Quality control plans
A quality control plan defines the questions, measurements, and pass/fail criteria used during a quality check. Each plan has a header that defines its identity and failure behavior, and lines that define the individual questions to evaluate.
To open the list, select the Search icon 
, enter Quality Control Plans, and choose the related link. Select New to create a new plan, or select an existing record to open it — both open the Quality Control Plan card.
Most fields become read-only when Status is set to Certified. To modify a certified plan, change the status to New or Inactive first.
General FastTab
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Code | Specifies a unique identifier for the plan. Auto-assigned from the number series defined in Quality Control Setup if left blank. Read-only after lines have been added. |
| Name | Specifies a descriptive name for the plan. |
| Version | Specifies the version of the plan. Informational only. |
| Effective Date | Specifies the date from which the plan becomes active. If left blank, the plan is treated as immediately effective and the Plan Effective checkbox is set to true on all linked triggers. If a date is set, Plan Effective is set to true only when that date is on or before the work date. |
| Status | Specifies the lifecycle state of the plan. Options are: New (default), Certified, Inactive. Setting to Certified validates all formula lines and lot attribute constraints. |
| Required Samples | Specifies the number of samples required for the plan. Defaults to 1. Cannot be less than 1. |
| Failure QC Plan | Specifies the plan the system applies when creating a follow-up quality check after this plan's check fails. |
| Failure QC Team | Specifies the team the system assigns to the follow-up quality check created after this plan's check fails. |
Lines FastTab
Each line defines one question to evaluate during a quality check. Lines are displayed in ascending sequence order. Lines imported from a structured quality plan are highlighted to distinguish them from locally defined lines.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Sequence | Specifies the order in which the line appears. Auto-increments by 10 when a new line is added. |
| Question Code | Specifies the quality control question for this line. Selecting a question automatically populates Question Description and QC Equipment Code. For more information, see Quality control questions. |
| Question Description | Specifies the question text displayed during quality checks. Auto-populated from the question, but editable. Changes here do not affect the original question description. |
| Calculation Method | Specifies how multiple readings are evaluated for numeric questions. Options are: Average, Lowest, Highest, First, Last. For a question linked to a lot attribute of type Option or Lookup, this field is set to First automatically unless it is already set to First or Last, since averaging or ranking a discrete value has no meaning. For more information, see Calculated tests. |
| Readings | Specifies the number of readings to capture per sample for this question. Defaults to 1. Cannot be less than 1. Must be 1 when Is Calculated Formula is selected. |
| Frequency Type | Specifies how the question is evaluated relative to samples. Per Test means the question appears once for the entire check. Per Sample means the question appears for each individual sample. |
| Unit of Measure | Specifies the unit of measure for the answer. For more information, see Quality control units of measure. |
| Default Answer | Specifies a value pre-filled in the answer field during quality checks. Cleared when Question Code changes. Not available for DateTime, Lot Attribute, or Photo question types. |
| Is Calculated Formula | Specifies whether this line is a calculated test — its answer is computed from other numeric answers using the formula rather than entered manually. Requires Readings to be 1. |
| Formula Symbol | Specifies the symbol used to reference this question in calculated test formulas. Cannot be set when Is Calculated Formula is selected. |
| Formula | Specifies the formula expression for calculated test lines. Only editable when Is Calculated Formula is selected. For more information, see Calculated tests. |
| Target | Read-only. Shows Set or Not Set to indicate whether line targets have been configured for this question. Select to open the line targets page directly. Only displayed for Integer, Decimal, Option, and numeric Lot Attribute question types. For more information, see Quality control plan line targets. |
| Target Blind | Specifies whether the target values for this question are hidden from users during quality checks. |
| Mandatory | Specifies whether this question must be answered before the quality check can be posted. |
| Failure Action Plan | Specifies the action plan the system creates when this question's result fails. The selected action plan must have at least one line defined. For more information, see Quality control action plan. |
| QC Equipment Code | Specifies the instrument or tool used to perform this measurement. Auto-populated from the question. For more information, see Quality control equipment. |
| Comment | Specifies an instruction or note for this line, up to 2,048 characters. Displayed to users in the Quality Control App when completing the quality check. A web address or a markdown-style link (label) entered here is rendered as a clickable link, opening in a new tab, in the Quality Control App. Select the assist-edit button, or the Comment action, to view or edit the complete comment in a dialog. The complete comment can also be viewed, read-only, from the QC Plan Comment action on quality control check lines and posted quality control check lines. |
Answering a Lookup-type lot attribute question requires the Aptean Advanced Attributes for Food and Beverage extension at version 2603.1.0.0 or later. On an earlier version, no allowed values are returned and the answer picker has nothing to select from.
