Product data tampering found at Mitsubishi Materials units

November 24, 2017

Tokyo- Mitsubishi Materials Corp. said Thursday that two subsidiaries have falsified product quality data and shipped products that did not satisfy internal and client requirements.

The two subsidiaries of the major Japanese nonferrous metal producer are Mitsubishi Cable Industries Ltd. and Mitsubishi Shindoh Co.

Of Mitsubishi Cable's clients, 229 companies were affected. Mitsubishi Shindoh shipped substandard products to 29 companies.

Mitsubishi Cable also supplies products to the Defense Ministry. Affected products are used in Self-Defense Forces airplanes and ships.

In a statement, Mitsubishi Materials President Akira Takeuchi made an apology and promised to take steps to prevent any recurrence of a similar problem.

So far, the group has not identified any law violation or safety problem related to the two subsidiaries' scandals, the parent said.

Another subsidiary Mitsubishi Aluminum Co. shipped substandard products to clients. But the safety of the products has been confirmed by the group and all affected buyers, according to the parent.

Mitsubishi Cable tampered with product inspection and other data for resin seal products, called O-ring, used widely in aircraft, automobile and electric power equipment.

The misconduct was detected in February through an internal probe that followed a product quality investigation conducted by the parent company in December last year.

Mitsubishi Cable checked the facts of the problem and stopped shipments of substandard products on Oct. 23 this year. The company reported to the parent company two days later.

At Mitsubishi Shindoh, strength and other data were falsified for brass strips, used in terminals of automotive equipment.

An internal probe found the misconduct last month. Shipments of substandard products stopped on Oct. 18 and the subsidiary reported the problem to the parent the following day.

Mitsubishi Materials did not say why it took so long to announce the scandals. The parent will explain more details at a press conference Friday, an official said.

The scandals deal another blow to the Japanese manufacturing industry, which has seen confidence in it shaken by similar product data falsification at Kobe Steel Ltd. and vehicle inspections by unauthorized workers at automakers including Nissan Motor Co. Jiji Press