Entering Purchasing and Stability QC Test Results

Configuration Process Performing purchasing QC testing Copying QC results from previously received material FAQ and Diagnostic Tips

Quality control testing for purchasing ensures that required QC tests are performed on Raw Materials received on Purchase Orders. Quality Control is an optional feature within DEACOM, with a wide array of application ranging from completely turned off to extremely strict requirements, and are established on an item by item basis. This means that some items can have absolutely no quality control, while others can have many required QC tests. Quality control is established on an item by item basis via the assignment of Quality Control Groups, where one item may be assigned multiple groups. Upon receipt, items that have QC Groups assigned are segregated into the "Pending QC" QC status until testing is complete.

Note: Stability Testing is available for lots received on purchase orders, intercompany transfers, and sales orders returns beginning in version 16.07.001. Additional information on stability testing is available via the Managing Stability Testing page.

Configuration

In order to perform purchasing QC, there are certain items within the system that need to be set up, including:

• Items - Must be configured for purchasing and QC Groups should be assigned to these records via the QC/Stability Tests tab. Refer to Designing a Part Numbering System and Creating Parts for more information.
• Quality Control Tests - Describes the base name of the test to be performed in the system. Once created, QC Tests are assigned to a Quality Control Group. Refer to Managing QC Tests for more information.
• Quality Control Groups - List the sequenced QC Tests for the group to perform. Any tests from above should be assigned to appropriate QC Groups for testing. Refer to Managing QC Tests for more information.
• QC Security Groups - Allow individual users to be assigned to specific QC Tests for the purpose of QC entry and approval. QC Security Groups are assigned to each QC Test when the test is added to a QC Group. Users or user groups are then assigned to the appropriate QC Security Groups via System > Maintenance > Quality Control Group Security. Refer to Managing QC Tests for more information.

Process

Performing purchasing QC testing

QC results can be entered before or after a Purchase Order is received.

How are initial test results entered for purchased materials?

1. Navigate to Purchasing > QC Result Entry.
2. Enter filters as desired to select the Purchase Order(s)/Item(s) for which QC results will be entered then click "Continue".
   1. If "Report Type" is set to "Standard", all orders requiring QC will be displayed, regardless of it materials have been received already or not.
   2. If "Report Type" is set to "Pre-Receipt QC", only orders that have not yet been received in the system will be displayed.
3. Move the desired record(s) to the right-hand side of the mover form then click "Continue". Multiple records may be tested simultaneously, provided all the items have the same QC Group assigned and all QC Tests within that group are the same.
4. On the Quality Control Results form, click "Add" to open the Edit QC Results form, which contains all QC Tests for this group.
5. Enter the appropriate information in the "Value" column for each test. If the test is marked as required and no additional QC passes or results will be entered for the test(s), check the "Complete" flag; otherwise, leave the "Complete" flag unchecked.
   1. Note: QC Tests can be setup in a variety of ways and the information users will enter on this screen depends on that setup. Some tests may or may not indicate a minimum and maximum value. Others tests may require that a value be entered before a test is marked as complete and still others will indicate that the test value must be between the minimum and maximum values before continuing.
6. Once all appropriate QC values have been entered click the "Apply" button on the Edit QC Results form to commit the test results and close the form.

How are stability tests entered for purchased or transfers materials?

The process to enter stability tests for these item lots is the same process as indicated in the initial test results section above except that users will only be prompted to enter results for stability test only.

What other options are there for pre-receipt quality testing?

• Using Inherit QC Results - With changes in the speed of the supply chain and the continued emphasis on quality, many manufacturers are asking for samples of Raw Materials from their Vendors so that they can begin testing before the full quantity of the material arrives. With the material being received upfront, manufacturers can have their quality team validate that the material meets established quality specifications. In situations where the full Lot of material has the same User Lot number as the sample that arrived, DEACOM allows users to apply the QC results of the sample to the newly received Lot and automatically release the material from Pending QC to regular On Hand inventory. This option is very useful when companies trust their Vendor's products and QC processes.
• Using Vendor-Provided Results - These results, based on quality specifications provided by the Vendor (typically via a Certificate of Analysis), can be used for materials before actually receiving the Purchase Order. When the Purchase Order is received, the system then checks to see if there is a pre-receipt QC record pointing to the order(s) selected. If matching QC results are found for lines/items listed on the Purchase Order, those items are then automatically received into On Hand inventory, with QC results attached, and are available for use in the production process. If a match is not found, the items are placed in Pending QC, where users may enter appropriate test results. This feature is useful in situations where companies have strong relationships with their Vendors and the Vendor has a track record of accurate quality control reporting. As indicated, the QC results are known in advance, and unless matching QC results are not found during receipt, materials will be received without the need for interaction from quality assurance personnel.
• Performing Pre-Receipt QC Upon Delivery of Materials - Materials are tested and results entered at time of physical delivery, but prior to performing the receipt transaction in DEACOM. This scenario usually involves taking a sample to perform the QC tests. The results are then entered into DEACOM and the Purchase Order is received. This option is used when QC results are not known in advance but must be taken before marking the material as received.

What actions occur after test results have been entered?

