Relationships with Customers Back Number (2015)
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Basic Approach
In accordance with the Minebea Group Quality Policy, the Minebea Group aims to fully satisfy customers in terms of quality, cost, supply capacity, and speed, working diligently to maintain and enhance its reputation as the most reliable component manufacturer.
As part of this effort, we place great emphasis on risk assessment at the product and process design stages, enabling us to provide our customers with products of consistently high quality.
Quality Management
Quality Management Framework
We have created a Quality Management Manual covering the entire Minebea Group as part of our measures to ensure the safety of our products and services and prevent accidents. The chief quality management system officer is the President & CEO, who is supported by the Quality Management Committee as well as its subordinate organization, the Group Quality Assurance Managers Meeting, which comprises managers responsible for quality in each business unit. These organizations regularly share information on specific quality issues and work to implement internal measures to ensure similar problems do not reoccur. The Group Quality Management Department oversees quality management for the entire Group and acts as the administrative office for the Quality Management Committee and the Group Quality Assurance Managers Meeting. The department decides key issues and targets for the Group in consideration of the management policies, proposes collaborative solutions, reports issues to the Board of Directors and Senior Executive Officer Council, and provides quality management support and guidance to each business unit.
Launched in FY2013, the Safety Regulation Council ensures compliance with the electrical appliance and material safety law, shares and promotes information on safety standards in each area of the world issued by product safety certification agencies and other organizations, and works to strengthen the Group's safety response.
Quality Management Framework
Risk Assessment
Minebea is creating internal standards for risk assessments on medical, automotive, and aircraft products, three areas among the Minebea Group's final end products which could pose a serious impact on society in the event of a problem. These internal standards will clarify risk in the event of a recall or other problem and support an expedited response. The Group Quality Management Department is collaborating with the business units on the standardization of the risk assessment procedures.
In FY2014, we made progress on the formulation of standard internal procedures for confirming the applications and safety requirements of our medical products. For automotive products, we conducted risk assessments for new accounts and recorded assessment results in accordance with procedures. For aircraft products, we focused on internal audits of the major processes, from design through manufacturing, to mitigate latent risks.
Quality Improvement Measures
Promoting Quality Management System Certification
The Minebea Group promotes the acquisition of certification for quality management systems (QMS) at each business site. Currently, 88 business sites worldwide have acquired ISO 9001/TS 16949 or another QMS certification. Additionally, the Group Quality Management Department holds internal auditor training to nurture new internal auditors.
QC Qualification Examinations
The Minebea Group promotes employees' acquisition of quality certification through quality control examinations (QC certification) administered by the Japanese Standards Organization and Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers since September 2008. The certification improves each employee's quality assessment and management abilities, which leads to the improvement of higher product quality for the entire Minebea Group. We cover employees' examination fees, distribute textbooks to enhance quality management understanding and provide seminars prior to the examinations. In FY2014, 80 employees received certification, bringing the cumulative certification total for the entire Minebea Group to 558 employees.
Acquiring AEO Certification
The Minebea Group is strengthening and improving logistics management in order to perform trade and logistics properly and efficiently. As part of this effort, we are working to acquire Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) certifications. We acquired German certification in FY2014, and next plan to acquire certifications in South Korea and Malaysia.
Unified Manufacturing Labels and Bar Codes
Among our logistics management activities, we are unifying manufacturing labels and bar codes throughout the Group to prevent mistaken product shipments and raise the productivity of verification processes. In FY2013, we began operating a system for domestically manufactured products. In FY2014, for Thai-manufactured hybrid stepping motors, we began using unified bar code labels for products shipped from February. We will continue to make preparations to expand this initiative to all of our manufactured products.
Disclosure of Product-related Information
Most products from the Minebea Group are ultimately integrated into finished products that pass into consumers' hands. For this reason, we provide safety related information to our customers as requested. Also in response to customer requests, we provide information about chemical substances incorporated in our products, based on information obtained from suppliers.
For keyboards and some other finished products, user manuals include safety-related information.
Communication with Customers
Customer Satisfaction Surveys
Within the Minebea Group, individual business units conduct their own customer satisfaction surveys. The survey results are provided to the sales and development departments of each business unit. If customers should evaluate any criterion below a specific satisfaction level, we assess and implement improvements across all divisions.
Responding to Quality-related Issues
In the event there is a major quality issue concerning Minebea Group products or services, we refer to our Quality Management Rules and recall guidelines to take necessary measures in response.
Future Issues and Goals
Moving forward, we will strengthen our measures to further improve quality. Specifically, we plan to promote risk mitigation activities based on the results of risk assessments, while also responding to the revision of ISO 9001.
For logistics operations, we are strengthening management by unifying labels and bar codes for overseas manufactured products and promoting acquisition of certification.
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