QM Innovations in SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud
Find out what new features SAP has introduced in the area of quality management in the public cloud—from AI-powered certificate processing and the new supplier complaint module to an ambitious roadmap featuring digital signatures and AI agents.
The Public Cloud as a Driver of Innovation in SAP QM
In SAP Quality Management, the public cloud is increasingly taking on a pioneering role: New features and AI use cases are released here sooner than in the private cloud—offering a glimpse of what will eventually be available to regulated companies across all deployment options.
This latest release focuses on two key topics: AI-powered processing of incoming supplier certificates and the long-awaited Fiori app for supplier complaints. These are complemented by a series of core innovations and a roadmap that is sure to catch the attention of quality management professionals in regulated industries.
Core Innovations in SAP QM for the Public Cloud: More Flexible, More Open, More Integratable
Before we get to the highlights, it’s worth taking a look at the core improvements that lay the groundwork for future innovations:
App-as-an-Entity
Fiori apps can now be assigned directly to individual users—without having to go through business catalogs as was previously required. This simplifies permission management and gives administrators more flexibility.
External Output Management
Certificates, defect reports, and quality reports can now be output through three channels: print, email, and XML transmission via the new external output management system. This is an important new feature, especially for companies that handle large volumes of data or have complex form requirements.
Joule as an AI Co-Pilot in Quality Management
The AI assistant Joule is integrated directly into the QM apps. While working, users can retrieve contextual information about objects and perform targeted searches—for example, “Show me all defects from last week related to this material”—and navigate directly to the relevant apps from the results.
Supporting Documentation in the Recording of Results
Fields that are purely for documentation purposes—that is, those for which no measured value is expected, but rather are intended solely to document information—were previously hidden in the Fiori results entry screen. This gap has now been closed.
Focus Area 1: AI-powered processing of incoming supplier certificates
The Problem So Far
In practice, the certificate receipt process is often tedious: The quality inspector must manually search for the correct certificate receipt record in SAP, manually verify the supplier, batch, purchase order number, and delivery number, and only then release the goods. Until this is done, the material remains blocked in the quality inspection stock—and production is put on hold.The New AI-Powered Process
This new AI use case significantly speeds up the process:- Goods Receipt automatically creates an inspection lot and a certificate receipt record, as before—both of which are initially locked because the certificate is still pending.
- Upload Certificate – the inspector opens the “Manage Certificates Receipt” app and starts the upload. This is the only manual step.
- Subdocument AI automatically extracts all relevant data from the document: supplier, batch, order reference, delivery number, and other fields.
- Automatic matching – if a match is found, the certificate receipt is automatically confirmed, the document is assigned to the object, and the inspection lot is released.
- Transparency and error handling – a dedicated “Certificate Document Match” screen shows which fields were extracted, what the system determined from them, and—in the event of an error—the corresponding error message. Corrections can be made directly, and the matching process can be restarted.
What happens if the certificate is illegible?
Torn, soiled, or incomplete documents are not uncommon in practice. In such cases, the system automatically suggests matching certificate receipt records for manual selection. The matching process can then be restarted without a tedious search through the system.Mobile First: Integration into SAP Mobile Start
The AI use case is fully integrated into the native SAP Mobile Start mobile app. Verifiers can take a photo of the certificate directly with their smartphone; the AI processing works exactly the same as in the browser-based front end. This offers real added value, especially in goods receipt and production areas where stationary workstations are not always available.Technical Background
Technically, the use case is based on SAP Document AI, a BTP component used across platforms in SAP—including for scanning incoming invoices or goods receipt documents.What’s Next
Currently, the AI extracts identification data to find the correct certificate receipt record. Attribute values or an automatic specification comparison are not yet included. However, this use case—that is, the automatic transfer of test results from the supplier certificate to the inspection lot—is already in the product backlog and is actively requested by customers.Focus Area 2: New Fiori App “Complaint against Supplier”
The supplier complaint process is a key part of quality management—and until now, it had not been available as a complete Fiori app in the public cloud. That is about to change.
