In Japan, A Growing
Scandal Over Companies
Faking Product-Quality
Data
Amaker of materials used in airplanes and
car parts admitted its customers were given
falsified data on quality. It's the latest in a
string of such incidents involving industrial
giants.
BY AVIE SCHNEIDER - NOV 28, 2017 - 1 MINUTEAkihiro Nikkaku (left), president of Japan's Toray Industries,
appears at a news conference Tuesday in Tokyo. He said
instances of falsified quality-assurance data did not compromise
product safety. Source: Tory Yamanaka
A Japanese maker of materials used in airplanes and
car parts has admitted that one of its subsidiaries
falsified quality-assurance data, the latest in a string
of Japanese industrial giants to mislead customers.
Toray Industries said Tuesday that it had identified
149 instances of altered data between 2008 and 2016.
The products involved affected 13 customers and
included cords used for tires and car hose belts.
The company said in a statement that its Toray Hybrid
Cord unit "has inappropriately overwritten data that
was provided in inspection reports to customers."
The customers affected weren't named, but the
company said later that the deception didn't involve
materials supplied to Boeing. Toray provides the U.S.
alone Erwan Renin iabantabboadkhnw BihxeThe customers affected weren't named, but the
company said later that the deception didn't involve
materials supplied to Boeing. Toray provides the U.S.
aircraft manufacturer with lightweight carbon-fiber
components.
"There were no legal violations or safety problems;
this was between us and our customers, and so there
was no need to disclose it," Toray President Akihiro
Nikkaku told a news conference, according to
Reuters.
The company apologized "for all concern and
inconveniences caused" and said it is investigating all
of its operations.
The disclosure at Toray follows recent revelations
about quality-control deception at other high-profile
Japanese industrial companies.In October, Kobe Steel announced that "data in
inspection certificates had been improperly
rewritten" for some of its aluminum and copper
products that failed to comply with specifications.
Mitsubishi Materials said last week that some of its
products "deviated from customer standards or
internal company specifications due to misconduct,
including the rewriting of inspection records data."
And, The New York Times reports, "Nissan and Subaru
acknowledged last month that they had been
allowing workers who lacked certifications required
by Japanese regulators to inspect vehicles produced
for the Japanese market."
The problem comes as Japanese companies "face
pressure to meet sky-high quality specifications and
unrealistic internal profit targets," the Financial Times
says.The problem comes as Japanese companies "face
pressure to meet sky-high quality specifications and
unrealistic internal profit targets," the Financial Times
says.
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