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FAQ SAP ERP Quality Issue Page 1 SAP Quality Issue Management 1.0 May 2012 Frequently Asked Questions Contents General Questions ......................................................................................................................................... 4 What SAP QIM is about? ........................................................................................................................... 4 What do I need to run SAP Quality Issue Management? .......................................................................... 4 Is SAP QIM part of SAP ERP? ..................................................................................................................... 4 How to I access the SAP QIM transactions or applications? ..................................................................... 4 Is it portal-based ........................................................................................................................................ 4 What kinds of user roles are provided? .................................................................................................... 4 Does QIM offer a comprehensive authorization concept? ....................................................................... 5 Does QIM support me in my compliance initiative in terms of audit trail and complete traceability? .... 5 Monitoring Issues and Activities ................................................................................................................... 6 How can I monitor issues and activities? .................................................................................................. 6 What kind of issues and activities can I monitor with SAP QIM?.............................................................. 6 Can I get on overview on all issues which are related to a distinct material or customer, even beyond systems and applications? ......................................................................................................................... 6 Would it be possible to monitor also issues and related activities from other sources than SAP ERP or even NonSAP systems? ............................................................................................................................. 6 Processing Issues and Activities .................................................................................................................... 6 Is it possible to log different types of issues within QIM? ........................................................................ 6 What is the structure of an issue, and what kinds of issue types are supported? ................................... 6 Do issues and activities have different statuses based on the current processing step? ......................... 7 Where can activities be assigned to? ........................................................................................................ 7 Is it possible to attach pictures to an issue? ............................................................................................. 7 How/where are attachments for an issue in SAP QIM stored? ................................................................ 7 Can I use different types or categories of activities? ................................................................................ 7 What is an activity template?.................................................................................................................... 8 Can I group or bundle activities? ............................................................................................................... 8

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Page 1: SAP Quality Issue Management 1.0 May 2012 Frequently Asked ... · SAP NetWeaver basis (release SAP NW 7.31 and higher), as add-on on top of another SAP system with the according SAP

FAQ SAP ERP Quality Issue Page 1

SAP Quality Issue Management 1.0 May 2012

Frequently Asked Questions

Contents General Questions ......................................................................................................................................... 4

What SAP QIM is about? ........................................................................................................................... 4

What do I need to run SAP Quality Issue Management? .......................................................................... 4

Is SAP QIM part of SAP ERP? ..................................................................................................................... 4

How to I access the SAP QIM transactions or applications? ..................................................................... 4

Is it portal-based ........................................................................................................................................ 4

What kinds of user roles are provided? .................................................................................................... 4

Does QIM offer a comprehensive authorization concept? ....................................................................... 5

Does QIM support me in my compliance initiative in terms of audit trail and complete traceability? .... 5

Monitoring Issues and Activities ................................................................................................................... 6

How can I monitor issues and activities? .................................................................................................. 6

What kind of issues and activities can I monitor with SAP QIM? .............................................................. 6

Can I get on overview on all issues which are related to a distinct material or customer, even beyond

systems and applications? ......................................................................................................................... 6

Would it be possible to monitor also issues and related activities from other sources than SAP ERP or

even NonSAP systems? ............................................................................................................................. 6

Processing Issues and Activities .................................................................................................................... 6

Is it possible to log different types of issues within QIM? ........................................................................ 6

What is the structure of an issue, and what kinds of issue types are supported? ................................... 6

Do issues and activities have different statuses based on the current processing step? ......................... 7

Where can activities be assigned to? ........................................................................................................ 7

Is it possible to attach pictures to an issue? ............................................................................................. 7

How/where are attachments for an issue in SAP QIM stored? ................................................................ 7

Can I use different types or categories of activities? ................................................................................ 7

What is an activity template? .................................................................................................................... 8

Can I group or bundle activities? ............................................................................................................... 8

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FAQ SAP ERP Quality Issue Page 2

What kinds of reference objects are supported? ..................................................................................... 8

Can I link one issue with another? ............................................................................................................ 8

Is it possible to pre-define or pre-configure activities which might be relevant in a distinct issue

resolution process? ................................................................................................................................... 8

