Home > About Us > Corporate Social Responsibility > Sustainability Report > Sustainability Report 2006 > Relations with Customers and Business Partners
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Environmental Management Sustainability Report 2006 |
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| Relations with Customers and Business Partners |
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| To supply products that meet the satisfaction and retain the trust of customers and business partners all round the world, the Kobe Steel Group undertakes rigorous quality control and has put in place a management system to respond more swiftly to individual customer requirements. |
| Quality Assurance & Quality Control |
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Quality Assurance System |
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| To be able to supply products to satisfy its customers, the Kobe Steel Group is promoting quality assurance and quality control by achieving more widespread compliance with the international standard ISO9001 for quality management systems. |
Kobe Steel Facilities Compliant with ISO9001:
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Kobe Steel Group Companies Compliant with ISO9001:
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Quality Assurance for Products for the Auto Industry |
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| The Daian plant is the Aluminum & Copper Company's main plant for cast and forged aluminum parts largely for the auto and aircraft manufacturing industries and aluminum machined parts for semiconductor and LCD manufacturing equipment. It is set up to meet diversified customer needs, not only for large-scale production but also small-quantity production of many different types of parts. The plant's compliance with ISO9001 dates back to September 1997, and in September 2004 it achieved compliance with the automotive sector standard ISO/TS16949 (replacing the automotive quality standard QS-9000). ISO/TS16949 is based on ISO9001:2000, said to be the toughest standard worldwide for suppliers to the auto industry. In addition, compliance with AS9100, the aerospace quality management system, was achieved in September 2006. |
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ASME U3 Certification and NUK Project |
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| In the Machinery & Engineering Company, ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) U3 certification of the ultra high-pressure vessels used in isostatic presses was granted in June 2004, a first in Asia. In other attempts to upgrade quality, an NUK certification system, meaning "no inspection on arrival", has been introduced to our main suppliers with training and awards offered to individual companies. |
| A Swift, Flexible Response to Customer Requirements |
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Timely Provision of Information to Customers |
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| In the Iron & Steel Sector, 2005 saw the launch of a comprehensive database system that facilitates information sharing between production and sales divisions, and a web-type process computer that facilitates information sharing between manufacturing plants and the production control departments, both of which are in the production division. This allows more timely provision of information to customers, as well as the formulation of more streamlined production plans and sales strategies. |
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Meeting More Diversified Needs |
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| In the Machinery & Engineering Company, one example of the way in which diversified customer requirements are accommodated is the Technical Center located at the Takasago Works. Kobe Steel's industrial machinery, a main product line, has been installed so that customers may have performance tests conducted and assist with development before purchasing the machinery. In efforts to boost customer satisfaction, a QNet system was set up in September 2005 to allow greater sharing of information about customers' queries and complaints and promptly direct it as feedback for product development. For customers with standard compressors, an energy-saving diagnostic service measures and analyzes electricity consumption while the compressor is in use, and offers an energy-saving strategy or cost-saving suggestions to customers on the basis of the results. Industrial-use compressed air is said to account for 10% of total energy used in Japan. The energy-saving diagnostic service for customers' facilities offers energy-saving proposals. |
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Customer Support Centers |
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| In the Welding Company, in 2003 a Customer Support Center was established in the Marketing Department as an expanded and upgraded version of the earlier Technical Service Section. The Center works to upgrade customer satisfaction and boost marketing and also provides swift feedback on customer requests and complaints, thereby assisting in better product development and product improvements. |
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 Technical Center at Takasago Works |
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Assistance with ISO Compliance |
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| Shinko Research Co., Ltd., offers assistance for achieving compliance with ISO9001 and ISO14001. Experts with many years' experience in this area assist in creating management systems that are both practical and beneficial. |
QNet Database |
| Meeting Needs Locally-More Overseas Production |
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| With a policy of "meeting needs locally" the Kobe Steel Group has been actively promoting overseas production since the 1960s. The appropriate technical development and product development for each region or country is promoted based on Kobe Steel's technical development and production technology in Japan. The Iron & Steel Sector was particularly quick to start production overseas. Construction of wire rod secondary processing facilities in China's Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces was begun in FY2005 in response to strong demand. The Welding Company is promoting locally based globalization, and recently started construction of a new plant at Kobelco Welding of Europe B.V. in the Netherlands, which manufactures and markets stainless steel flux-cored wire. The new plant will produce carbon steel flux-cored wire, for which demand is expected to grow in shipbuilding and offshore construction. In the Aluminum & Copper Company, increasingly production overseas is planned to take advantage of location. For example, Kobe Aluminum Automotive Products, LLC was set up in 2003 in Kentucky, USA to manufacture and market forged aluminum parts for car suspensions, and began production began in 2005. In Southeast Asia three companies for copper sheet and strip have been set up to process copper alloys for electronic applications, wide-width coil and other products made at the Chofu Works, to respond quickly and flexibly to growth in demand for their various applications overseas. In the Machinery & Engineering segment, the Kobe Steel Group's wholly owned subsidiary Kobelco Compressors Manufacturing (Shanghai) Corporation was established in Shanghai, China in February 2005, and the company began full-scale production in June. Furthermore, in February 2006 Kobe Steel upped its equity stake in the California company Engineering Designs Transfer, Inc. (EDTI) from 50.0% to 92.5%, to form Kobelco EDTI Compressors, Inc., the first Group company to manufacture and sell non-standard screw compressors in the United States. In this way, Group companies are responding through overseas ventures to meet growing demand and diversified needs for compressors outside Japan. |
 Secondary wire rod processing plant in Guangdong, China |
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 Kobe Aluminum Automotive Products in Kentucky, USA |
| Materials Procurement Policy |
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| Kobe Steel undertook a complete revision of its purchasing rules for all Group companies in FY2004 to ensure it meets social obligations for environmental protection and stricter compliance requirement. Purchasing rules state that purchasing activities must be sensitive to relevant social developments and requirements, and must take into consideration environmental protection and conservation of resources. Where quality is unlikely to be compromised, efforts should be made to procure products that have minimal environmental impact, such as recycled materials. Kobelco Green Procurement Guidelines are applied to the purchase of paper and other stationery products. In the European Union (EU) the Restrictions on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive came into force in July, 2006. The Kobe Steel Group operates worldwide and has acted to prohibit use of products incorporating the six substances whose use is restricted: lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE). |
| Correct Exporting |
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| Kobe Steel is striving to ensure that exporting is carried out responsibly. Rules for the Security Export Control Program (Shinko Program) have been formulated and exporting is carried out in accordance with these rules. Based on the rules, restrictions on products that may be used for military purposes must be strictly observed, and strict in-house controls apply. Additionally, customers' purposes are checked in accordance with the catch-all system* introduced in April 2004. Staff training is also part of an ongoing effort to foster constant awareness of events on the international stage.
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| Examples of Quality Assurance Measures of Group Companies |
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