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Trigger a Quality Inspection by Receiving a Purchase Order in NetSuite

Receive a purchase order for an item with a quality specification, find the queued inspection in Assign Inspections, assign it as urgent and record the results on the Quality tablet.

Published 7 min read Watch the walkthrough

The quick answer

Save an item receipt for an item that has an active quality specification context, and Quality Management places an inspection in the queue. Open Quality > Setup > Assign Inspections, filter and click List, select the Pending row, set Assigned To, Priority and Status, and click Assign. The engineer then opens the entry on the Quality tablet, records each inspection and taps Finish Inspection.

The screenshots show sample data. Person and company names are fictional. Use your own items, locations and people when following the steps.

Before you start

In this example, Alex Morgan at Example Supply Co. buys SPN-440 Marine Winch Controller from Northgate Electronics for Reno Plant. Purchase order PO6204 for 24 controllers is Pending Receipt. The setup is already done:

  • The Oracle Quality Management SuiteApp is installed, and the Quality center tab shows its Setup and Reports pages.
  • Three inspections exist: Receiving Visual, Dimensional and Electrical Check. The quality specification Receiving SPN-440 groups them in that order.
  • A quality specification context applies Receiving SPN-440 to SPN-440 at Reno Plant for item receipts created from a purchase order. Both the context and the specification must be active. If no active context matches the receipt, or it points to an inactive specification, no inspection is queued.
  • The quality manager can use Assign Inspections, and the engineer, Devon Hale, has a role with access to the Quality tablet and permission to work with the Quality Management custom records. With a read-only role the tablet shows a notice instead of letting you record.

The item is lot-numbered, which is why the receipt asks for Inventory Detail. A pre-inspection action on the context, such as quarantining the received stock, depends on how your context is configured, so check inventory status separately.

01. Receive the purchase order

Open purchase order PO6204. Its status is Pending Receipt and the location is Reno Plant. On the Items subtab the one line is 24 of SPN-440 Marine Winch Controller. Click Receive. The item receipt opens with Created From set to the purchase order and the line selected to receive.

PO6204 is Pending Receipt for Reno Plant.
The single line is 24 of SPN-440 Marine Winch Controller.

02. Save the item receipt

Open Inventory Detail on the line, assign lot LT-4471 for the full quantity of 24 and click OK. A tracked item needs this before the receipt can be saved. Click Save. Item receipt IR7318 is saved with the confirmation Transaction successfully Saved. Saving the receipt is the trigger. You don't enter the inspection by hand.

Lot LT-4471 covers the full quantity of 24.
IR7318 is saved from PO6204.

03. Find the inspection

Go to Quality > Setup > Assign Inspections. The 2020 demonstration this walkthrough is based on showed it under a Data Collection menu, so the path can differ in older releases. In Inspection Queue Filters, set Location to Reno Plant and Transaction Type to Item Receipt, then click List. Older releases and some context forms call this trigger Receipt From Purchase Order, so use the label your page shows.

Queue Records lists the queued inspections. The newest row is for SPN-440 with Specification Receiving SPN-440, Transaction Type Item Receipt #IR7318, quantity 24, Assigned To Not Assigned, Priority N/A and Status Pending.

The new row is Pending and Not Assigned.

04. Assign the inspection

Select the row. Under Update Queue, set Set Assigned To to Devon Hale, Set Priority to 0-Urgent and Set Status to In Work. Click Assign. A banner reads Assign Inspection: Inspections will be assigned. Please stand by, this may take a minute.

The rows already on screen aren't refreshed, so click List again to confirm the saved values. The row now shows Devon Hale, 0-Urgent and In Work.

Three Update Queue values are set on the selected row.
The banner appears after you click Assign.
After List, the row shows the new values.

05. Open the Quality tablet

As the engineer, go to Quality > QMS Tablet > Tablet. The tablet is its own touch page with a slate header and no NetSuite menu bar. The Quality Specification Queue lists the receipt for SPN-440 with Status In Work and Priority 0-Urgent. Open that row.

The queue shows the assigned inspection.

06. Record the inspections

Each inspection of the specification opens as a collapsible band. Work through them in order and tap Record on each. Record saves the values for that inspection and evaluates them against the standards.

  • Receiving Visual: for Sample #1, tick Visually Passes and tap Record. The bar turns green and shows Pass. The Photo buttons can add a picture from the camera or an image file.
  • Dimensional: enter Length 182.4 and Width 95.6, then tap Record.
  • Electrical Check: tick Proper Ground Wire Connection, enter Voltage Check 12.1 and tap Record. The help button shows the target range, 11.6 to 12.4.

A green bar is the result of that inspection. A violated standard turns it red. It doesn't release the stock.

Receiving Visual is green with Pass.
Dimensional is recorded and Pass is shown.
All three bands are green.

07. Finish the inspection

Tap Finish Inspection. The tablet returns to the Quality Specification Queue and the finished entry is no longer listed. What happens to the stock next, such as a release from quarantine or a return to vendor after a failure, is decided by the specification's conformance rules and your workflows, so verify the item's inventory status separately.

The finished inspection has left the queue.

Check the result

  1. Item receipt IR7318 saved from PO6204 with lot LT-4471.
  2. Assign Inspections listed a Pending, Not Assigned row for IR7318.
  3. After Assign and List, the row showed Devon Hale, 0-Urgent and In Work.
  4. The three inspections turned green with Pass on the Quality tablet.
  5. After Finish Inspection, the entry was gone from the queue.

Common questions

How does receiving a purchase order create a quality inspection in NetSuite?

Saving the item receipt creates it when an active quality specification context matches the item, location and transaction type. The inspection is placed in the queue as Pending and Not Assigned. Nobody enters it by hand.

Why did my item receipt not create an inspection?

Usually no active quality specification context matches the receipt. Check that the context names the item and specification, that its location, vendor or customer limits match, and that its transaction type is the one you are saving.

Where is Assign Inspections?

It is under Quality > Setup > Assign Inspections. Under Setup in the current Quality menu; older releases used a Data Collection menu. You need a role that can use the page.

Why is my inspection Pending and Not Assigned?

That is how a new queue entry starts. Its Priority is N/A until a manager sets one on Assign Inspections.

Do I have to click List after Assign?

Yes. The rows already on screen aren't refreshed, so list again to see the saved values.

What does the green Pass bar on the Quality tablet mean?

It is the result of that one inspection, from comparing the recorded values with the specification's standards. It doesn't release the stock.

What does Finish Inspection do?

It closes the queue entry after the required inspections are recorded, and the entry leaves the tablet queue. Conformance rules and workflows decide what happens to the stock.

Why can't I record on the Quality tablet?

The role needs access to the Quality tablet and permission to work with the Quality Management custom records. With a read-only role the tablet shows a notice instead.