Implement additional supply chain management features
This domain covers adjacent Supply Chain Management features that interact with production, especially quality management and inventory controls.
Core rules
- Quality management uses quality associations to trigger quality orders for purchases, production, or sales. Test groups define test variables and acceptable ranges; quality orders record results and can generate nonconformances.
- Quality associations specify the document type, item, and when the quality order is created-for example, on receipt or before report as finished.
- Inventory blocking prevents issue or receipt of selected inventory. Blocking can be manual or triggered by quality orders.
- ABC classification groups items by value or usage to drive cycle counting and inventory policies.
- Lot and serial tracking provide traceability. Tracking dimension groups make batch or serial numbers mandatory at receipt or production.
- Catch weight products use nominal and actual weights, relevant for process and food items.
Worked example
A production order must be inspected before it is reported as finished. Create a quality association for the production order type and item, with a test group containing a quantitative test and an acceptable range. When the order reaches report as finished, a quality order is created. If the test fails, a nonconformance is recorded and inventory can be blocked. Reasoning: the association controls timing; the test group controls the data captured.
Traps
- Setting the quality order trigger after report as finished when inspection must happen before output.
- Forgetting to assign a test group to the quality association, so no tests are defined.
- Assuming inventory blocking changes on-hand; it restricts transactions, not quantities.
- Enabling batch tracking after transactions exist.