Quality Management
The Tosoh Group works to ensure a stable and timely supply of products and services through development that reflects the needs of customers. We also work continuously to improve quality and to ensure compliance with product-related legal and regulatory requirements.
Quality Management Promotional Structure
Tosoh promotes activities related to the quality of its products and services under its Responsible Care (RC) promotion system. Tosoh’s RC Committee formulates the company’s quality management policy. Our Environment, Safety, and Quality Control team manages the progress and achievement of the policy and promotes activities related to product and service quality in cooperation with the Nanyo and Yokkaichi Complexes and related departments.
Supply Chain Initiatives
To ensure that its products and services satisfy customers, the Tosoh Group engages in myriad initiatives. Those initiatives maintain and improve quality and guarantee safety, security, and stability at all stages from research and development to product shipping.
Quality Management System
The Tosoh Group has established a quality management system (QMS) appropriate to its products and services and organizational structure. It has acquired globally recognized certification attesting to its QMS efforts, including ISO 9001 and ISO 13485. It has also completed the transition to the ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 13485:2016 standards and is working to improve product quality and customer satisfaction in line with those standards.
Since fiscal 2018, we have conducted risk assessments to bolster our prevention of product contamination by foreign objects. In fiscal year 2020, we reflected on our assessment results and conducted a review of risk-abating capital investments and procedures. We continue to strive for constant improvement as we optimize our operations.
Management System Maintenance and Improvement
Internal Audits
Tosoh conducts internal audits every year to ensure the proper functioning of its QMS for the sake of constantly bettering its operations. These include the audits conducted by our Tokyo headquarters of the Nanyo and Yokkaichi Complexes. In fiscal year 2020, Tosoh audited 66 of its departments. And in auditing the complexes, headquarters focused on reducing product complaints, raising quality, and strengthening supplier management.
Fiscal 2020 also saw Tosoh audit 102 of its external suppliers and manufacturing subcontractors.
Group Company Support
Parent company Tosoh Corporation supports quality management at each of its group of companies. It does so to maintain and raise quality to consistent levels throughout the Tosoh Group. And to do so, it provides opportunities for regular exchanges of opinions.
Surveys that Tosoh has voluntarily undertaken in response to a request from the Japan Business Federation, Keidanren, in December 2017 reveal the success of Tosoh’s QMS. We conducted a survey in fiscal 2020. It showed neither violations of laws or regulations, including of Tosoh’s devising, nor incidents affecting environmental or end-user safety.
Product Quality Improvement
We have established chemical product quality policies for each of our complexes and are working to improve quality, to reduce product-related complaints, and to increase customer satisfaction. In fiscal 2020, we surveyed all of our raw materials and product storage areas and conducted training programs related to handling and storage. The number of product complaints decreased to 18. And no product liability (PL) incidents or quality-related legal violations were recorded.
Quality assurance for medical products and devices is paramount. So we regularly conduct audits of Tosoh Group manufacturers of these technologies to ensure the strength of and to strengthen our quality assurance system. In fiscal 2020, we conducted audits at seven such manufacturing facilities.
Logistics Quality Improvement
Tosoh Group companies in Japan transport their products to customers mainly by truck and ship. Because some of our products contain substances classified under Japan’s Fire Service Act and Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Act, their management during transport is critical. We are therefore always improving our transport oversight—primarily through our Logistics Division—to reduce our annual incidence rate for logistics-related accidents, complaints, and problems. We calculate our incidence rate as follows: the number of logistics accidents, complaints, and problems / the number of products transported × 1 million.