Data manipulation guidelines used at Mitsubishi Materials units

December 28, 2017

Tokyo- Guidelines for manipulating product quality data for substandard products were used for a long time at two subsidiaries of Mitsubishi Materials Corp., an interim report on the group's data falsification showed Thursday.

Manipulation of product inspection data was routinely conducted at Mitsubishi Shindoh Co., based on a manual that had existed as of May 1999, according to the report.

The unit was criticized for having neglected basic principles in manufacturing business.

The report pointed to a lack of awareness about compliance with specifications required by clients and the possibility that the subsidiary was preoccupied with increasing its market share without reflecting on its production capability.

A list of product-by-product data providing guidelines for manipulation was found at Mitsubishi Cable Industries Ltd., where the misconduct started in the 1990s.

The list, stored on a common computer system folder accessible to inspection team members, showed the extent of deviations from client requirements the company tolerated. Products within the ranges were shipped after their data were manipulated.

For some products, the unit even skipped all of the inspections promised to clients.

Hiroaki Murata, who was sacked as president of Mitsubishi Cable Industries early this month, was aware of the data manipulation in 2013 at the latest, the report said.

"We deeply apologize for causing great inconvenience," Mitsubishi Materials President Akira Takeuchi told a press conference in Tokyo. He vowed to make every effort to prevent similar misconduct within the group.

The report, written by the group's special investigation panel, shows the long-standing systematic data falsification at the subsidiaries, bringing into question the group's governance ability.

Mitsubishi Materials announced last month that Mitsubishi Shindoh and Mitsubishi Cable Industries had shipped products whose inspection data were manipulated.

The nonconforming products were brass- and copper-strip products made by Mitsubishi Shindoh and rectangular magnet wires and seal products made by Mitsubishi Cable Industries.

After the announcement, the group launched investigations with support from external lawyers.

The final report on the scandal is expected to be drawn up by the end of February.

Mitsubishi Aluminum Co., another subsidiary, has also been found to have shipped nonconforming products.

In the interim report, the parent company listed measures to prevent the acceptance of orders beyond capacity, strengthen its quality management division and promote the automation of inspection processes.

Other measures included the enhancement of employee education on product quality control and the strengthening of its product quality audit system.

Among Japanese manufacturers, the Kobe Steel Ltd. group and a Toray Industries Inc. subsidiary have been found to have engaged in product inspection data manipulation.

Automakers including Nissan Motor Co. used unauthorized workers in their finished vehicle inspections at factories in Japan, while elevator makers including Hitachi Ltd. supplied non-conforming products. Jiji Press