The Quality associationsform contains individual quality association records that define the event and conditions for automatically generating a quality order for an item within a business process. The business process can be related to purchase orders, quarantine orders, sales orders, or production orders. Each quality association record also defines the set of tests, the acceptable quality level (AQL), and the sampling plan that apply to the automatically generated quality orders. A quality association record must be defined for each variation in a business process where the process variation requires automatic generation of a quality order. The validity dates for a quality association record enable you to model planned changes in the business process.

A quality association record can also apply to a manually created quality order. The assigned sampling plan is used to calculate the test quantity based on the order quantity of the reference order (if identified), and the assigned AQL acts as a default.

For a given business process (termed the reference type), the quality association record identifies the event (expressed in terms of the relevant document and execution timing) and the conditions for generating a quality order. The conditions can be site-specific or company-wide, and they can apply to a single item, a group of items (based on the quality group), or all items. Other conditions depend on the business process, such as vendor-specific conditions for a purchase order. A quality order involving destructive tests can only be generated when inventory exists for the event.

The following examples illustrate how a quality association record would be defined for the variations in each business process. The examples are also summarized in the following diagram in terms the events and conditions defined by a quality association record.

• Purchase order process - The generation of a quality order can occur before or after the posting of a receipts list or packing slip for the received material. A quality order that requires destructive testing can only be generated after posting the packing slip for the received material, because the material must be available for destructive testing. The need for a quality order can reflect a particular site, item, or vendor, or a combination of these conditions. A manually generated quality order that refers to a purchase order can use information within a quality association record, such as the sampling plan to calculate the test quantity that is based on the order quantity.

• Quarantine order process - The generation of a quality order can occur before or after reporting the quarantine order as finished or ended. A quality order that requires destructive tests cannot be generated for a quarantine order, because it assumed that the quarantine order functionality will handle disposition of the destroyed material. The need for a quality order can reflect a particular site, item, or vendor, or a combination of these conditions. A manually generated quality order that refers to a quarantine order can use information within a quality association record, such as the sampling plan to calculate the test quantity based on the order quantity.

• Sales order process - The generation of a quality order can occur before or after the posting of a picking list or packing slip for the material being shipped. A quality order that requires destructive testing can be generated at any step. The need for a quality order can reflect a particular site, item, or customer, or a combination of these conditions. A manually generated quality order that refers to a sales order can use information within a quality association record, such as the sampling plan to calculate the test quantity based on the order quantity.

• Production order process - The generation of a quality order can occur before or after reporting the production order's finished quantity. A quality order that requires destructive testing can only be generated after the reporting production is finished. The need for a quality order can reflect a particular site or item, or a combination of these conditions. A manually generated quality order that refers to a production order can use information within a quality association record, such as the sampling plan to calculate the test quantity that is based on the order quantity.

• Production order with a route operation process - The generation of a quality order can occur before or after the report is finished for an operation. A quality order that requires destructive testing can only be generated after the reporting production is finished for the last operation. The need for a quality order can reflect a particular, site, item, or work center, or a combination of these conditions.

• Inventory - A quality order cannot be automatically generated for a transaction within an inventory journal (such as a profit/loss or counting journal) or for transfer order transactions. A quality order must be manually generated for an item's inventory quantity, and the selected test group determines what tests will be performed. A quality association record (for inventory) only provides a default value for the AQL.