Quality Control with Integrated Inspections in Workflow

Define inspection types – A master list of inspection checklists.

Inspection types is a master list checklist. Here you can manage checklists that will be used in any workflow in the system like Purchasing or Manufacturing.

For example, if you have two quality control checklists those have to be filled during the production process for every production order, then you would create those two checklist here. Same goes for Purchase receipts or Shipment.

The central management of checklist will ensure that whenever you have to revise the checklist, it can be done from a central place. The changes will reflect everywhere it is linked.

Link inspection checklist with production routing steps.

Linking inspection checklist for quality control with production routing steps is one way of implementing quality control during the manufacturing process. Inspection checklist can be linked with any other workflow as well.

Open the routing from the settings and use the Inspection type dropdown to select appropriate checklist to link with manufacturing step. After linking checklists with steps, immediately all production orders using that routing will reflect the checklist (we will see that in next section). Same way, if you remove the checklist from the step it will also immediately reflect.

Inspection checklist in action.

Inspection checklists are now in place in the routing. We will take a electronics assembly production order and see how it works.

Once, the assembly on the order starts, the Operations tab will reflect all the steps to be followed for the assembly based on the routing selected. The routing we selected for this example order has checklists linked. You can see that the checklist button-icon appears next to each step that requires inspection before finish. The checklist filling is mandatory, system will not allow operator to proceed to next step until it is done.

View all inspections checklists

All inspection checklists filled throughout the system are collectively shown in the “All inspections” list. The list will show two separate list of triggered inspections and finished inspections.

From the history of checklist, you can view who filled the checklist and for which order or item.

Inspection checklist are vital part of quality control. The module inspection system of Sparrow ERP makes sure that quality checklists are implemented at any event during the business process. Purchase receipts, Shipment and Manufacturing.

#electronics quality control, #purchase receipt quality control, #shipment quality control

Goods receipt from a supplier’s purchase orders or ad-hoc reception in Sparrow is very simple. As a result, you can finish your reception process faster. When the supplier Purchase Order is confirmed, in Sparrow ERP, that will automatically trigger the system to make a draft receipt. The draft receipt is used to receive items into inventory one by one, or, all in a single click on the arrival of shipment.

Though Sparrow ERP allows us to receive all items in a single click into inventory; it makes sense to receive packages one by one using a barcode scanner; because most of the suppliers nowadays send a shipment with a barcode label on the box. On each scan, the system generates an internal barcode label with serial or lot number via a thermal printer.

The entire process is explained in the following video very nicely.

As you can see, the user scans the MPN number on the component package, and the system automatically recognizes the MPN from the receipt. When the operator moves to the next packet, the thermal printer automatically prints the inventory barcode sticker with a lot number generated by Sparrow ERP.

If you are a bulk buyer of components from suppliers like DigiKey, Mouser, etc, then these suppliers can be instructed to follow industry-standard data matrix code such as ECIA 2D. This code comprises all necessary information such as MPN, Quantity, etc. As a result, reception gets faster by scanning all information in a single scan.

Sparrow generated barcode sticker on the package helps in the traceability of the stock in the warehouse. At the time of reception, the system automatically links the warehouse location to the lot number. The system also links the sales order number and manufacturing order number. As a result, tracing the component at the time of the assembly process becomes easier. This system helps when a customer returns an assembled board due to any defect. Using the order number, we can trace when and from whom the components were purchased.

In this video, we will see how to do sourcing for PCB Assembly order. The process is also same for any other sourcing for manufacturing. If procurement is not generated already, then we will begin by creating procurement. To do that, click on the procurement button, that will show popup to create Mfg order and Purchase Inquiries for the BOM components. we will select two suppliers and click create procurement. This will generate one manufacturing order (that will are not touching now), and two purchase inquiries for two different suppliers.

We will now go to Purchasing section and open inquires page. We will see our two inquires listed in pending section. One by one, we will send each inquiry to supplier by clicking “Send inquiry” button. After sending both the inquiries, they will list in “Quotes Pending” section. At this stage we will wait for quotation from the suppliers. Upon receiving quotes from the supplier, we will import the prices quoted by supplier into our inquires. We can do that by importing the spreadsheet as shown here. One by one for each inquiry.

