How to configure EAM Inspection Checklist?
Introduction
First of all – I am strongly active on YouTube, so if you did not see my video about EAM Inspection Checklists – make sure you watch it, it will be even more easy to understand. If you want to appreciate my work, share my content with your SAP colleagues, check out my linkedin and be active. This project is for you guys.
What is an inspection checklist in SAP EAM?
Inspection checklist in SAP EAM is a process of checking/inspecting our assets and recording the results in the system. Depending on the results, the system can trigger follow-on activities, which can prevent generating of future malfunctions and in other words, let the company be more preventive and save more money.
Why would we need inspection checklists in our SAP system?
Checklists are not a rocket science, you can have a pdf with all the to do tasks/checks and mark what you did, what not, enter the results, store it somewhere on a Sharepoint and be satisfied with it. But such inspection checklist won’t bring much of value for you and your business. Results are only in the document, you have to manually analyze it and if you decide so – you got to perform follow-on activities.
This is why EAM inspection checklists are a powerful solution. Every result is recorded, stored in the system, accessible for analysis and what’s most important – any bad results (for example too high oil temperature of a machine) can automatically trigger next actions. Therefore, it’s highly recommended to consider EAM Inspection Checklists in any regular maintenance inspection in your Plant. If you want to jump into technical aspects including configuration – scroll down, you will find it there.
EAM Inspection Checklists – Business Process explained
Please take a look at the below graphic, where I included all the major steps when it comes to the business process.
We start with a Maintenance Planner, who prepares an Inspection Maintenance Plan by defining, which Assets are relevant for inspection, what kind of inspection has to be performed. Sometimes it can be a simple check like ‘is the machine in good condition?’, but most of the times we are going to need details, like ‘inspect and record the current oil temperature’ and other, more complicated measures. Once these tasks are defined and assigned to the plan, it can be scheduled.
Scheduling results in Maintenance Orders, which are generated in the system. Now it’s time for a Maintenance Technician to perform the work. He performs the inspection and records the results in the system. Currently the best possible way of doing this is with a mobile solution from SAP called Service and Asset Manager (which I am currently implementing for one of my Clients). If not, results can be captured with SAP GUI, but it’s definitely not user friendly.
Once the results are entered and the work has been confirmed by the technician, the order can be reviewed by a Maintenance Supervisor and then closed. The last step in a process is financial closure, where a Local Controler or similar role allocates the maintenance cost to the respective Cost Center.
EAM Inspection Checklists Configuration
Now it’s time for the most important part for an SAP Consultant – Configuration steps. Below I put all the necessary steps, which you got to take to make it happen. Then I will describe them one by one.
One remark: below you will see configuration steps, but it doesn’t mean the inspection checklists will start working immediately after these steps. There are also Master Data related steps, which you need to perform like Classification preparation, Task lists and so on. Just have it in mind.
- Activate Business Functions
- QM Customizing: maintain inspection types
- QM Customizing: maintain inspection lot origins and assign inspection types
- QM Customizing: define follow-up actions
- QM Customizing: edit code groups and codes for usage decisions
- QM Customizing: edit selected sets for usage decisions
- QM Customizing: maintain settings at plant level
- QM Customizing: maintain default values for the inspection type
- DMS Customizing: define document types (optional)
- DMS Customizing: define document status (optional)
- DMS Customizing: define object links (optional)
- DMS Customizing: maintain storage category (optional)
- PM Customizing: configure order types
- PM Customizing: configure checklists for maintenance order types and planning plants
- PM Customizing: define shop papers, forms and output program (optional)
- PM Customizing: define printer (optional)
1. Activate Business Function
Before we do anything in SPRO, we have to make sure, the inspection checklist functionality is available in our system. What does it mean available? It means, all the relevant objects are there, waiting for us to configure them and so on. This can be ensured by a Business Function Activation. All you need is the BF technical name and authorization for transaction SFW5. This step should be taken in a close cooperation at least with your Basis team. Why? The changes which you are about to save – they will be cross Client.
Transaction: SFW5
Business functions to be activated:
LOG_EAM_CHECKLIST
EAM_IDMS
2. QM Customizing: maintain inspection types
Now we can jump directly to Quality Management Customizing. We have to define a separate, EAM checklist-relevant inspection type. Just follow the below path and check out the screenshot.
Transaction: SPRO
Quality Management > Quality inspection > Inspection lot creation > Maintain inspection types
2. QM Customizing: maintain inspection lot origins and assign inspection types
We continue the Quality Management relevant configuration steps. This time we maintain inspection lot origins and assign inspection types to them. This is where we assign our newly created inspection type.
