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Inspect the quality of production output

This article explains how to set up quality management to automatically create quality inspections for production output when you post manufacturing operations. For example, these inspections enable:

  • Finished goods inspection
  • In-process quality checks
  • Work center-specific inspections
  • Routing operation validation

Get started

To automate the process of creating inspections for production output, there are a few things to set up.

  • You must prepare items for production output testing by filling in a couple of fields on the Item Card page:

    • You must set up an Item Tracking Code (for example, "LOT ALL") and assign it to the item. Learn more at Set up item tracking with serial, lot, and package numbers.
    • Fill in the Lot Nos. field with the number series to use for automatic lot assignment.
    • Make sure a routing is created for the item.

  • You must set up a global trigger for production output. On the Quality Management Setup page, in the Production - Create Inspection field, choose When Output is Posted.

  • Create inspection generation rules for production output testing. For more information, see Create a production rule.

Create production output inspections

Production output inspections are automatically created when you post production orders. When you create the order, be sure to fill in the following fields:

  • Item: Use a lot-tracked production item.
  • Quantity: Specify a production quantity.
  • Location: Match the inspection generation rule filters.
  • Routing: Verify that routing operations exist.

Use an output journal or a production journal to post output.

  1. Select Search (Alt+Q) in the upper-right corner, enter Output Journal or Production journal, and then choose the related link.

  2. Enter the output to post, as follows:

    • Item No.: Production item
    • Operation No.: Final routing operation
    • Output Quantity: Quantity being output

  3. Choose Post to post the production output.

    After you post production output, a quality inspection is created automatically. The inspection includes:

    • Item Number: The production item.
    • Lot Number: The assigned lot number for item tracking.
    • Quantity: The output quantity.
    • Source: The production order and operation reference.

Work with production inspections

Production output inspections contain:

  • Control Information: Source production order details
  • Item Tracking: Lot/serial number information
  • Template Fields: Quality measurements to complete
  • Quantity: Specific to output posting

You can access related information in several ways:

  • The Navigate action in the inspection shows:

    • Item ledger entries
    • Production order details
    • Warehouse entries
    • Related documents

  • Control Information shows:

    • Source production order
    • Operation details
    • Posting information

Complete production inspections

The following steps give an overview of how to complete a production inspection.

  1. Open a quality inspection.
  2. Enter the measurement values.
  3. Review the calculated results that the template configuration and measurements determine.
  4. Choose the Finish action when the inspection is complete.

After you finish an inspection, you can print or email a report from the Quality Inspection page. The Report menu offers the following reports:

Report Use
Certificate of Analysis Send to customers to certify that a lot or batch meets quality specifications. Includes measurement results, grades, and a signature block for the designated quality contact.
Non Conformance Report Document a deviation when items fail inspection. Use for internal records or when filing claims with suppliers.
Inspection Report A general-purpose report that works for any inspection type. Use when you don't need the formal structure of a certificate or non-conformance report.

Each report adapts its content based on the inspection data. For example, grade columns appear only when grading is configured on the template, and the signature block on the Certificate of Analysis appears only when a Certificate of Analysis Contact is set in the Quality Management Setup page.

All three reports include a default Word layout that you can customize. Learn more in About report and document layouts.

Advanced configuration

Location-specific rules

You can create multiple rules for different locations. Set up a filter for each specific location, and select the template that you created for that location.

Operation-specific inspections

Configure inspections for specific routing operations:

  • Routing No. Filter: Specify a routing.
  • Work Center Filter: Specify a work center.
  • Operation Filter: Specify an operation number.

Production setup considerations

Posting setup requirements

Ensure that you have an Inventory Posting Setup for item transactions. Learn more in Specific posting groups.

Item tracking integration

Production output with item tracking:

  • Lot numbers can be automatically assigned or manually entered.
  • Serial numbers are supported for serialized items.
  • Package numbers are supported for package tracking.

Backflushing considerations

If you use backflushing, there are a few things to consider:

  • Material consumption posts automatically.
  • Component lot tracking might affect inspection creation.
  • Review backflushing setup for quality integration.

Creating Quality Inspection Templates
Setting Up Inspection Generation Rules
Manual Inspection Creation
Lot Blocking and Unblocking
Quality Management Overview

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