Once QC results have been entered and saved, the process of finishing QC results depends on the outcome of the testing performed, company policies, and whether or not separate approval is required. Results may be simply finished, approved, failed, and/or marked at-risk. These and other options, such as re-testing or reworking material, performing multiple testing passes, performing QC on Lots in transit, completing empty QC Tests, and un-grouping/re-grouping already tested Lots are described in the "Process options" section of the Quality Control Results page. Process steps for each of these options are covered in the Approving QC Results, Failing QC Results, Managing At-Risk Inventory, Re-testing Material, and Entering Production Jobs Using the Custom Adds Feature pages.

The next steps depend on both the settings contained in the QC Group and the company's QC process.

• Marking items at-risk or Performing additional tests - If additional testing passes are to be performed, users may click the "Mark At-Risk" or "Exit" buttons without finishing, failing, or approving QC. Multiple QC results may be entered as necessary provided the QC Test(s) have not been flagged as "Complete" on the Edit QC Results form and the QC process has not been finished by clicking the "Finish QC" button. The at-risk option is used for assumed good materials that will be issued, reserved, and/or shipped prior to performing additional QC Tests. Process information on marking items at-risk is available on the Managing At-Risk Inventory page. For information on how to perform multiple passes, refer to the "Performing multiple QC testing passes and adding additional QC Tests" section of the Approving QC Results page and the Re-testing Material page.
• Approving or Failing results - If all results have been entered, users may check the "Approve QC" flag, if approval is required and the user is authorized, or the "Fail QC" flag if the material has not passed testing. Process information is available on the Approving QC Results and Failing QC Results pages.
• Finishing results - Once the QC process has been completed, users may click the "Finish QC" button to display the Finish QC form. Enter or verify the correct Location and Lot Attribute information, then click "Continue" to place the Lots into On Hand inventory or Failed QC, depending on previous actions. Once this "Continue" button is clicked, the system will move the inventory to the correct Location, close the Finish QC form, return the user to the Close/Relieve Job form or the Job QC Items form, depending on if results were entered during or after production, respectively, and complete the QC entry process.

Copying QC results from previously received material

It is possible to copy QC results from a previously-received Lot to a newly-received Lot. For this to occur, the following must be true:

• The "Retain QC" field on the Vendor assigned to the Purchase Order must be set to a value other than "None".
• Both the original Lot and the new Lot must belong to the same User Lot.
• The "Copy Vendor/Pre-Production QC" flag must be checked on the QC Group(s) which can be applied to this situation.

While the two Lots may have some of the same QC Tests, their actual QC Groups may differ. DEACOM will copy the results for all matching tests, but results will have to be added for those tests required on the new Lot that were not required on the original Lot.

FAQ and Diagnostic Tips

How do I view Lot information once I am in the QC Result Entry form?

Lot information can be viewed in Lots memo field at bottom of form.

What do you do when an Item's purchasing QC is failed by mistake?

Navigate to Inventory > Inventory Reporting. Select a report type of "Lots" and a QC status of "Failed QC". Next, select the appropriate lot, click the "Move Inventory" button and select "QC Pending" in the move to field. If the lot was failed on receipt, retesting may occur via Purchasing > QC Result Entry. If the lot was failed as a result of finishing on a production job, the lot may be rested via Job > QC Testing.

When trying to finish purchasing QC, it is showing an "insufficient inventory" message even though I run a lots report and it shows I have plenty of inventory. What is the problem?

Confirm the inventory is in the proper facility, that the lots are not expired, and there are no future dated transactions on the lots.

Tip: The Inventory History report is a very useful tool for determining the movement of items both in and out of QC testing. The report is located in Inventory > Inventory Reporting. When running the report be sure to use a view of "All" in the pre-filter. The report contains details regarding when QC moved to regular inventory, if items failed QC, the current location of items, amounts and all appropriate time details. In addition, the report will indicate from which purchase orders the items were received.

What happens when you un-receive a negative PO for items with purchasing QC?

In this case, the lots/items are not put in pending QC since the lots are not meant to be re tested in this case.

Can Users Receive Expired Lots

The security setting, "Purchase orders — receive expired material" allows receiving expired material on Purchase Orders. When receiving an order, the user will receive a prompt if they don't have that security setting and any of the received lots have an expiration date on or before the received date

How is the "poqc_item" variable used on purchasing reports in DEACOM?

The "poqc_item" field stores quality control information, such as test results, for the items listed on purchasing reports. The information in the "poqc_item" variable is reported once per item, not once per lot.

Can I see which users approved, not just entered, QC results?

Yes, The q5_approvedby field (form the dtqc5) table can accomplish this. This variable will indicate the user name of the user that approved QC results, which may be different then the user who entered results. This field is available to the job and po detail/summary reports as well as the view qc form.

I can see that there are QC results for a part, but they are not printing on my form. What should I do?

Please verify that the tests are marked to print on forms. Navigate to Inventory > Maintenance > Quality Control Groups. Highlight a group and click "Modify". Select a test and click "Modify". Verify the "Print on forms" box is checked. Do this for every test in the group you wish to print on forms.

Can multiple users enter QC results at the same time?

Only one user can enter results at a given time, however if they are timed out due to inactivity the system will wipe their unsaved changes and kick them off the screen so another user can enter results instead.

TIP: When modifying an existing QC group, including QC tests on the group, the system checks to see if there are lots in Pending QC using this QC Group that have QC values already entered. If there are lots in Pending QC using this QC Group that have existing QC values, then the system will list the affected lots, and prompt users that these lots will have their QC values removed and if they wish to Continue. If users choose to continue, QC values will have to be reentered for the affected lots.