The present invention relates to a system and methodology facilitating material class processing and quality controls in an industrial controller environment. One or more classes are provided that generically describe materials or components of a recipe. The classes are associated with the recipe and resolved or determined before or during runtime of automated processes producing the recipe. If a class designation is encountered during recipe execution, an operator can be queried for which material or materials from the detected class is desired for the recipe currently being produced. After a material is selected from the class, the recipe is then processed according to the selected material from the respective class. In another aspect, automatic selections can be made to resolve members of class-based recipes. In yet another aspect of the present invention, quality phase processes and procedures are associated with a recipe and can be automatically initiated during various phases or stages of recipe production. Such processes include quality tests, quality recording/documentation, corrective actions, maintenance procedures, serving embedded files or documentation, initiating training procedures, and/or providing other automated procedures.