Transaction: SPRO
Quality Management > Quality inspection > Inspection lot creation > Maintain inspection lot origins and assign inspection types
3. QM Customizing: define follow-up actions
The purpose of EAM inspection is to register the results in the system (qualitative and/or quantitative data) and trigger follow-up activities in case of negative results. All these things can be set up in the QM area, but of course to trigger anything – you have to configure it first. Let’s say the temperature exceeds your tolerance and you want the system to generate a notification for you, along with a measurement document. You configure it here, check out the below screenshots.
Transaction: SPRO
Quality Management > Quality inspection > Inspection lot completion > Define follow-up actions
4. QM Customizing: edit code groups and codes for usage decision
The purpose of EAM inspection is to register the results in the system (qualitative and/or quantitative data) and trigger follow-up activities in case of negative results. All these things can be set up in the QM area, but of course to trigger anything – you have to configure it first. Let’s say the temperature exceeds your tolerance and you want the system to generate a notification for you, along with a measurement document. You configure it here, check out the below screenshots.
Transaction: SPRO
Quality Management > Quality inspection > Inspection lot completion > Edit code groups and codes for usage decisions
5. QM Customizing: edit selected sets for usage decisions
Your users can capture two types of data, right? Either quantitative or qualitative. The second one is based on pre-defined catalogs with selection lists. In this step you configure them.
Transaction: SPRO
Quality Management > Quality inspection > Inspection lot completion > Edit selected sets for usage decision
6. QM Customizing: maintain settings at plant level
We have defined our inspection type. Now it’s time to assign it to the right Plant. Here you also assign the Usage Decision Set and Code Group.
Transaction: SPRO
Quality Management > Basic settings > Maintain settings at Plant level
7. QM Customizing: maintain default values for the inspection type
Transaction: SPRO
Quality Management > Basic settings > Maintain settings at Plant level
8. DMS Customizing: define document types
DMS functionality is optional in this process. If you don’t have such requirement from the business, you can skip all the DMS relevant steps.
Transaction: SPRO
Cross-Application Components > Document Management > Control Data > Define DMS Document Types
9. DMS Customizing: define document status
DMS functionality is optional in this process. If you don’t have such requirement from the business, you can skip all the DMS relevant steps.
Transaction: SPRO
Cross-Application Components > Document Management > Control Data > Define DMS Document Status
10. DMS Customizing: define object links
DMS functionality is optional in this process. If you don’t have such requirement from the business, you can skip all the DMS relevant steps.
Transaction: SPRO
Cross-Application Components > Document Management > Control Data > Define DMS Object Links
11. DMS Customizing: maintain storage category
DMS functionality is optional in this process. If you don’t have such requirement from the business, you can skip all the DMS relevant steps.
Transaction: SPRO
Cross-Application Components > Document Management > General Data > Settings for Storage Systems > Maintain Storage Category
12. PM Customizing: configure order types
Here we start Plant Maintenance configuration steps related to EAM Inspection Checklists. In this step we have to decide, which order type is going to be relevant for this process. SAP Best Practices deliver PM07 order type for this purpose, we will create a copy – ZPM7 with activated Phase Maintenance Model. By the way, if you don’t know what Phase Maintenance in SAP is – check out my video on YouTube.
You can use any PM order type. SAP uses for this purposes PM07.
Transaction: SPRO
Plant Maintenance and Customer Service > Maintenance nad service processing > Maintenance and Service Orders > Functions and settings for order types > Configure Order Types
13. PM Customizing: configure checklists for maintenance orders types and planning plants
It’s time to set up some details of our checklist. Here we can decide, whether we want for example to generate an object list during order creation, automatically at order release or manually with a dedicated transaction.
Transaction: SPRO
Plant Maintenance and Customer Service > Maintenance nad service processing > Maintenance and Service Orders > Functions and settings for order types > Configure checklists for Maintenance Order Types
14. PM Customizing: define shop papers, forms and output program
If you are still in love with Paper Documentation, you have to go thru this configuration step as well. But if you use new technologies, for example Native Mobile solution from SAP – SAP Service and Asset Manager, you can skip this step. Why? Because you don’t need printouts anymore.
Transaction: SPRO
Plant Maintenance and Customer Service > Maintenance nad service processing > Basic Settings > Print Control > Define Shop Papers, Forms and Output Programs
15. PM Customizing: define printer
Transaction: SPRO
Plant Maintenance and Customer Service > Maintenance nad service processing > Basic Settings > Print Control > Define Shop Papers, Forms and Output Programs
Summary
And now you know how to configure EAM Inspection Checklists in your SAP S/4HANA system (version 2021+). If you want to see a live example with a business case and user steps – check out this video.
A lot of you asked me how to prepare Master Data for Inspection Checklists – you didn’t have to wait long – here it is.
Cheers,
Dan
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