Relations with Customers and Business Partners

Please click here for details of our progress with ISO 9000 series certification

Since its establishment in April 2010, the MONODZUKURI (Production System Innovation) Planning and Promotion Department has been working to improve manufacturing capabilities throughout the Kobe Steel Group, based on the key concepts of groupwide development and harnessing synergy.

In terms of groupwide development first of all, the department showcases outstanding initiatives at our other sites and Group companies via exchange events. The department encourages the adoption of the most effective elements. Members of staff also go out to visit individual sites and Group companies in order to deal with queries and provide support, through referrals to other departments and specialist engineers working on similar initiatives for instance.

In terms of harnessing synergy meanwhile, the department has set up a Group website to share information and provide expert advice on manufacturing-related matters.It is working to promote outstanding initiatives within the Kobe Steel Group and provide teaching materials focusing on the basics of manufacturing.

In the Iron & Steel Business, we are continually working to reinforce our quality assurance framework, including Group companies, with the aim of establishing an organization that is highly sensitive to compliance. We are also committed to reinforcing quality control capabilities in order to maintain trust and consistent levels of quality.

Based on ISO 9001 quality management system certification, we operate a framework that ensures compliance with requirements set out in individual industries and specific countries and regions all over the world, including ISO/TS 16949 (automotive industry), ASME Section III (U.S. nuclear power regulations) and the Pressure Equipment Directive (EU).

We have in place a system that enables us to respond quickly to all customer requests and inquiries about our various iron and steel products, received via our website or technical services. We also assign members of staff to four technical service centers in Japan and five overseas centers, so that we can respond to customers' requests on a global basis too.

In the Welding Business, we listen closely to our customers and promote inter-divisional communication. Committed to polishing our technical capabilities and creating a safe daily working environment for our employees, we pursue safe manufacturing practices that reassure and satisfy our customers.

We have been running the Shinyokai Supporter Certification System since 2004, with the aim of giving Shinyokai* members a more in-depth understanding of our products and welding in general, and enabling them to master skills for themselves. Approximately 2,000 welders throughout Japan obtained qualifications through the system in fiscal 2010.

*Association of companies and agents distributing Kobe Steel's welding products

In October 2010, the 14^th international quality control (QC) group meeting took place at Kobe Welding Wire Co., Ltd.* Approximately 200 employees from five domestic sites and six countries outside Japan took part in the meeting, which featured presentations examining 11 domestic and overseas case studies, in an effort to improve quality on a global basis.

*Absorbed into Kobe Steel on April 1, 2011

Quality Management System (QMS) Operates in each Business Unit

We have established quality management systems (QMS) for each of our business units (aluminum flat rolled products, aluminum extrusions, aluminum castings and forgings, copper sheet and copper tube). We continue to step up QMS activities in line with the nature of each of our products. We also work in partnership with our customers to develop and improve the quality of our products with the aim of improving customer satisfaction.

We have obtained globally recognized certification for our quality systems in the automotive, aerospace and shipbuilding sectors. We continue to implement internationally recognized quality control activities, in accordance with ISO/TS 16949, ISO 9001, JISQ 9100 and NADCAP*, and standards set out by the likes of Boeing, GE, and various ship registry companies.

* NADCAP (National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program) is a certification program developed by the Performance Review Institute of the United States. It is the only global standard for the certification of specialized processes in the aerospace industry.

Kobelco & Materials Copper Tube, Ltd. is committed to sharing information with overseas plants in order to cater to domestic users as they increasingly expand overseas. The company has continued to step up its activities with every passing year. In fiscal 2010, it provided technical support for copper tube inspections and organized domestic training for employees from overseas plants, harnessing the Group's combined capabilities in an effort to achieve uniform global quality standards.

We continue to roll out QCD activities on a groupwide basis in an effort to optimize quality, cost and delivery. As quality is our top priority, we are working to control quality risks in relation to materials and other items procured in China, and to reinforce compliance in the fields of energy and the environment in particular, including both overseas and domestic regulations. We continue to implement activities aimed at establishing quality and trust as competitive advantages, in addition to the intrinsic value of our products and delivery capabilities.

The Standard Compressor Plant in Harima hosts monthly Plant Quality Meetings with Kobelco Compressor Manufacturing (Shanghai), our standard compressor manufacturing subsidiary in China, and makes every effort to improve quality standards in its capacity as our main air compressor plant.

We share details of problems that have occurred at our Takasago Equipment Plant in the past in an effort to prevent any similar issues from occurring in the future. In addition to organizing monthly committee meetings on mistakes, we make every effort to share information and expertise as widely as possible via a proprietary e-learning system installed in the plant.

We aim to contribute to society through the continual provision of reliable products and services that give our customers peace of mind. In order to achieve that, we ensure that all of our employees:

Kobelco Construction Machinery holds joint quality meetings with each of its domestic and overseas factories (Hiroshima, Ogaki, China (2) and Thailand) and overseas subsidiaries (Singapore, India, etc.) once a year. It is committed to improving quality levels on a global scale based on the slogan "Made by Kobelco," meaning that all products are of the same high quality no matter where they are made or sold.

To better reflect customer input, the Customer Support Dept. of Kobelco Cranes Co., Ltd. uses the Internet in addition to visiting customers. Its website features different access points for different categories of inquiries, including questions about new machines, used machines, parts, and technical information. In this way we collect detailed information on what customers really think. We collect inquiries received via designated service plants using a system called Space Finder. In addition to speeding up responses to similar inquiries, this helps us to ensure that processes run smoothly by highlighting bottlenecked processes.

In Japan, the company offers IT controllers as standard equipment and studies how customers actually use the cranes, enabling a quantified grasp of such parameters as load and utilization rates. This information is then used in the design of the next generation of products.

To better reflect customer input, the Customer Support Dept. of Kobelco Cranes Co., Ltd. uses the Internet in addition to visiting customers. Its website features different access points for different categories of inquiries, including questions about new machines, used machines, parts, and technical information. In this way we collect detailed information on what customers really think. We collect inquiries received via designated service plants using a system called Space Finder. In addition to speeding up responses to similar inquiries, this helps us to ensure that processes run smoothly by highlighting bottlenecked processes.

In Japan, the company offers IT controllers as standard equipment and studies how customers actually use the cranes, enabling a quantified grasp of such parameters as load and utilization rates. This information is then used in the design of the next generation of products.

Kobe Steel is committed to appropriate and responsible exporting and has developed company guidelines governing the management of secure trade.

In accordance with these guidelines, we enforce strict internal controls so as to ensure compliance with all regulations applicable to products and technologies that could be used as weapons or for other military purposes (list regulations) and regulations relating to our customers' intended purposes (catch-all regulations*). This proactive stance on security is spreading from Kobe Steel itself to all members of the Kobe Steel Group, so that each company can implement appropriate export policies as part of a comprehensive trade security system.

We are also committed to raising awareness of REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals) regulations brought in by the European Union in June 2007 and are taking steps to ensure compliance.

While providing our employees with e-learning and other educational opportunities to increase their knowledge level, we continue our efforts to nurture an ongoing sensitivity to changes in international conditions.

*Catch-all regulations: Legislation applicable to the export of all products and technologies that could potentially be used in the development and production of nuclear weapons or in the development and production of regular weapons.