Quality Management
8 min
introduction the quality management (qm) module is mantsu's dedicated solution for product quality control on the shop floor it manages the full lifecycle of quality checks from defining what needs to be measured, to executing those checks against a specific production batch, to maintaining a traceable record of every result where the list application handles general purpose checklists and sops (process steps, safety checks, operator guidance) the qm module is purpose built for product quality every inspection is tied to a specific material and a specific batch results are measured against defined tolerances outcomes are tracked, versioned, and auditable if your goal is to verify that a product meets its quality specification, the qm module is the right tool how the module is structured the qm module follows a three layer model that will be familiar to anyone who has worked with quality management systems in a manufacturing context it separates the definition of quality checks from their assignment to materials, and both from their execution on the shop floor characteristics are the individual quality checks a ph measurement, a weight tolerance, a visual pass or fail they are defined once and reused across as many inspection plans as needed inspection plans are the blueprints they define which characteristics apply to a given material, at which point in the production process they must be checked, and what the acceptance criteria are plans are versioned and go through a controlled review and approval cycle before they can be activated inspections are the execution layer when a quality check is due (either triggered automatically by a production order step or created manually) the system generates an inspection lot based on the active plan the operator or quality technician works through each characteristic, records the result, and the lot is closed once all checks are complete independent by design the qm module does not require sap or any other external system to function its structure draws on concepts familiar from sap qm (characteristics, inspection plans, inspection lots), making it straightforward to adopt for teams with that background however, it operates entirely within the mantsu suite and can be implemented as a standalone module on any plant, regardless of the erp landscape for plants already running sap qm, the module can be configured to mirror existing inspection plan structures, reducing the learning curve for quality teams for plants without an existing qm system, it provides a clean, structured starting point that grows with the operation quality versus checklists knowing which to use both the qm module and the list application present operators with questions to answer during production the distinction lies in purpose and data structure quality management list application purpose verify product meets specification guide process execution, confirm steps tied to a specific material and batch an order, operation, or manual trigger result validation tolerance ranges, pass/fail criteria completion confirmation versioning yes, with approval workflow yes, with approval workflow traceability per batch, per characteristic per execution, per list typical use dimensional checks, lab results, visual inspection of product startup checklists, cleaning verification, operator sops as a rule of thumb if the question is about the product, use the qm module if the question is about the process, use the list application roles role responsibility quality engineer create and maintain characteristics and inspection plans, manage the approval cycle quality inspector execute inspection lots, record results, flag deviations supervisor review inspection results, approve or reject lots, follow up on out of tolerance findings operator execute inspections triggered from the order cockpit as part of a production order integration with the order cockpit inspection lots can be generated automatically when a production order reaches a specific routing step in the order cockpit this means quality checks are built into the production flow rather than managed separately operators are prompted to complete the inspection before they can proceed, ensuring that no batch moves forward without the required checks being performed traceability and audit trail every action in the qm module is logged inspection plans maintain a full status and version history inspection lot results are stored as revisions rather than overwrites, meaning every edit to a recorded result is preserved alongside the original entry this provides the audit trail required for regulated industries and internal quality reviews alike sections characteristics docid\ sbjtck7bys1udwlfcwnaz characteristics are the product quality parameters inspection plans docid\ dgw7i sn70egc3yz6ors4 inspection plans structure when & which tests need to be performed inspections docid\ eq5x62x9d13obc5lr07ih the execution phase of the quality module traceability & reporting docid 0oyllackv9x4spf8vltwd all actions are audit trailed