Once, both quotes are received, we can send both or selected quote for approval. The approver will get notification for this action. The approver will then open the quote and either approve or reject the quotation. On click of the Approve button, a popup will display other quotations side by side for the comparison. Similarly, a quote can also be rejected with a rejection reason.

The approved quote becomes an Unconfirmed Purchase Order. Go to Purchase orders list and open the Purchase order we just created, then, click on the Confirm Order button. That will display the popup to send the confirmation to the supplier. After confirming the order, you can wait for the goods to arrive. When the material arrives, we can generate receipt from the Purchase Order. On the contrary, you can generate the receipt right after PO is made, that will act as a kind of “Todo” for the stores.

To create a sales quotation for Electronics Assembly Project, open the Sales tab and click on Quotations. Open the New Quotation page and then select the customer. Fill other details and Save. Then, click on the Add New Product button to open product selection window. From there, you can either select an existing assembly project or add a new one. We will add a new project by clicking this New Product button.

On the Product configuration window, you will add details just like any other product but an Assembly Project is defined by few key parameters. The most important is product group. Here you must select “Assembly”. Other important parameter is Procurement route in Inventory tab. Here you must select “Make to Order”.

You also must upload Bill of Material (BOM) from BOM tab, so that components cost can be calculated. That can be done by importing data from a spreadsheet as shown here. Now, our assembly project is ready.

The assembly project under the order lines will have two extra columns to set Assembly cost and Components cost. Assembly cost is set by using the in-built calculator, however, you can also input different cost manually.

In a traditional approach, to get an estimate of components cost you would wait for a quotation from more than one suppliers. That is a time consuming process. In Sparrow, the components cost can be calculated almost instantly because of integration with suppliers API, that fetches the components prices within few seconds. Once, the prices are fetched you can either use them as is, or adjust it as per your need. Assembler’s margin will be added automatically based on your initial settings.

Now, we have our quotation ready, that we can send to customer with Assembly cost and Components cost.

In Sparrow ERP Procurement is a process of acquiring stock for the fulfillment of Sales Order.
In a Source and Sell scenario, this is done by sourcing your items from suppliers and offering them to customer with a margin. We will see how this is done in this demo.

Procurement is initiated by clicking this Generate Procurement button in either Sales Quotation or Sales Order.

When you click on that button a popup will open with list of items selected for procurement. On top you will see the dropdown of suppliers, from there you can select one or multiple suppliers. We will select two suppliers and click on the Create Procurement button.

That will result in two Purchase Inquiries for two selected suppliers. These Purchase Inquiries will be visible within the Sales Quotation in Purchasing tab. At the same time these inquiries will be visible in Purchasing section too so that Purchase team can send it to supplier for getting offers.

For this demo, I will skip the Purchasing flow and take already processed Purchase Inquiries.
So, now we have our offers from two suppliers, we can start the comparison. To do that, click on the Compare button here. That will open the comparison screen with prices from two suppliers. On this screen we can visually compare the prices by two suppliers and choose the best offer for each item.

On click of this Update Records button, system will update sales quotation’s unit prices by adding margin to supplier’s offer price. In addition, system will also update individual Purchase Inquiries by removing items not selected from the supplier during the comparison process.

Margin % added to sale price can be managed from Sales Settings.

A sales quotation is the first step of the sales life-cycle with the customer.
In Sparrow ERP, the flow is implemented like this.

You first create a Quotation draft.
When you send the draft to the Customer, it is called a “Quoted” draft.
The quote can be confirmed into an order, otherwise, it will expire upon the set expiry date.
Order generated from quotation is listed in Orders-Pending until it is Confirmed.
Only a confirmed order can be shipped. Provided you have enough stock of the products.

To create a sales quotation – Open the Sales tab and click on Quotations menu item.
From the List of Sales Quotation, click on Add new button. A popup will appear to give you options to either create a Quotation or Sales Order. Choose to Create Quotation here.

On the Quotation form – choose the customer. You can do that by simply putting the first few words of the customer name. All sparrow dropdowns can be searched.