Can I automatically pull in activities based on the given issue content? .................................................. 9

Is the application able to handle multiple languages? .............................................................................. 9

Is it possible to document steps in text format in different text blocks (like subject description,

resolution plan, actual resolution, validation comments etc.)? ............................................................... 9

Is it possible to use code hierarchies? ....................................................................................................... 9

Is a code in SAP QIM unique? .................................................................................................................... 9

What kind of partners can I use in SAP QIM? ........................................................................................... 9

Does SAP QIM contain any master data? ................................................................................................ 10

Is there an option to make an activity mandatory? ................................................................................ 10

Does SAP QIM distinguish short-term and long-term activities, also in terms of different checks when

closing an issue? ...................................................................................................................................... 10

Can I delete or cancel an issue? .............................................................................................................. 10

Can I delete or cancel an activity? ........................................................................................................... 10

Does SAP QIM provide predefine roles for partners to be involved in the process? ............................. 10

Can I link information to an issue? .......................................................................................................... 10

Is it possible to attach DMS documents within an issue? ....................................................................... 10

Is it possible to print issue data? ............................................................................................................. 11

Can I mail issue data, also together with attached documents? ............................................................ 11

Does SAP QIM offer mass processing options? ....................................................................................... 11

Does SAP QIM support Workflow? ......................................................................................................... 11

Is there an easy way to see all the content of a given issue? ................................................................. 11

What kind of validation steps and effectiveness checks does QIM offer? ............................................. 11

Does QIM offer an audit trail and traceability of all changes? ................................................................ 12

Is it possible to directly kick off the processing of an activity on issue creation? ................................... 12

Is it possible to directly trigger another activity after completion of an activity? .................................. 12

What does QIM offer in terms of documenting causes and effects? ..................................................... 12

What does QIM offer in terms of follow-up actions? ............................................................................. 12

How can the user be guided in the process of creating an issue? .......................................................... 12

Integration ................................................................................................................................................... 13

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FAQ SAP ERP Quality Issue Page 3

Can I link an issue within QIM with another process in another system? .............................................. 13

Would it be possible to connect QIM with several SAP ERP systems? ................................................... 13

Would it be possible to connect QIM with any other SAP system? ........................................................ 13

Can I trigger the creation of a QIM issue from other applications? ........................................................ 13

Can I use follow-up actions going into other applications? .................................................................... 13

Analytics ...................................................................................................................................................... 13

Does QIM offer ready-to-run reports and queries? ................................................................................ 13

Deployment ................................................................................................................................................. 14

What are the deployment options for SAP QIM? ................................................................................... 14

Which technology is used for the front-end of SAP QIM? ...................................................................... 14

Configuration and Extensibility ................................................................................................................... 14

Do I need to do the entire QIM configuration from scratch or does it come with content? .................. 14

Can I create my own issue type? ............................................................................................................. 14

Can I extend existing QIM scenarios by adding further data and elements? ......................................... 15

Can I use the same codes like in SAP ERP? .............................................................................................. 15

Is it possible to define a user status? ...................................................................................................... 15

Can I easily change the term “issue” into a term which is typically used in my company and business,

like “finding”? .......................................................................................................................................... 15

Can we use different configurations or layouts of screens for different roles involved in the issue

process? ................................................................................................................................................... 15

How can I extend SAP QIM? .................................................................................................................... 15

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FAQ SAP ERP Quality Issue Page 4

General Questions

What SAP QIM is about? SAP Quality Issue Management (SAP QIM) offers you the option of capturing various types of quality

issues, processing them by instigating suitable quality activities, and monitoring the processing status

throughout the entire resolution process. The application covers the entire issue resolution process from

issue capturing to issue resolution and a final validation. You can also map use cases that go beyond

classical quality management, such as improvement requests or service requests. Furthermore, SAP QIM

offers an integrated solution and a central point of access for processing and monitoring quality issues,

also from other applications and systems (for example, FMEA, audits, quality notifications, claims).

SAP QIM is therefore a generic framework that supports you with mapping and tracking all kinds of

issues and ideas and with continuous improvement processes.

