Test Equipment Management
Purpose
This scenario describes how to enter measurement readings and how to monitor the test and measurement equipment you create as technical objects, in the areas of plant maintenance or customer service. The aim of the inspection is to determine whether your technical objects meet the required quality standards, or whether they need to be repaired, rejected or replaced. You can:
- Inspect the technical objects according to predefined requirements
- Document the inspection results for each technical object
- Valuate the technical objects
Prerequisites
To manage test equipment and enter extended measurement readings, you must have created technical objects. If you want to automatically update the measurement documents in plant maintenance or customer service as a follow-up action to the usage decision you must:
- Assign a measuring point or counter to the technical object
- Create master inspection characteristics in QM
- Have created a maintenance task list that contains inspection characteristics
In the scenario Test Equipment Management, you can combine business functions from the Quality Management (QM) component with functions from the Plant Maintenance (PM) component or the Customer Service (CS) component.
Component |
Functions |
Quality Management (QM) |
Performing and documenting quality inspections on test and measuring equipment |
Plant Maintenance (PM) |
Managing test equipment; maintenance planning; Scheduling maintenance operations and recording costs |
Customer Service (CS) |
Managing test equipment; maintenance planning; Scheduling maintenance operations and recording costs |
Process Flow
Preventive Maintenance Plan
You create a preventive maintenance strategy.
If you do not define a strategy, you can only use
multiple counter plans or single cycle plans.
You create a preventive maintenance plan. The preventive maintenance strategy forms the basis of the preventive maintenance plan.
You create maintenance items, in which the maintenance or service objects to be maintained and their corresponding maintenance task lists are assigned. The maintenance tasks that are to be completed by a due date are determined by the maintenance task list that is assigned to the maintenance item. The system automatically creates any maintenance or service orders that are required.
Inspection Lot Creation
There are the following ways to create an inspection lot when entering measurement readings and monitoring technical objects:
- You schedule the preventive maintenance plan. You can do this:
- Manually
- According to the preventive maintenance strategy
- According to the counter reading
- Based on the due date
- When the maintenance call is scheduled, the SAP System automatically creates a maintenance or service order and an inspection lot.
- Alternatively, you can release a maintenance call manually. This also causes the system to create a maintenance or service order and an inspection lot.
Maintenance or Service Order
You process an order if you:
- Record costs
- Schedule
- Monitor capacities
The order causes a task to be performed on an object by a due date.
- If required, you plan the necessary capacity requirements for the work center where an operation is to take place.
- When all the operations have been recorded, you release the order. Once this order is released, the SAP System automatically creates an inspection lot relating to the technical object.
Quality Inspection for an Order
When the inspection lot is created, the system provides the required shop papers for the quality inspection.
- You inspect the technical object and record results for the measurements taken. The results are either directly recorded, or copied into the system from external measuring equipment using the QM interface.
- You can document any defects in the results recording function for the technical object. If you want to use the R/3 System to manage a defect you have identified, together with the corrective action for this defect, the system can automatically create a maintenance or service notification.
- If all the inspection characteristics have been inspected, the system valuates the inspection object or technical object. The object can be valuated automatically or manually. As a result, data for an inspection report is available.
- You make the usage decision for the technical object and decide whether the technical object is to be:
- Used again
- Repaired
- Rejected
- You can confirm any costs incurred when results were recorded or when the usage decision was made in the maintenance or service order.
You can trigger the follow-up actions listed below, depending on the outcome of the inspection:
- Redefining the time period between orders
- Altering the way the test equipment is used
- Transferring the inspection results to a technical object
You close the order.
Result
After the inspection is completed, if no defects were found for your technical objects by the quality inspection, you have test equipment that complies with the quality standards.
If defects were found, you can decide whether the technical objects that no longer comply with the quality standard have to be rejected, repaired or replaced.
If the system automatically created a maintenance or service notification at defects recording, use a damage-related notification to create and process an additional order.