Kobe Steel's commitment to "Only One" products is sustained by innovation in quality manufacturing. In this special feature, we explore the issue of quality assurance from the perspectives of our main businesses.
Multiple Checks Using Bar Code Readers
The Welding Company has established its overall quality assurance system on the basis of items required by three different quality assurance certification organizations: JIS (Japanese Industrial Standards); ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) and ISO 9001 (a quality management system administered by the International Organization for Standardization).
Welding is an essential process in the construction of urban infrastructure such as buildings and bridges, as well as in such fields as shipbuilding and chemical plant construction. We therefore have a serious social responsibility to avoid any compromise in the quality of our welding consumables. Through inspections carried out during the production process, we adopt a zero-tolerance policy to prevent defective welding consumables from ever being shipped.
Beginning in the design phase, we procure our raw materials only from suppliers who meet our tough quality criteria. When initiating transactions with a supplier, we confirm the quality of that supplier's manufacturing process and quality assurance systems. We also carefully inspect the materials procured from our suppliers before permitting those materials to be used in own manufacturing processes.
When delivering products to customers, special care must be taken to avoid mixing up the wrong type of product with the order. Because welding performance varies from product to product, the mistaken use of the wrong product could result in welds that do not pass nominal performance requirements in the specific applications where they are used. To prevent mixture from occurring, quality assurance inspections are conducted at many points throughout the manufacturing process. Many inspection points tend to require confirmation in the intervals between processing stages. Human error is reduced in these cases through the use of bar-code readers.
Sharing the Results of QA Subcommittee Inspections with All Plants
Customers with special specification requirements are welcome to inspect our manufacturing processes at any time. Any problems or concerns pointed out are quickly shared with other plants and the Welding Company as a whole through such means as a revision of the manufacturing and quality assurance manuals.
We also work to widely disseminate pertinent information among all welding subsidiaries by holding meetings of the Quality Assurance Subcommittee (QA Subcommittee), an advisory body that operates in all company sectors and divisions with the mandate of introducing and studying important quality-assurance proposals. When necessary, deliberations on QA proposals can also be carried out via email.
The QA Subcommittee announces changes in ASME standards to all Welding Company plants and subsidiaries, and discusses cases where Welding Company plants fail to meet accepted standards. After a given issue has been thoroughly discussed and thought has been given to an appropriate response, countermeasures are developed laterally in all plants (including, if necessary, plants operating outside of Japan). Support is provided so that a greater awareness of product quality is fostered among personnel on the factory floor who directly support high-quality manufacturing. To that end, the QA Subcommittee provides all plants and quality assurance divisions within affiliated Group companies with the information they need.
Our greatest goal is to deliver products that are trusted and appreciated with satisfaction by our customers. To achieve this, we must maintain the very highest standards of quality. In this context it's important to raise and maintain motivation among all employees.
The key players in this process are the foremen and section leaders at work on the factory floor. To help ensure that their high levels of technical ability and strong dedication to product quality permeate the workplace, we continue to strengthen connections with the quality assurance departments in all Welding Company plants.
Welding robot system used in large-scale steel frame assembly
Kiyoshi Wada
Manager, Quality Assurance Section
Technical Development Department
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