Quality
Obtaining customer trust and meeting their strict quality requirements with thorough quality control.
Takeshi Sano
Quality Assurance General ManagerOchiai provides products for a wide variety of fields, including automobiles, light electrics, residential facilities and more. The demand for quality from customers has increased over the years, and the specifications and features demanded of Ochiai products vary depending on where and how they are used. We will continue to accurately meet the wide-ranging requests of our customers so that we will be continued to be called "Ochiai means quality" by our customers, and we will continue with our strict quality control efforts in order to consistently provide high quality products to our customers.
In addition to ISO9001 certification for quality management systems, we have received ISO/TS16949, an automobile related quality standard, in 2006. In addition to generally required quality management standards, we are also in compliance with special quality controls required to supply components to North American and European automobile manufacturers. In addition, in regards to Heat treatment processes required for spring products, our customers regularly inspect our factories, which have been certified as designated Heat treatment factories.
- Ochiai has established a traceability system to ensure the accurate and thorough tracking of production histories. Detailed production histories can be grasped through product information and the lot number printed on the cardboard boxes and bags. Through this, we are able to provide detailed production histories, completion inspection records and material mill test reports. These inspection and material information for products produced not only in Japan but for those produced at overseas factories are shared online. Through this, we have established a system where each sales office is able to directly access this information in order to promptly respond to customer requests for information.
Because Ochiai produces a wide variety of products, the production process contains products that are so similar in shape that they are difficult to distinguish with the human eye, as well as products with only the slightest difference in size or shape. As a result, color-coded identification tags are attached to each box according to each process in the factory. Measuring equipment also have set inspection and alignment cycles, and the validity period of the inspection and alignment for each piece of equipment identified through color-coded stickers. In addition, should nonconforming products occur in a production process, they are identified and isolated in a dedicated storage area to ensure that they are not mistakenly shipped.
In order to accommodate customer production hubs overseas and globalization, Ochiai also engages in overseas production in Indonesia and Vietnam. In order to ensure that Japanese standard of quality demanded from our customers can also be provided from our overseas factories, we engage in the sharing of technology, the training of personnel such as manager training, as well as the implementation of mistake-proofing through sensors, and the active implementation of automation of work processes. Through these quality management efforts, we are able to maintain a high level of quality overseas that is equivalent to that of Japan.