What do I need to run SAP Quality Issue Management? SAP QIM is a so-called Networked Solution from SAP that can be installed separately (stand-alone) on a

SAP NetWeaver basis (release SAP NW 7.31 and higher), as add-on on top of another SAP system with

the according SAP NetWeaver 7.31 or higher, or in a side-by-side approach to one or other connected

systems.

Is SAP QIM part of SAP ERP? No, SAP QIM is a separate application, which can be deployed separately but also on top of another SAP

system like SAP ERP. It can also be connected to another SAP system via using object references from

other applications and systems (like related to a delivery item, a material, a customer etc.).

How to I access the SAP QIM transactions or applications? The applications to run SAP QIM are designed to run on SAP NetWeaver Business Client (NWBC) , either

via a local installation or via HTML. SAP delivers certain QIM roles for NWBC maintained via transaction

PFCG.

Is it portal-based SAP QIM does not provide specific portal roles or business packages for SAP NW Portal. However, the

existing NWBC roles can be used to create portal roles via according portal functionality.

What kinds of user roles are provided? SAP provides three application roles, which can be used as copy model to design customer-specific roles

via transaction PFCG:

SAP_QIM_COORDINATOR => all provided applications and navigation targets and also access to

administrative functions in the productive QIM system.

SAP_QIM_ISSUE_DRIVER => all applications for creating, processing and monitoring issues and activities,

but no administrative functions.

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SAP_QIM_SUPPORT => role that includes display authorizations for all QIM applications, typically

relevant for support users.

Does QIM offer a comprehensive authorization concept? SAP QIM comprises a comprehensive authorization concept which allows restriction of access an editing

at different levels, such as general access to issue and activity, assignment or display of attachments,

assignment of reference information, selection of codes etc.

The authorizations for executing functions in SAP QIM are specified in the roles in the transaction PFCG.

SAP QIM adheres to the standard AS ABAP authorization concept.

Does QIM support me in my compliance initiative in terms of audit trail and

complete traceability? Yes, within QIM all changes can be documented and tracked via integrated change log view (in the issue

hierarchy) and via separate audit trail transactions.

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FAQ SAP ERP Quality Issue Page 6

Monitoring Issues and Activities

How can I monitor issues and activities? Via worklists (POWL = personal objects worklist) all kinds of issues and activities across sources and

systems can be monitored. This means, that depending on the query definitions and the related

selection criteria issues and activities from the QIM system itself but also from other connected

applications such as SAP ERP with all kinds of notifications, FMEAs and audits can be pulled into the

monitor application for common analysis. The worklists can be personalized in terms of layout and

selection parameters, and also authorization control is supported.

What kind of issues and activities can I monitor with SAP QIM? All notification categories in SAP ERP, i.e. quality notifications, claims, service notifications, general

notifications, and maintenance notifications and related tasks.

FMEA-related defects in SAP ERP and related actions.

Action-relevant audit issues from any SAP system and related actions.

Can I get on overview on all issues which are related to a distinct material or

customer, even beyond systems and applications? Yes, according to the given selection criteria by naming the material, customer or any other object plus

the required reference system and object category, the user can receive a list of issues for these business

objects, which goes across system limits and applications.

Would it be possible to monitor also issues and related activities from other

sources than SAP ERP or even NonSAP systems? Based on the given architecture it would be conceivable to query issues and activities within the QIM

worklists. The open interface of SAP QIM allows to incorporate further, customer-specific data via

implementation of additional services or RFC’s that retrieve data from other sources.

Processing Issues and Activities

Is it possible to log different types of issues within QIM? Yes, via customizing different types of issues can be defined together with the required reference

objects, codes, activity types, activity templates, issue hierarchy elements etc. This enables a free and

flexible definition of different business processes to be supported by SAP QIM.

What is the structure of an issue, and what kinds of issue types are supported? Issues can consist of:

Header information including descriptive texts of different types

Defects

Causes (e.g. at issue or defect level, possible also cause under cause …)

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Effects (e.g. at issue or defect level)

Activities at any level

Reference information, attachments, business partners can be defined at any level, depending on the

structure definition in customizing.

