Quality Assurance Management

NHK Spring has established a Quality Committee under the Management Committee. Having the Executive Vice President and Representative Member of the Board & CQO (Chief Quality Officer) as Chairperson, and comprising members from the Quality Control Department of the Head Office Engineering Division, quality assurance departments of each production division, the Corporate Planning and Control Division, the Research and Development Division and the Sales Division, the Quality Committee formulates quality policies for each fiscal year, shares information on quality issues, and discusses the medium- to long-term goals and future direction of initiatives.
The content discussed at the Quality Committee is shared with departments through each production division's quality assurance department, ensuring that the direction of policies and initiatives is shared. In addition, the Quality Management Department at the Head Office conducts quality audits based on this content, as described later.

With the slogan “Bad News First (Fast)”, NHK Spring encourages the early launch of countermeasures and the immediate sharing of information with those involved when problems occur, and we always remain highly aware of quality risks.
In cases of particularly important quality issues, reports are made to the CQO and other relevant parties, and discussions on how to respond are held promptly. If an issue is difficult to resolve, a project team is set up with members from across the organization. In this way, a system is in place to quickly and flexibly address quality issues.

In order to maintain a system for delivering safe and reliable products to our customers, NHK Spring regularly audits the quality control status of plants under the jurisdiction of the quality assurance department of each production division. Moreover, the Quality Control Department at Head Office conducts an “audit of audits” from a third-party perspective, also covering the results of quality audits conducted at each production division. In addition to checking actual sites, actual products, actual situations, and principles, the “audit of audits” also involves interviewing and surveying the people involved, including those in the design and development departments, to check for problems and the status of information sharing within the organization, and to make recommendations for creating a workplace with good communication.
As part of the “audit of audits” activities, we also hold lectures (training) on quality compliance and team building.
Through activities that combine auditing and education, we are working to create an organization where teams can work together to tackle issues.

The Engineering Division Production Research Department and each production base work together to promote manufacturing innovation activities. Identifying areas for improvement in manufacturing at production bases from the perspective of quality and productivity, we discuss countermeasures and link them to on-site improvements. By having Head Office and production bases work together, this leads to the creation of a culture where all staff pull together to manufacture products, rather than leaving things to the people on the factory floor.

Since 1965, NHK Spring has continued QC circle activities in small groups using QC methods as a workplace improvement activity based on the creativity and mutual inspiration of employees. At the NHK Spring QC Circle Convention, 13 circles including those from domestic and overseas Group companies participate every year to make presentations, etc. This is an opportunity to hone global and other on-site capabilities, as well as a place where the results of workplace improvements in team capabilities in departments and sections are announced.

In addition to the idea of building quality into the process, NHK Spring promotes the concept of “front-loading”, which means that all manufacturing processes have a high quality awareness and identify and address potential risks at an early stage of product development. This approach helps to prevent quality problems.

The Seating Division of NHK Spring has traditionally faced the following issues: (1) how to work before receiving orders, (2) how to prevent problems in the early stages of mass production, (3) how to improve the efficiency of design staff, and (4) how to train young designers.

To resolve these issues, based on the key phrase “early quality creation through front-loading of work”, we implemented business process reforms in the upstream processes from order receipt to mass production. These included the establishment of processes for discovering and solving quality issues, such as design reviews (DR)*1 and gate management*2, as well as the clarification of the responsibilities and roles of each department (elimination of gray zones) and the reduction of design-related work.

The activities, carried out by a total of 70 members over a period of five years, resulted in streamlining of the workflow from the pre-order stage to the start of mass production, and led to the establishment of a quality awareness from an early stage.

By spreading these good practices across the Group, we are using them to further develop our quality culture and strengthen our systems.

*1 Design Review (DR)…A meeting or review to evaluate and confirm the quality, performance, suitability, etc. of a product at the design stage in the product development process.
*2 Gate management: A management method in which progress is evaluated and a decision as to whether to proceed to the next stage is made at each specific stage (gate) of the product development process.