Blocking FastTab
These fields integrate with Aptean Inspection Status to automatically update the inspection status of lots linked to quality checks created from this plan.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Inspection Status on Create | Specifies the inspection status applied to the linked lot when a quality check is created from a source document. Only applies when the source document is assigned a lot. |
| Inspection Status on Pass | Specifies the inspection status applied to the linked lot when the quality check passes. |
| Inspection Status on Fail | Specifies the inspection status applied to the linked lot when the quality check fails. |
FactBox
On the Details tab of the FactBox, the Quality Control Plan group displays:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| QC Plan Code | Specifies the code of the quality control plan. |
| Name | Specifies the name of the quality control plan. |
| Version | Specifies the version of the quality control plan. Informational only. |
| Effective Date | Specifies the date from which the plan is effective. |
| Status | Specifies the current status of the plan. |
| Required Samples | Specifies the number of samples required. |
| Quality Checks | Specifies the number of open quality checks using this plan. Select to view them on the Quality Control Checks page. |
| Posted Quality Checks Count | Specifies the number of posted quality checks using this plan. Select to view them on the Posted Quality Control Checks page. |
The Quality Control Scores group displays the score configuration linked to this plan:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Score | Specifies the quality control score associated with this plan. |
| Check Result | Specifies the result associated with the score. |
| Lot Attribute Name | Specifies the lot attribute associated with the score. |
| Inspection Status | Specifies the inspection status associated with the score. |
On the Attachments tab, you can add links and notes to the plan.
Actions
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Copy Quality Control Plan | Creates a new plan based on this one. Opens the Copy Quality Control Plan dialog where you specify the new plan code and choose whether to copy line targets and quality scores. See Copy a quality control plan. |
| Lines > Import Plan Lines | Imports lines from one or more certified plans into this plan as linked lines. Only available when the plan is not certified. For more information, see Structured quality plans. |
| Lines > Remove Imported Lines | Removes linked lines that were previously imported from a structured plan. Only available when the plan is not certified. |
| Related > Quality Control Checks | Opens the quality control checks associated with this plan. |
| Related > Scoring | Opens the scoring configuration for this plan. For more information, see Quality control scores. |
A quality control plan cannot be deleted while quality control checks or triggers reference it. Deleting a plan removes all its lines, line targets, and score criteria. If lines in other plans are linked to this plan via structured quality plan, those linked lines are also removed with a warning.
Structured quality plans
A structured quality plan lets you reuse lines from one certified plan across multiple other plans. Instead of re-entering the same questions in each plan, you import them from a single approved source. Imported lines stay linked to the source — when the source plan is updated and re-certified, all dependent plans are updated automatically.
Import plan lines
To import lines from a certified plan, open the target plan and select Lines > Import Plan Lines. The system shows only certified plans that do not themselves contain imported lines — this prevents chaining, which ensures every imported line can always be traced back to a single authoritative source.
All lines from the selected plan are copied into the current plan as linked lines. Linked lines are read-only — they cannot be modified on the importing plan.
To modify a linked line, update the source plan, then re-certify it. The system synchronizes all dependent plans automatically.
Visual identification of imported lines
Linked lines are highlighted in a distinct color on the Lines FastTab to separate them from manually defined lines. This makes it straightforward to identify inherited questions and understand which lines originate from a shared source plan.
Automatic synchronization
When a source plan's Status is set to Certified, the system automatically updates all linked lines in every plan that imported from it. A message is displayed confirming which plans were updated. If new lines were added to the source plan since the last import, those lines are also added to dependent plans.
Remove imported lines
To remove linked lines, select Lines > Remove Imported Lines and choose the source plan whose lines you want to remove. The system displays a confirmation showing the number of lines to be deleted before proceeding. All imported lines from that source are removed in a single step.
Copy a quality control plan
- Select the Search icon , enter Quality Control Plans, and choose the related link.
- Select the plan to copy.
- On the action bar, select Copy Quality Control Plan. The Copy Quality Control Plan dialog opens.
-
Enter or select the following:
Field Description New Plan Code Specifies the code for the new plan. Must be unique. Copy Line Targets Select to copy line target values from the source plan. Copy Quality Scores / Criteria Select to copy quality score configuration from the source plan. -
Select OK. The new plan is created with the header and all lines from the source plan.
Line targets and quality scores are copied only if the corresponding options are selected. The new plan is independent of the source — changes to one do not affect the other.