Do issues and activities have different statuses based on the current

processing step? Yes, both objects have life-cycle statuses in order to document different steps and also control the

process. In addition, validation statuses are enabled in order to improve transparency of the results.

Furthermore it is possible to define user status based on the enhancement concept of the given BOPF

framework and configuration.

Where can activities be assigned to? According to the given customizing activities can be assigned at any level of an issue or sub-issue (defect,

cause, effect and another activity).

Is it possible to attach pictures to an issue? Yes, different types of documents can be assigned to an issue or levels below. The according set-up is

done via customizing, where document types are defined, e.g. enabling distinct Mime types as allowed

file types. Also a separate authorization object is provided in order to restrict the access to attachments.

How/where are attachments for an issue in SAP QIM stored? SAP QIM uses KPRO technology to store attachments. Here, different types of knowledge providers are

supported. So far no Enterprise Content Management (ECM) is enabled.

In addition a connection to documents within DMS is possible by assigning these documents as reference

objects (not as attachment then).

Can I use different types or categories of activities? In order to support different business scenarios and also a better user guidance SAP QIM provides

different activity categories:

• Information activities can be used to simply bundle other activities with a distinct title. They do

not contain and status and do not require and response or confirmation, they might have a long

text for detailed description and also attachments, and they cannot be changed.

• Question-based activities are simple activities that are described by a question which can also

request a response, e.g. a date, a code or a number. They can be applied for better guidance of

the processing user in order to lead them directly to a solution approach. They comprise a simple

status scheme. In most cases it is helpful to configure questions so that they will automatically

be set in process in order to allow a quick completion after provision of a response.

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• Basic activities are used e.g. for immediate containment actions, e.g. containing a simple

description of a task to be executed (immediately). Often it is not required to assign a partner for

the execution when the activity can be executed automatically (e.g. send response e-mail to

customer). Basic activities contain a simple status scheme.

• Extended activities allow a more detailed processing in terms of different statuses to be gone

through. Here also different people can be assigned as partners such as the activity processor,

the person who will validate it etc. Extended activities can have follow-up actions assigned that

will be executed on setting the activity in process, e.g. the creation of a related quality

notification in the connected target system for a given set of reference information. These

activities have a more comprehensive status scheme.

Activities of all categories can be defined as preparing task via activity templates, which will then be used

in the configuration of distinct issue types or when defining business rules based on different parameters

for different use cases.

What is an activity template? Using activity templates, you can simplify the creation of activities when you create an issue. In activity

templates, you can specify certain defaults that apply for all activities that are created with this

template.

You create activity templates in Customizing for a specific activity type. In the template, for example, you

can specify the type of response, you can specify follow-up actions, and set default activity properties.

Can I group or bundle activities? Yes, either via activity templates or even within the application. Here especially info activities make

sense in order to provide a title for a bundle of activities.

What kinds of reference objects are supported? The possible reference objects for usage in SAP QIM are defined in customizing via object types and

object categories. Examples are:

Material, customer, vendor, delivery, delivery item, purchase order, purchase item, batch, quality issue,

notification, DMS document …

Can I link one issue with another? Yes, via the assignment as reference object one issue can be linked to another, also notifications from

SAP ERP.

Is it possible to pre-define or pre-configure activities which might be relevant

in a distinct issue resolution process? Via the usage of activity templates, configuration and definition of business rules via BRFplus you can

trigger the automatic creation or proposal of activities, that might be relevant for a distinct issue process,

even based on further content information such as priority, given material etc.

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Can I automatically pull in activities based on the given issue content? Yes, based on configuration and business rules there can be an automatic pull of activity templates into

an issue, already on issue creation.

Is the application able to handle multiple languages? Texts within an issue or an activity can be entered in different languages when switching the logon

language or directly when changing the language in the link within the Explorer (HTML).

These texts are stored in different fields and can be displayed then together (as historic texts) within the

application.

Is it possible to document steps in text format in different text blocks (like

subject description, resolution plan, actual resolution, validation comments

etc.)? Via customizing you can define different text types for usage of different text blocks within the

application.