What the new app can do
- Creation of a supplier complaint with short and long text, date (planned start, planned end), reference number, and scheduling
- Defect Assignment (1:n – a complaint may include multiple defects)
- Internal and external roles: Coordinator, internal stakeholders, and external supplier contacts
- Follow-up Actions: Send a report to the supplier, initiate a return shipment with a return order, scrap the material
- Output: Print, email delivery (the recipient is automatically determined based on the supplier), and XML transfer via external output management
- Status Tracking and Orderly Resolution of the Complaint
What’s Still Planned
Plans for upcoming releases include, among other things:
- Submitting a supplier complaint directly from the Defect Worklist
- Consistent Serial Number Processing for Defects
- Integration of Supplier Complaints into Supplier Evaluation
- OData APIs, RAP BOs, and Joule Enablement for the new app
Focus Area 1: AI-powered processing of incoming supplier certificates
The Problem So Far
In practice, the certificate receipt process is often tedious: The quality inspector must manually search for the correct certificate receipt record in SAP, manually verify the supplier, batch, purchase order number, and delivery number, and only then release the goods. Until this is done, the material remains blocked in the quality inspection stock—and production is put on hold.The New AI-Powered Process
This new AI use case significantly speeds up the process:- Goods Receipt automatically creates an inspection lot and a certificate receipt record—both of which are initially locked because the certificate is still pending.
- Upload Certificate – the inspector opens the “Manage Certificates Receipt” app and starts the upload. This is the only manual step.
- Subdocument AI automatically extracts all relevant data from the document: supplier, batch, order reference, delivery number, and other fields.
- Automatic matching – if a match is found, the certificate receipt is automatically confirmed, the document is assigned to the object, and the inspection lot is released.
- Transparency and error handling – a dedicated “Certificate Document Match” screen shows which fields were extracted, what the system determined from them, and—in the event of an error—the corresponding error message. Corrections can be made directly, and the matching process can be restarted.
What happens if the certificate is illegible?
Torn, soiled, or incomplete documents are not uncommon in practice. In such cases, the system automatically suggests matching certificate entry records for manual selection. The matching process can then be restarted without the need for a tedious search in the system.Mobile First: Integration into SAP Mobile Start
The AI use case is fully integrated into the native SAP Mobile Start app. Verifiers can take a photo of the certificate directly with their smartphone; the AI processing runs identically to the browser front end. This provides real added value, especially in goods receipt and production areas where stationary workstations are not always available.Technical Background
Technically, the use case is based on SAP Document AI, a BTP component used across platforms in SAP—including for scanning incoming invoices or goods receipt documents.What’s Next
Currently, the AI extracts identification data to find the correct certificate receipt record. Attribute values or an automatic specification comparison are not yet included. However, this use case—that is, the automatic transfer of test results from the supplier certificate to the inspection lot—is already in the product backlog and is actively requested by customers.Focus Area 2: New Fiori App “Complaint against Supplier”
The supplier complaint process is a key part of quality management—and until now, it had not been available as a complete Fiori app in the public cloud. That is about to change.
What the new app can do
- Creation of a supplier complaint with short and long text, date (planned start, planned end), reference number, and scheduling
- Defect Assignment (1:n – a complaint may include multiple defects)
- Internal and external roles: Coordinator, internal stakeholders, and external supplier contacts
- Follow-up Actions: Send a report to the supplier, initiate a return shipment with a return order, scrap the material
- Output: Print, email delivery (the recipient is automatically determined based on the supplier), and XML transfer via external output management
- Status Tracking and Orderly Resolution of the Complaint
What’s Still Planned
Plans for upcoming releases include, among other things:
- Submitting a supplier complaint directly from the Defect Worklist
- Consistent Serial Number Processing for Defects
- Integration of Supplier Complaints into Supplier Evaluation
- OData APIs, RAP BOs, and Joule Enablement for the new app
Roadmap for SAP QM in the Public Cloud: What Quality Managers can expect next
The roadmap sets a clear priority: feature parity with traditional transactions, as well as the gradual exploration of new topics that are particularly relevant to regulated industries.