Some fields are auto-filled, but you can change if you need.

Select the Payment term as appropriate. And, click the Save button.

Now, that our primary details are saved, we add products to this quotation.
Click on the Edit button and then click on Plus icon here, which will bring up an Add Product popup.

You can select the product by simply typing a few words of the product name. Alternatively, you can also search by Article number by clicking this checkbox.

Input other required details and click Save.

Importing products from a spreadsheet is another faster way to add products.
Click on the import products icon here and then download a template if you are doing this the first time. The template will have some sample data but otherwise, it is simple and self-explanatory.

Prepare your data in the sheet and then upload the file in the import popup. A preview will be shown to make sure every column is mapped properly. You can adjust the mapping if you wish.

If everything looks ok, click on the Import button.
That will add all products from the sheet into the Quotation. Similarly, you can export the existing list of products to a spreadsheet as well.

Now, we have our quotation ready, it is time now to send it to the customer.
Click on the Send Quotation button, that will show a popup.
Here you can see the email to which we are sending the quotation.
A PDF copy of the quotation is already attached, you can attach additional files if you wish.
You may change the details before you click on the Send button.

If you do not want to send an actual email then you can also use the “Send without email” link on the left. That will mark the quotation sent but no email would be generated.

After the quotation is sent, it’s status changes to Quoted, and, it will appear in the Quoted list.

Besides creating products one by one, you can import them in batches from a spreadsheet.

This method is the most viable option when you already have a collection of product data you want to migrate to Sparrow.

First, you need to download the template, the link is right on the import dialog box.

While preparing the spreadsheet you have to make sure you input valid data in columns that are choice fields on the screen. That’s why you can use a trick to first input a few products by hand and then export those products in a spreadsheet as a template.

Once the sheet is ready. Go to Products screen under the Sales tab and click on the “Import” button from the “More options” menu.

Browse the spreadsheet you have prepared and click on the upload button.
That will show you a “preview” of data being imported. Now make sure each column is properly mapped. If you have used the template then all columns would be mapped already.

Finally, click on the import button to import data.

In the products list, you will see newly imported products immediately.

A product in Sparrow ERP is the most important piece of data. The product has parameters that defines how it will be used and act in the application.

A product in  Sparrow ERP is anything that can be inventoried,  such as —

• Saleable item
  • An Assembly project
  • A finished item for sale
  • A Service
• Purchasable item
  • A raw material item used in manufacturing
  • A consumable item
  • A Service
• Produced item
  • Make to order item
  • Make to stock item

Lets go through the most important parameters a product.

Product group: this parameter defines the segment of product. Suppose your business is providing PCB Assembly service then we have a pre-defined group called “Assembly”. This selection will make your product an Assembly project, that will go into Sparrow’s manufacturing flow and later shipped to the customer.

You can define your own product group in settings with your own attributes. For example – if you have electronic components, then Resistors will have attributes like Resistance and Power. Capacitors will have different attributes like Capacitance and Voltage.
The system will only apply attributes that belong to the group.

Tax code: A master list of tax codes can be managed from settings with applicable tax and custom duty per code. Once tax codes are defined you can select the code to apply the tax rate from here.

Article Number: Out of the box, this is a unique number auto-generated per product. However, if you want to define your own number and input manually, then it can be configured as well.

Type: This selection decides whether the product will be managed in inventory or not. Non-tangible items like Service can be assigned Service type here. Leave the default selection “Stockable” if you want to manage the item in inventory.

Inventory Tab:

Reorder qty: field can be set by a number that will be treated as minimum amount of qty to be ordered if Reorder level is breached.

Reorder level: is very important field if you want to make sure minimum stock of essential items. Set the quantity level here, so that system may trigger notification if the level is breached.

Traceability: selection is set lot number by default, that means a unique lot number will be assigned to newly received lot (e.g. more than one unit) of the product. If you select by serial number here, the system will assign a unique serial number to each unit of received items.

Procurement routes: selecting
Buy: indicates that the product is to be bought off-the-shelf.
Make to order: indicates the product will be made in-house on receiving the order from the customer.
Make to stock: indicates the product will be made in-house anytime to replenish the stock.