Examples are different issue descriptions or activity descriptions The text type controls the fields for entering text when you create an issue or an activity and the fields for code and code group. Via assignment of a catalog to a text type, you can specify the catalog as a search criterion for finding and assigning code groups and codes for quality issues and quality activities. The text types are grouped in a text schema. In the standard system, SAP supplies a text schema for each issue category (issue, defect, cause, and effect) and for the activity category QIM_ACT. In the standard system, the text schemas contain a text type for entering descriptions and a text type for entering detailed descriptions.

Is it possible to use code hierarchies? Yes, SAP QIM has the concept of code hierarchies allowing a better structure or grouping of codes and

code groups according to business areas or scenarios. So there can be code groups including other code

groups and codes up to arbitrary levels.

Is a code in SAP QIM unique? Yes, each code in SAP QIM is unique, meaning that the ID can only be used once. Nevertheless, each

code can be used in different catalogs and code groups.

What kind of partners can I use in SAP QIM?

In SAP QIM, you can define different partner roles that are necessary when processing an issue or activity, such as issue submitter, issue driver, interested party, or quality manager. The specific partners for an activity or an issue are identified by business partner IDs. For this to work, business partner master records must exist in the QIM system.

You can specify partner roles in Customizing for each issue type or activity type.

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In addition, partner roles and partner IDs can be determined using predefined business rules that were set up in Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus), depending on specific details such as the priority.

Does SAP QIM contain any master data? In order to provide flexibility and always show the actual data from related processes, SAP QIM is not

requiring any master data in term of logistical data (like material master, customer record etc.) but also

for references to operational data such as delivery, purchase order, notification etc., the system does not

replicate the information but only refers to it.

The only master data which is needed are the configuration date in terms of codes, business rules,

business partners, and activity templates.

Is there an option to make an activity mandatory? Yes, an activity can either be optional, means, it can be deleted from the issue, or mandatory, means it

has to be processed (or cancelled).

Does SAP QIM distinguish short-term and long-term activities, also in terms of

different checks when closing an issue? Ye, it is possible to short – or long-term activities within an issue related to the given business process.

E.g. an effectiveness check is typically executed later, even after the completion of the according issue.

I.e. an issue can be completed even when long-term activities are still open.

Can I delete or cancel an issue? Yes, cancellation and marking for deletion are possible options. The issues can then still be displayed but

no longer processed.

Can I delete or cancel an activity? Yes, also activities can be cancelled or marked for deletion. Activities of status NEW (i.e. not set in

process yet) can be directly physically deleted.

Does SAP QIM provide predefine roles for partners to be involved in the

process? Yes, via customizing of issue types and activity templates it is possible to preconfigure distinct roles

which might be applicable for a given process. Also via business rules partner roles and even partners

can be preplanned.

Can I link information to an issue? Yes, via the attachments also links can be assigned to an issue, e.g. a link to a related folder of a common

server or guidelines for complaints processing stored in a company portal etc.

Is it possible to attach DMS documents within an issue? Yes, DMS documents can be assigned as reference objects to an issue.

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FAQ SAP ERP Quality Issue Page 11

Is it possible to print issue data? Form-based printing of issues is possible within the processing application. Therefore a guided activity is

provided to guide the user through selection of the appropriate Adobe form (needs to be configured),

the selection of attached pictures that shall be included, and the print preview.

Other attachments cannot be printed with the issue, but via a mail sending option they can be

considered.

Can I mail issue data, also together with attached documents? An issue can be sent via mail in a formatted form similar to the printing process. Therefore a guided

activity is provided to guide the user through selection of the appropriate Adobe form (needs to be

configured), the selection of attached pictures that shall be included, the selection of other attachments,

the print preview, the selection of the recipients and a mail text.

Does SAP QIM offer mass processing options? Via the POWL (worklists) there is a mass change option for statuses of issues and activities in terms of

setting several issues or activities in process or completing them. This refers also to issues and activities

from other sources. Related messages will be written in a log, which can be viewed in the Worklist.

Does SAP QIM support Workflow? In QIM there is a large number of events that can be used to trigger a workflow. Based on these events

different workflow patterns can be used to drive the process of issue and activity resolution.

