Quality Rules
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What is a quality rule?
A quality rule is the trigger for a quality check. It decides two things: when an inspection should happen, and which goods it applies to. On its own a rule inspects nothing — it simply says "goods like these, at this moment, should be checked." The actual list of things to check comes from the item's checklist.
Think of the rule as the "when and where," and the checklist as the "what."
When do you use one?
Set a rule whenever you want a check to appear automatically, without anyone remembering to raise it. The most common moments are:
- When goods are received — an incoming inspection on a goods receipt, before the delivery is accepted.
- At a production stage — an in-process check on a work order, so a stage's output is inspected before the job moves on.
- Before goods leave — a final check before an outgoing delivery to a customer.
You can make a rule as broad or as narrow as you like: every delivery of everything, or only one item from one supplier into one location.
A rule and a checklist must agree
This is the one thing worth understanding before you start. A rule fires only if the item involved also has a checklist for the same direction (incoming or outgoing). If a rule matches but the item has no matching checklist, nothing is inspected. This is deliberate — it stops routine deliveries of ordinary goods being held up by a rule that was meant for something else.
So a working setup always has both: a rule that says "check these," and a checklist on the item that says "here is what to check."
How to create a quality rule
Step 1: Open Quality Rules
- Go to Item Central from the sidebar.
- Open Quality, then Quality Rules.
- Choose Add to start a new rule.
Step 2: Name the rule
Give it a clear name you will recognise later — for example "Incoming steel rod inspection" or "Final check before dispatch."
Step 3: Choose where it applies (the scope)
Tell the rule which goods and which moments it covers. You can set any combination of these — anything you leave blank means "all."
| You can narrow by | Example |
|---|---|
| The kind of document | Goods receipt, work-order stage, outgoing delivery |
| A specific item | Only steel rods |
| An item category | Only raw materials |
| A supplier or customer | Only goods from one vendor |
| A location / warehouse | Only deliveries into your main store |
| A department | Only one team's goods |
Leaving everything blank except the document type means the rule covers every delivery of that type — a good way to start, then narrow later.
Step 4: Choose the direction
Say whether the rule is for incoming goods (things you receive) or outgoing goods (things you send). For a work-order stage, this is how the rule knows whether to inspect what went in or what came out.
Step 5: Choose when the inspection sits
Two choices, and the names you will see are:
- Pre-inspection — inspect first, then submit the document. Use this to catch problems before the goods are accepted or the stage is closed.
- Post-inspection — submit first, then inspect. This only ever records the result; it cannot hold anything up, because the document has already gone through.
Step 6: Choose how strict it is
This decides what happens when goods fail.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Record only | Keeps the result for your records. Never gets in the way. |
| Warn | Shows a warning if goods fail, but lets the user carry on. |
| Block | Holds the document until the inspection passes. The firm stop. |
New rules start on Warn so that switching quality on never blocks your receiving desk unexpectedly. Move a rule to Block once you are confident the checks are right. (Post-inspection rules can only record — they never block.)
Step 7: Set the pass mark (optional)
You can require that a minimum share of the batch is accepted for it to pass — for example, at least 95% good. Below that, the line is treated as a failure. Leave it blank to rely only on the checklist's own pass or fail points.
Step 8: Say who inspects
Name the roles whose inbox the inspection should land in — for example "Quality Inspector." Everyone in that role sees it, and whoever picks it up does the check, so cover survives leave and staff changes. You can also name specific people on top of the role for a small team where quality is one named person.
Step 9: Save and activate
Save the rule. An active rule starts working on the next matching document. You can switch a rule off at any time without deleting it.
Settings at a glance
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Scope | Which goods and which documents the rule covers |
| Direction | Incoming goods, or outgoing goods |
| Timing | Pre-inspection (before) or Post-inspection (after) |
| Strictness | Record only, Warn, or Block |
| Pass mark | The minimum share of a batch that must be accepted |
| Inspectors | The roles (and optional named people) who are asked |
| Priority | Which rule wins if two rules could both apply |
| Active | Whether the rule is currently running |
When two rules could both apply
If more than one rule matches the same goods, the more specific rule wins — a rule pinned to one item beats a rule that covers everything. If two rules are equally specific, the one with the higher priority is used. You rarely need to think about this; it mostly matters when you deliberately set a special rule for one item on top of a general one.
Common issues
The inspection never appeared
- Check the item has a checklist for the same direction — a rule alone does not inspect. See Quality Checklists.
- Check the rule is active and its scope actually matches the goods (item, supplier, location).
- Check the direction matches — an incoming rule will not fire on an outgoing document.
Goods that failed still went through
- The rule is probably set to Warn or Record only. Change it to Block to hold documents until they pass.
- A Post-inspection rule can never block — switch it to Pre-inspection if you need a hard stop.
The right person wasn't notified
- Check the rule names the correct inspector role, and that people are assigned to that role.
Two rules seem to fight
- The more specific rule wins; use priority to settle a genuine tie. Remove or narrow whichever rule you did not intend to apply.
Related guides
- Quality overview — how rules, checklists and records fit together
- Quality Checklists — the list of things a rule pulls in
- Quality Records — the results a rule produces
- Goods Receipt (GRN) — where incoming inspections appear
- Work Order — where in-process inspections appear
- Items — where a checklist is attached to an item
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