Change Documents
For usage decisions, results recording, and other processes—directly relevant to GxP.
Expansion of the Authorization Decision App
Inspection completion, certificate confirmation, batch status, best-before date, reason for movement, and serial numbers.
Neue Managed Inspection Lots App
Rebuilding on the current tech stack for better performance and future-proofing.
Inspection Point Result Recording
Extension to all inspection lot types and origins; previously, only production- and time-related lots were supported.
Electronic Signature
Getting Started with the Authorization Decision App – Digital Signatures in the Fiori and Cloud Environments.
The change documents feature is particularly relevant for companies in regulated industries: It lays the foundation for GxP-compliant traceability directly within the Fiori apps—without having to resort to traditional transactions.
AI Agents in SAP QM: The Next Step in the Public Cloud
SAP is currently working on several AI agents for the QM environment in the public cloud. The following use cases are in development or in the conceptual planning phase:
Test Planning Agent
Assists with creating new materials: The agent identifies similar materials, suggests existing inspection plans for reuse, and recommends tolerance limits. According to SAP, this use case is already well advanced.
Non-Conformance-Agent
Defects are addressed proactively—the agent suggests appropriate classifications, actions, and solutions based on past, similar cases.
Inspection Prioritization Agent
Prioritizing the audit backlog list based on criteria such as missing parts, expiration dates, or the frequency of problems with specific suppliers.
Deriving Characteristics from Errors
If errors are detected during results entry, the agent could derive new inspection characteristics from them and integrate them into the inspection plan.
Comparison of Specifications from Supplier Certificates
Automatic transfer and reconciliation of characteristic values from the certificate with internal specifications—not yet a firm commitment, but on the backlog and in high demand from customers.
Conclusion: The Public Cloud as a Harbinger of Future QM Innovation
The public cloud shows where SAP Quality Management is headed: away from manual, document-centric processes—toward automated, AI-powered workflows that reduce the workload on quality inspectors and shorten turnaround times. AI-powered certificate processing is a concrete example—already in productive use—of how the day-to-day work of QM teams will change in the coming years.
For companies in regulated industries, the planned introduction of change documents and e-signatures is a particularly important signal: SAP takes GxP requirements seriously and is working step by step to establish the necessary compliance foundations in the Fiori and cloud environments as well.
What does this mean for regulated companies?
For companies in the life sciences, pharmaceutical, chemical, and medical technology sectors, the public cloud in SAP QM is not just of technological interest. Above all, it serves as an early indicator of which innovations may become relevant for other business models in the medium term.
That’s why it’s worth taking a closer look at the public cloud roadmap, especially when it comes to topics such as AI in quality management, supplier complaints in SAP, change requests, e-signatures, and Fiori-based QM processes.
Strategically Evaluating SAP QM in the Public Cloud
Would you like to assess which SAP Public Cloud QM innovations are relevant to your company from a business, regulatory, and technological perspective?
Frequently Asked Questions: SAP QM Public Cloud, AI, and GxP
What QM innovations does SAP currently offer in the public cloud?
Key new features include AI-powered processing of incoming supplier certificates, the new Fiori app for supplier complaints, Joule integration into QM apps, and roadmap topics such as change documents, e-signatures, and AI agents.
Why is the public cloud particularly relevant in SAP QM?
In SAP Quality Management, the public cloud serves as a driver of innovation. New features and AI use cases appear there sooner than in the private cloud, offering a glimpse into future developments.
What are the specific benefits of AI-powered report card processing?
It speeds up the certificate receipt process, reduces manual search and verification steps, and lightens the workload for quality inspectors in the receiving department. At the same time, it can help reduce wait times in downstream processes.
What is the significance of change orders and electronic signatures for regulated industries?
Both topics are particularly relevant for GxP-regulated companies because they enhance traceability, compliance, and audit-ready processes in the Fiori and cloud environments.
Is the new supplier complaint feature already fully available in the public cloud?
The new Fiori app is now available and covers key functions. Additional enhancements, such as integration with the Defect Worklist, Joule enablement, and OData APIs, are already planned.