Two standard workflow templates are delivered:

Informing the issue responsible on completion of all activities below.

Informing the activity processor about the setting in process of an activity.

Further templates can be flexibly defined.

Is there an easy way to see all the content of a given issue? Within the processing of an issue, the user can always switch to the hierarchical display of the content

via the so-called “Issue Hierarchy”. There the user has a tree for navigating through all elements of the

given issue in order to directly see, what has already been entered and processed. Furthermore, the

issue hierarchy provides access to all change documents of the given issue.

What kind of validation steps and effectiveness checks does QIM offer? Activities as well as issues can be validated at the end of the process, meaning e.g. for a validation of one

or several activities you can define according validation or effectiveness check activities, and the result

can also be documented in the original activity as validation status.

For the issue a separate decision can be made in terms of documenting success or lack of success.

When completing an issue there can be long-term activities (e.g. those relevant for long-term

effectiveness check) still open.

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FAQ SAP ERP Quality Issue Page 12

Does QIM offer an audit trail and traceability of all changes? All changes within QIM are documented and can be either tracked via the issue hierarchy or via separate

audit trail transaction, which also allow additional configuration.

Is it possible to directly kick off the processing of an activity on issue creation? Due to customizing you can define that an activity is automatically set in process when creating it. This is

e.g. helpful when using question-based activities that shall directly be answered by the issue submitter.

Other activities that are directly set in process will then be forwarded or even executed (if all required

data is available) when an issue is saved and set in process on issue creation.

Is it possible to directly trigger another activity after completion of an activity? Based on business rules, on completion of one activity another activity can be pulled into an issue.

Example is the

What does QIM offer in terms of documenting causes and effects? Based on the definition of the according structure for a distinct issue type, defects, causes and effects

can be relevant for an issue process. These elements do only appear in the application when activated.

So for some issue types there might be the defect or cause level, for others not.

Causes can be defined at issue header, defect or even cause level. Same with effects.

What does QIM offer in terms of follow-up actions? Follow-up actions define actions or functions that will be automatically triggered by the system, when an

activity is set in process. It can e.g. trigger an e-mail to a processor or update an object in a connected

system. SAP QIM uses BAdI technology to drive follow-up actions, i.e. via different BAdI implementations

different follow-up actions can be defined.

Some of these follow-up actions need further information as reference data, which can e.g. be

transferred from the assigned activity or even issue. The successful execution of a follow-up action can

be documented by a status but also by adding a new reference object in the according activity.

How can the user be guided in the process of creating an issue? User guidance is given in SAP QIM via different options:

For creating an issue there is a “guided activity” application that allows a step-wise entering of

related information.

Based on configuration and according business rules, information is pulled automatically into the

issue, so that the user does not have to identify everything from scratch.

There can be question-based activities that lead the user via responses to a root-cause or even a

solution approach.

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Integration

Can I link an issue within QIM with another process in another system? Yes, via reference objects you can link an issue with other objects in the according connected system,

e.g. with a goods issue process, a delivery, another issue covered via a quality notification etc.

Would it be possible to connect QIM with several SAP ERP systems? Yes, this is the big benefit of SAP QIM that it can be connected to several other systems for monitoring

purposes but also for referring to other processes when creating an issue.

Would it be possible to connect QIM with any other SAP system? Yes, this is valid.

Can I trigger the creation of a QIM issue from other applications? There is an API available which can be used to create an issue from outside the application. Currently

there is to pre-built scenario for another SAP application but several are planned (e.g. integration with

SAP ME, SAP MoC, SAP GRC …).

Can I use follow-up actions going into other applications? Follow-up actions can trigger steps or update data in the connection application and system, e.g. create

a quality notification related to the QIM issue.

Analytics

Does QIM offer ready-to-run reports and queries? SAP QIM has several options to analyze issue and activity data. One is to use existing queries and reports

that are already available in the connected SAP ERP or SAP NetWeaver BI systems (e.g. analysis of quality

notifications, audits etc.). Therefore the solution is offering a work center containing a list of queries,

which can of course be extended by the customer.

