Manufacturers slow to strengthen quality control

February 23, 2018

Tokyo- Many Japanese manufacturers have been slow to strengthen their product quality control systems in response to recent revelations of irregularities at Kobe Steel Ltd., Mitsubishi Materials Corp. and other firms.

There is a long way to go to absorb lessons from the spate of data falsification and other quality management scandals and recover trust in the manufacturing sector, in which the nation takes pride, pundits said.

Nissan Motor Co. which used unauthorized workers for finished vehicle inspections, has banned entry to inspection facilities by workers other than authorized employees. The automaker will introduce a facial recognition system to control entry by the end of March.

Hitachi Ltd., whose elevator operations had a product quality scandal, will have an executive vice president take charge of product quality control from April 1. The electronics and machinery giant will appoint an executive officer dedicated to the affairs as well.

A Mitsubishi Materials subsidiary will invest 100 million yen to start a system by the end of March that automatically registers inspection data to prevent manipulation.

But many other companies are lagging.

The Kobe Steel group plans to invest a total of 10 billion yen to promote automatic registration of inspection data. But the company has yet to set details of the plan, including timetables, said senior planning official Ryosaku Kadowaki.

Subaru Corp. which used unauthorized vehicle inspectors, is "considering" introducing a system to manage entry to inspection facilities, said Corporate Executive Vice President Toshiaki Okada.

Toray Industries Inc., whose former chairman is the head of the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, regards a data manipulation scandal at a subsidiary as a problem resulting from wrongdoing by individuals.

Toray has no plan to promote automatic registration of inspection data, a senior company official said.

Data falsification and other scandals have led many companies to set up third-party panels to help them investigate the cause and draw up preventive measures.

But a lawyer-led group that rates reports by such panels has criticized major manufacturers' response to the scandals.

"Nissan and Subaru have not set up such panels, and Toray's panel is not conducting an investigation by itself," said the group, headed by lawyer Hideaki Kubori.

"Committees that are third party in name only will damage corporate value," the group warned. Jiji Press