Qualities and Quality Groups

🌐 NL · Last reviewed: 27 May 2026

Qualities and Quality Groups

Steel qualities (e.g. S235JR, S355J0, EN 10025-2 S275) are managed via a three-level structure in DXSteel:

Quality — the individual grade.
Quality Group — a logical family bundling qualities (e.g. "Structural Steel", "Stainless", "Tool Steel").
Qualities Per Group — the junction telling which qualities live in which group.

An Item Profile references one Quality Group. As a result, items using that profile can only be assigned qualities that are members of the linked group. This prevents inconsistent assignments (a sales rep can't allocate stainless 304 to a product modelled as carbon steel).

Setup workflow

Open Quality Groups. Create a group, e.g. STRUCT with description "Structural Steel".
Open Qualities. Create all relevant qualities, e.g. S235JR, S355J0, S275. Fill in Short Code (4 chars) for label printing.
Open Qualities Per Group. For each group, add the qualities that belong in it. Filter or multi-select for bulk assignment.
Open an Item Profile. Assign the proper group via Quality Group Code and optionally a Default Quality.
From now on, any item using this profile is checked against the group when its quality is set.

Quality — field reference

Field	Purpose
Code	Quality identifier, max. 15 chars. Follow the applicable standard (EN, DIN, ASTM).
Description	Full name, e.g. "EN 10025-2 S235JR".
Short Code	4-char abbreviation for labels and documents. Must be unique.
Impact Test 1-4	References to Certificate Specification records of type "Test-Impact". Defines which standard impact tests apply.
AD 2000-MBL W1 / AD MBL W10 / CE Marking / VDTUEV 354/1 / PED 2014/68/EU / Fully Killed / Vacuum Degassed	Boolean flags for certification status. Printed on mill certificates.
No. of Quality Groups	How many groups this quality belongs to (computed).

Quality Group — field reference

Field	Purpose
Code	Group identifier, max. 15 chars (e.g. `STRUCT`, `SS`, `TOOL`).
Description	Group name.
No. of Qualities	How many qualities are in this group (computed).

Best practices

Build groups along commercial lines, not physical alone. E.g. one group "Structural Carbon" and one "Structural Stainless" — even though both share standard EN 10025 — because sales treats them as separate product lines.

Do not leave Quality Group Code blank on an Item Profile if you want quality discipline. Without a group, any quality is acceptable — DXSteel can't validate.

The Short Code (4 chars) is used on compact sales documents and labels. Keep it meaningful, e.g. S235 for S235JR, S355 for S355J0.

Common errors

Message	Resolution
"Quality %1 does not belong to Quality Group %2 set in Item Profile %3"	The quality is not in the group on the profile. Add it via Qualities Per Group, or pick a different quality.
"Short Code %1 is not unique."	The Short Code is already used by another quality. Choose a unique abbreviation.
"This quality is in use by one or more articles."	You're trying to delete a quality that is still assigned to items. Reassign first.

Quality Reference List — external codes (customer references, vendor abbreviations) mapped to qualities.
Quality Translations — multi-language descriptions for export documents.
Certificate Specifications — defines which tests and limit values back Impact Test 1-4. See Working with DXSteel — Certificates.

[Screenshot: Qualities Per Group with multi-select assignment]