In addition, SAP QIM uses the Business Context Viewer (BCV) as a generic component that enables

context-related analysis of information.

Currently there are several queries defined for analyzing issues and activities presented in the worklists,

i.e. connected with the POWL via a side panel.

These queries allow a graphical representation of KPIs or results and support also a common dashboard

for getting an overview of the current quality situation.

These graphics can be configured, exported and printed.

Further analytics are planned for QIM 2.0.

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FAQ SAP ERP Quality Issue Page 14

Deployment

What are the deployment options for SAP QIM? SAP QIM can be deployed as complete stand-alone application without any connection to another

system. This can make sense, if a planned business scenario does not need any integration into another

one, i.e. the issue creation and resolution can run independently from any other business process.

The more common deployment options might be to either install SAP QIM on top of a given SAP system

such as SAP ERP or any other SAP system or at least with connection with other applications.

SAP QIM requires the SAP NetWeaver 7.31 release (ABAP stack) and the business suite foundation layer.

But in terms of supporting integrated scenarios e.g. in order to link an issue to other business processes

or even drive additional steps during the course of the issue resolution in other applications, the

connection or the availability of information in the same box might be helpful.

Also in terms of monitoring the possible connection to one or more “backend” systems is of high benefit.

For SAP ERP this is possible for releases down to 4.6C.

Which technology is used for the front-end of SAP QIM? SAP QIM offers Web-based applications which are called via the SAP NetWeaver Business Client (NWBC).

Therefore PFCG-Roles are used, which contain the available applications and pages as well as used

navigation links.

Configuration and Extensibility

Do I need to do the entire QIM configuration from scratch or does it come with

content? SAP QIM comes with content, i.e. via the application of according BC sets you can copy predefined

customizing into your test client and start the application. These entries will also help to guide you

through the definition of further scenarios.

Can I create my own issue type? SAP provides some standard issue types but it is open for extensions. So you can define any type of issue

process which you would like to cover with SAP QIM.

This is also the goal of the engine approach of SAP QIM to be open for all kinds of issue processes, not

only logistical ones.

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Can I extend existing QIM scenarios by adding further data and elements? Via customizing of further elements, activity types, activity templates, codes but also via configuration of

screens and steps, you can flexibly make adjustments for the given scenarios.

Can I use the same codes like in SAP ERP? SAP QIM has a separate structure for codes covering code hierarchies. Thus, no direct use of codes and

catalogs with code groups is possible in SAP QIM. Nevertheless, the existing codes which you are using in

SAP ERP can be a basis for the definition in QIM.

Migration tools are planned.

Is it possible to define a user status? Via configuration and the enhancement concept of BOPF you can define user statuses if you want to

adjust the issue process accordingly. Details are described in the guide.

Can I easily change the term “issue” into a term which is typically used in my

company and business, like “finding”? Based on a flexible terminology redefinition, you can adapt messages, texts for redefinition object types,

and interface texts to the terminology commonly used in your enterprise. If, for example, you want to

use a different term instead of quality issue, you can replace this term at the specified places. You set up

terminology redefinition in Customizing for QIM under Environment Redefine Terminology. Here, you

can create different variants of the terminology redefinition and then store them as user parameters in

the user master record or as application parameters in the role.

Can we use different configurations or layouts of screens for different roles

involved in the issue process? In the Web Dynpro environment, it is possible using personalization and customizing to edit the interface

directly when you call an application or a page. The basis for this is the Web Dynpro ABAP configuration

framework.

Personalization is done by individual users. The adaptations are only relevant for these users.

Customizing is done by an administrator with the appropriate authorization and is for the whole

client in a system.

Which settings exactly are possible depends on whether a page (for example, a work center) or an

application is to be adapted.

How can I extend SAP QIM? SAP QIM can be extended in different ways:

Definition of further scenarios via new issue and activity types etc.

Adjustment of existing scenarios via changes of customizing

Changes of screens via configuration (e.g. adding fields or changing the layout)

Definition of user statuses

Definition of new functions (buttons) in the application

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Terminology switch.

Additional definition of reference objects from other applications