What is SAP QM?
SAP QM stands for SAP Quality Management. It is the component of SAP ERP (ECC 6.0) and SAP S/4HANA that companies use to plan, inspect, document and control quality along the entire supply chain: from goods receipt through production to delivery to the customer.
Its main advantage over a separate CAQ system: SAP QM is tightly integrated with procurement (MM), production (PP), warehousing (WM/EWM), sales (SD) and plant maintenance (PM). Inspection lots are created automatically, blocked stock is visible immediately and every decision is documented and traceable. This is how SAP QM supports requirements from standards such as ISO 9001, IATF 16949 or GMP.
SAP QM components
Quality planning
Master inspection characteristics, inspection methods, catalogs and code groups, sampling procedures, dynamic modification rules, inspection plans and procurement Q-info records.
Quality inspection
Inspection lot processing at goods receipt, during and after production and at delivery: results recording, defects recording, usage decision and stock posting.
Quality control
Statistical process control (SPC) with control charts, dynamic modification, quality scores and vendor evaluation.
Quality notifications
Vendor complaints, customer complaints and internal problems with causes, immediate actions, task tracking and 8D reports.
Quality certificates
Automatically create certificates of analysis for deliveries and record and check incoming vendor certificates.
Test equipment management
Manage test equipment as equipment and calibrate it via maintenance plans, integrated with SAP PM.
Inspection types & logistics integration
Which inspection is triggered when is controlled by the inspection type in the material's inspection setup. The most important standard inspection types:
| Type | Trigger | Integration |
|---|---|---|
01 | Goods receipt for purchase order | MM, purchasing |
03 | In-process inspection | PP, production order |
04 | Goods receipt from production (final inspection) | PP, production order |
08 | Stock transfer | MM, inventory management |
09 | Recurring inspection of batches | Batch management |
10 | Delivery to customer | SD, outbound delivery |
89 | Other inspection (manual lot) | cross-functional |
Key SAP QM transactions
In S/4HANA many processes also run in Fiori apps, but the classic transactions remain the backbone of day-to-day project work:
| Transaction | Function |
|---|---|
QS21 | Create master inspection characteristic |
QS31 | Create inspection method |
QS41 | Edit catalog (code groups and codes) |
QDV1 | Create sampling procedure |
QP01 / QP02 | Create / change inspection plan |
QI01 | Create procurement Q-info record |
QA08 | Mass maintenance of material inspection setup |
QA01 / QA32 | Create inspection lot manually / inspection lot worklist |
QE51N | Results recording worklist |
QA11 | Record usage decision |
QM01 / QM02 | Create / change quality notification |
QC21 | Create quality certificate for delivery |
SAP QM in S/4HANA: what changes?
Quality management is an integral part of SAP S/4HANA. The functional core of quality planning, inspection lot processing and quality notifications has largely stayed the same compared with ECC. The differences lie mainly in user experience, integration and the migration path:
- Fiori apps for inspection lot processing, results recording, usage decisions, defect processing and quality analytics, role-based for quality technicians and inspectors.
- Embedded analytics: quality KPIs directly in the system instead of separate reports.
- EWM integration: when SAP EWM is used, inspections are linked to SAP QM via the Quality Inspection Engine (QIE).
- Migration: QM master data such as inspection plans, master inspection characteristics and Q-info records is transferred via the SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit or LSMW, depending on the starting point.
Brownfield (system conversion), greenfield (new implementation) or selective data transition: for the QM module, a clean as-is analysis of inspection setups, inspection plans and open inspection lots before cutover always pays off.
SAP QM implementation steps
An SAP QM implementation usually follows the SAP Activate methodology:
- Prepare: define scope, plants, inspection processes and team.
- Explore: fit-to-standard workshops with quality assurance, purchasing and production, to-be processes and fit-gap analysis.
- Realize: customizing, master data (characteristics, inspection plans, inspection setups), developments, integration and acceptance testing.
- Deploy: data migration, cutover, key-user and end-user training, go-live.
- Run: hypercare, ongoing SAP QM support and change requests.
SAP QM consulting by Hüseyin Yigit
I am a freelance SAP QM consultant with more than nine years of experience in SAP Quality Management, previously at Accenture and IBM. I have implemented SAP QM in ECC and S/4HANA, designed global templates and led QM support in the pharmaceutical industry. Certified as SAP Certified Associate – S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, Quality Management.
- SAP QM implementation: greenfield or brownfield using SAP Activate
- SAP QM support: 1st to 3rd level, change requests, key-user support
- SAP QM operations: managed service for the QM module
- SAP QM migration: from ECC to S/4HANA including master data transfer
Industries: pharma, food, automotive, mechanical engineering and retail. Project language German or English. See projects and positions →
SAP QM FAQ
What does SAP QM mean?
SAP QM is short for SAP Quality Management. It is the component of SAP ECC and SAP S/4HANA for quality planning, quality inspection, quality control, quality notifications and quality certificates.
Is SAP QM available in SAP S/4HANA?
Yes. Quality management is an integral part of SAP S/4HANA. The functional core largely matches ECC, complemented by Fiori apps, embedded analytics and integration with SAP EWM.
What does an SAP QM consultant do?
An SAP QM consultant gathers the requirements of quality assurance, designs the processes in the system, handles customizing and master data, tests, trains users and supports go-live, ongoing support and change requests.
Which SAP modules is SAP QM integrated with?
SAP QM is closely integrated with MM (purchasing and goods receipt), PP (production), SD (sales and delivery), WM/EWM (warehousing) and PM (test equipment and maintenance).
How long does an SAP QM implementation take?
It depends on the scope: number of plants, inspection processes, master data volume and integration. An implementation with goods receipt and production inspection for one plant typically takes a few months; global rollouts take longer.