Under Medium-term Management Plan 2024, we will promote initiatives to improve quality with the quantitative target of reducing the number of defects and the cost of rectifying defects by half in FY 2024 in comparison with FY 2020 results over four years, and contribute to increased profits by increasing customer satisfaction and reducing unnecessary costs.

The Meiden Group conducts initiatives in each business unit for quality assurance and quality improvement according to the President’s Quality Management Policy. We comply with relevant laws, we have created quality management systems based on ISO9001 not only for production divisions, but for each business unit including sales divisions, technical divisions and for each Group company, with a focus on manufacturing companies, and we are implementing quality assurance measures.

In order to maintain and improve said systems, we conduct ISO9001 internal auditor education for all Group companies in order to improve the skills of internal auditors.

Furthermore, if there is a quality issue that is likely to have a severe effect on society, such as a blackout, a stoppage of water supply, or a recall, we handle the matter in accordance with stringent rules to ensure swift and appropriate action through reporting to management and sharing information with specialist divisions, relevant divisions, and relevant business units, etc.

Each fiscal year, each business unit drafts a priority quality policy for their own business unit, promotes activities such as CS activities and defect elimination activities based on the President’s Quality Management Policy and the directions of the top management, etc., with the aim of increasing customer satisfaction.

To improve quality, the Meiden Group determines what points to control and carries out its activities under our policy of not making defective goods nor allowing them to come in or go out.

In particular, under Medium-term Management Plan 2024, we analyzed the results of Medium-term Management Plan 2020, and identified Meidensha’s weaknesses. We are overcoming our weaknesses and promoting improvement of quality management by conducting the following activities at all companies.

At the Materials & Semiconductor Device Analysis Center, we promote activities to improve product quality and prevent defects through analysis and reliability evaluation of semiconductor devices and materials that are used in our products, adopting “improving product quality,” “creating new products,” and “consideration for the environment” as our basic policies.

If new parts and components such as semiconductor devices are used, they do not only undergo evaluation of variation in electrical characteristics and failure analysis, but (1) they undergo non-destructive inspection, (2) they are removed from packaging and further examined, and (3) the internal structure is examined by taking cross-sections etc., to evaluate whether they comply with internal standards. We also actively work to achieve long-term reliability and have a system of checking the potential effects of a range of stresses such as heat, humidity, and corrosive gasses.

Also, we acquired laboratory accreditation (ISO/IEC 17025) for RoHS restricted substances in response to the tendency to revise RoHS directives for environmental regulations, in order to provide products for customers to use.

At the Analysis Center, we conduct research and development relating to improving the precision of vibration analysis and obtaining more material strength data in order to achieve both product competitiveness and product quality through limit state design. If product components are made as small and light as possible, strength can be an issue where it was not in the past. We are therefore improving the precision of vibration analysis by conducting vibration analysis and testing of each component and whole product. We have also introduced high-speed fatigue testing equipment to obtain more complete strength data for materials such as copper, which is used in heavy electrical products.

For example, when conducting vibration resistant design for the switchboard of electrical equipment, we achieve reliable products by conducting vibration resistance analysis simulations from the initial design stage, and conducting detailed evaluations of actual machine equivalent models once design is complete. Furthermore, we conduct evaluation of product life by comparing results of vibration analysis of rotating machinery and materials strength data.

·For mass-produced EV products, we are working to thoroughly manage quality in the following ways.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become difficult to conduct pre-shipping product inspections by customers visiting our factories, as before, so we started remote pre-shipping inspections. At these remote pre-shipping inspections, by connecting the inspection factory via PC screen, customers at a remote location can check the status of the inspection by viewing three screens: an image of the entire inspection site, an image of the inspector's hands taken up, and an image of the inspection certificate. Customers can talk to on-site inspectors through an internet meeting system using a microphone and a camera.

In addition, we established the Meiden Standard System to conduct remote pre-shipment inspections and rolled out ideas and initiatives to meet the new needs of customers, such as by automatically inputting inspection results in the inspection certificate in real time, by transmitting measurement data from measurement devices such as products’ external dimensions and coating thickness, etc. Going forward, we will continue to promote expansion of products and factories, while achieving overall improvement by managing and rectifying issues and carrying out remote pre-shipment inspections.

