We have been operating an internal proposal system for 15 years. As a result, the number of proposals made so far has exceeded 8,500, and by implementing these proposals, we have not only improved quality but also reduced the labor hours of about 150 people in total.
In addition, the QIS, which was started in 2018, collects data on many internal non-conformance cases, and uses this data to analyze and take measures to improve quality on a daily basis. (See the QIS page for details)
POINT
(1) The president and other top executives can grasp the quality status of the company’s products in a timely manner.
(2) Measures to be taken in the event of a defect can be automatically displayed.
(3) The probability of defects occurring by model can be estimated from a large amount of data.
Until now, we have been working on automating inspections related to power generation, but recently we have been focusing on automating product inspections related to semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and with the inspection system we recently developed, we have achieved a reduction in labor hours of about 25%.
In this way, we are making various efforts to improve quality and aiming to create products that satisfy our customers.
However, we are not satisfied with just these efforts. There are still many tasks that need to be done by humans at our manufacturing sites. Humans make mistakes.
For example, human errors occur at manufacturing sites, such as forgetting to tighten screws, improperly mating harnesses, or the inclusion of foreign objects, scratches, incorrect installation, and pinched wires. Therefore, we use the defect cases identified by QIS as a reference, hold discussions with the CEO, division manager, quality control, department manager, and leaders, and take measures to prevent recurrence of nonconformities that occurred upstream within the company, thereby upholding our company motto of “total quality.”
In addition, at the Vietnam factory, we conduct 100% inspections of harness products based on defect information based on QIS data, which has reduced processing defects such as incorrect wiring and broken wires to almost zero. However, there are rare cases of parts being damaged or terminals not mating, which are thought to be accidents during transportation. These are discovered by human eyes during reinspections at the Japanese factory, so that they do not flow out to customers.
The construction of the new factory is also progressing smoothly, and we will consolidate the scattered factories to eliminate waste and further streamline production. Furthermore, with the newly established IT Technology Department, we will strive to automate inspections and improve productivity, aiming to further increase the trust of our customers.
