's inspection setup has Post to Insp. Stock ticked. The 101 still posts the FI document (Inventory Dr / GR-IR Cr) and creates an inspection lot, but the quantity is not freely available for issue until a usage decision is made. Without that tick you get an inspection lot and freely usable stock, which is a real configuration choice — inspect but do not block.
Q: What is a usage decision and which movement types does it trigger?
The usage decision (QA11) is QC's verdict on an inspection lot. Accept moves stock from quality inspection to unrestricted via mvt 321; Reject posts to blocked or returns it to the vendor with mvt 122. You never type the movement type — the code you choose carries the follow-on action. Until the decision is made, the stock cannot be used.
Q: A goods receipt created an inspection lot but QC says there is nothing to record. Why?
The lot has no characteristics. Either the material's inspection setup has Insp. with Task List ticked but no inspection plan exists for that material and plant, or the plan exists with the wrong usage or is not released. Characteristics come from the plan (or from a material specification) — the inspection type alone only decides when to inspect, never what to measure.
Q: You have results recorded but QA11 will not let you choose a verdict. What is wrong?
There is no selected set for that plant in catalog type 3 (usage decisions). Selected sets are plant-specific, so a newly created plant has none even though every other plant in the system does. Fix it in QS51 — and it is worth checking before you post the goods receipt, because by the time you find out, the stock is already locked in inspection.
Q: If QM isn't available, can you still run a procurement GR?
Yes. QM in MM is optional. Without it a standard GR mvt 101 posts directly to unrestricted stock and no inspection lot is created. You only get the quality gate once QM master data exists and the material carries an active inspection type.