We have developed and introduced surface coating image inspection equipment to quantitatively investigate the quality of coated surfaces. We are able to prevent variation in quality checks by replacing external visual inspection of metal sheets used for switchboards, etc., with image analysis that quantifies color irregularities and roughness. For the inspection, the inspector takes a photograph of the coated surface of the metal sheet using a microscope that incorporates a CCD camera and an LED light. We are able to check the accuracy of the data by loading the photograph data into a PC, quantitatively measuring the exterior of the coated surface, and acquiring the image data in real time. In the past, half of the items that were deemed to be defective by pre-shipping inspection using switchboards and control panels only had a defective surface coating, and were able to be shipped after recoating or polishing. By introducing this equipment, we are able to reduce the cost of recoating and polishing because of defective surface coating by reducing the number of defects due to quality of coating to zero. Going forward, we aim to review conditions such as the amount of coating and time spent polishing and washing, optimize coating processes, reduce cost, and shorten time, using coating accumulated evaluation data.

For overseas subsidiaries, we have introduced a mother factory system in which the domestic production plant is in charge of starting up production and providing training guidance for overseas subsidiaries. We provide support and guidance for overseas subsidiaries through the mother factory, which excels in technology, development capabilities, quality control, etc., and is fully equipped with comprehensive management capabilities for plant operations. We work to increase the competitiveness of overseas subsidiaries and promote further globalization by actively providing support such as dispatching engineers and managers from Meidensha and providing the required technology.

In order to increase all employees’ awareness of quality and impart basic knowledge of quality management, we conduct education relating to quality management technology for all employees that are involved with manufacturing, even if they are not directly connected to the Production Business Unit. We conduct training that includes drills relating to the role of quality management, how to promote improvement (Kaizen), seven tools for quality control, analysis based on the five whys, and supplier engagement education, etc., for each level of employee such as new employees and group leaders. We are in the process of rolling out the curriculum for Japanese and overseas subsidiaries.

At the technology center adjacent to Numazu Works, we conduct training programs for workmanship and technical skills maintenance engineers. We raise engineers who contribute to the stable, safe, and efficient operation of customers’ equipment through practical training using real equipment.

Instructors are veteran engineers with extensive real-world experience and the curriculum is formulated to allow participants to touch and experience actual equipment, such as extra high-voltage and high-voltage receiving substation equipment, computers, power converter equipment, generators, and rotating machinery. Maintenance training is conducted each year for customers to whom Meidensha’s products have been supplied. Participants deepen their understanding of the internal composition of machinery through cross-sectional models of products, and gain experience of actually operating disconnecting switches and circuit breakers, testing protective relays, and using generating equipment and inverters, etc.

As one of our 120th anniversary projects, we have granted internships to two Thai university students each year since fiscal 2017, and we have conducted technical education for these two university students in fiscal 2019 as before.

At Manabi-ya, which is the new technical training center established at Numazu Works in October 2020, we have constructed an educational system utilizing AR(augmented reality), and are using the latest ICT technologies, such as the experience of maintenance at virtual full-scale facilities, the visualization of invisible power distribution ranges, and the reference of veteran workers' working know-how to smoothly pass on technologies in the maintenance and service fields, where actual on-site experience is required, as well as to quickly development young workers and improve technical capabilities.

We introduced the line-of-sight analysis tools called “Eye Tracking” and began an initiative to visualize the hand and eye movements of skilled worker who has “good intuition” and “knacks” for the purpose of transferring the skills and knowhow of skilled worker to the next generation.

The line-of-sight analysis tools, “Eye Tracking” is glasses with built-in small cameras. When worker wears this glasses, the central camera records the field of view and captures the movement of the hand. By having skilled worker wear these glasses, it is possible to visualize fine hand and eye movements that were previously in tacit knowledge domain. Furthermore, having a skilled worker explain what is happening on the recorded video makes it possible to elicit their criteria and other aspects of the work and include them in manuals.