COA data from LIMS

[Former Member]

Hi,

    My client wants to use an MES to do all the inspection activities for the manufactured parts. However the sales orders and deliveries for these manufactured parts are done via SAP. Is there a  way during delivery PGI to go back to the MES system and look at the inspection results to print on the COA ? Or would a better design be to send from the MES, the manufactured batch with the classification into SAP and the go after the classification of the batch from SAP to print on the COA ? Also if we want to print the original limits of the MICs and the MICs are residing only in the MES then how can we fetch these specifications from the MES and print them on the COA ?

Thanks

[former_member42743 · Accepted solution]

You really only have two options:

1 - When a COA is needed, send the customer info and contact info to your MES and have the MES issue the COA.

or

2 - Have MES send the necessary data back to SAP so SAP can issue the COA.

Seems obvious, but it kind of then mandates the info needed to be maintained or transferred.  If you want SAP to issue the COA using standard COA functionality you only have two standard means for results and specs.  Either Batch Management or inspection lots.

If you don't want to utilize a lot of QM functionality, and you are considering using batch management, then I would keep the result and specs in batch classification.

1. Create your general characteristics to match up with your MES characteristics.
2. Create classes for your various material groupings with the appropriate characteristics
3. Assign the materials to the correct class
4. Maintain your spec range within each class.  (make sure you click on "Additional values allowed" to allow out of spec results to be recorded)
5. For individual materials that may have a slightly different spec than the assigned class, maintain the material specific spec in the classification view of the material.
6. Make sure automatic batch classification in the background is on for all the material movements you might use to create batches.
7. Set up an interface to transfer your MES characteristics to SAP.  You'll probably need a custom table on one side or the other to translate the MES test names to the proper characteristic name in SAP.  You might look at using the incoming COA functionality for doing this via and EDI Idoc.  . http://help.sap.com/saphelp_erp60_sp/helpdata/en/05/d25f38b3a54b5be10000009b38f8cf/content.htm?frame...
8. The EDI process is really meant to update an inspection lot.  But you might be able to find a way to detour the process and update a batch record instead.  I haven't tried that yet.
9. Set up the COA profiles to obtain values and specs from the batch records.

FF

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

FF...as usual the guru . Great stuff!! Have you ever seen such an architecture?

I am trying to convice the client to move as much inspection back into SAP and use MES just for the production order excution. Else if they really hell bent in using the MES as a LIMS and do all the 100 MIC (for eg) inspections in there, the other way out could be report back just a few critical MICs back to SAP. These will be ones which they usually send out on their COAs. What do you think of this approach ? But that again begs the question about what if an FDA inspector comes in tomorrow. Will te client show him a LIMS report and an SAP report to show him all the results recorded for a batch ?

[former_member42743 · Accepted solution]

Yes, I've seen FDA compliant systems where only a pass/fail value as you described is used on the SAP side. 

One of the key issues would be exactly how the actual release is performed and what are the procedures the reviewer has to do in order to make the release.  When you have separate systems, the level of validation and oversight of the process has to be more rigorous.  Specific items such as reviewing the paperwork, verifying in each system, etc. etc.. all must be included into the SOP's and procedures.

But technically, what you want to do isn't impossible.  If you can limit it to a smaller set of MIC's than that will of course help.

The basic procedures I listed in the previous posting really wouldn't change much.  The interface could be accomplished in any number of ways.

- I mentioned the electronic COA which would be an EDI file.

- You could also do some programming on the MES side and use the SAP RFC's to make updates to batch. 

- You could do it as an hourly batch job and send a flat file that is then read in by an hourly batch job on the SAP and use the BAPI_BATCH_GET_DETAIL and BAPI_BATCH_CHANGE to update the batch from the file. http://help.sap.com/saphelp_45b/helpdata/en/35/b0e80387a62488e10000009b38f9b7/content.htm

- you could maintain minimal QM data and use the standard LIMS interface.  You might contact the MES vendor as many vendors have already written interfaces for SAP and they are available.

- You could send an I-doc  - See this thread: http://scn.sap.com/thread/1374571

No "right" answer here, just choices!

FF

[Former Member]

Hello GS,

Normally once resutls recording is done in LIMS, results are updated in inspection lot in SAP, So when you tigger PGI of delivery, results from the lot can be used to print on COA.

Regarding the printing of original limits of MIC, you can create a customized table and in the program of COA, code it in such a fashion to fetch the inspection limits from the Z table. I think for this you need to mention the specifications origin in Certificate profile as Z origin.

Thanks

[Former Member]

That maynot wokr here as they want to maintain the detailed inspection plans in LIMS. SAP will have a only a very basic inspection plan with just one MIC which says PASS/FAIL. So when the lot is created in SAP it is sent down to the MES LIMS, whihc will do the detailed inspecion recording and then send back just the PASS/FAIL valuation of the single MIC on the lot. Then we wil run the UD job to disposition the lot. So SAP will never have the actual results recorded. I wanted to validate this architechture design and see if thats something even feasible. Any inputs will be helpful.

Thanks