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▼ Toray Industries Unit Falsified Data on Tire Material Quality
- Category:Event
TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Major textile maker Toray Industries Inc. said Tuesday it has found that a wholly owned subsidiary manipulated quality data for tire materials and other products supplied to 13 client companies, in the latest blow to the credibility of the manufacturing industry.
Quality control managers of Toray Hybrid Cord Inc., based in Nishio, Aichi Prefecture, tampered with data so that its products could satisfy the quality requirements of its client companies, Toray said.
Between April 2008 and July 2016, there were 149 cases of data manipulation at the subsidiary for tire cords, cords for car hose belts and cords for paper making.
The problem was detected in July 2016. Toray failed to disclose the wrongdoing promptly, although it took preventive measures.
The data falsification started when Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), served as Toray president from 2002 to 2010. Now senior adviser to Toray, Sakakibara may be held responsible for the scandal, sources familiar with the situation said.
Toray is the latest in a series of major manufacturers that has been hit by product quality assurance problems, including Kobe Steel Ltd., Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Materials Corp.
“I’m deeply sorry for causing great trouble and worry,” Toray President Akihiro Nikkaku said at a press conference held at the company’s head office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
On why it took 16 months for Toray to make public the irregularities, Nikkaku said his company initially had no plans to disclose them because there was no law violation or safety problem.
After online postings on the wrongdoing appeared this month, however, the company concluded that it should disclose accurate information, he said.
Nikkaku said he will consider how to take responsibility over the data manipulation after the company finishes its ongoing investigation.
He informed Sakakibara of the problem on Monday and was advised by the former Toray president to take appropriate measures, according to Nikkaku.
According to Toray, two senior employees who served as chief of its quality assurance office between April 2008 and July 2016 manipulated inspection data during the process to approve test certificates.
Toray said there were only slight differences between the product test results and the quality requirements, adding that it has so far found no safety problems or law violations.
After the data falsification was detected, Toray replaced its quality assurance office chief in October 2016 and created a system to check quality inspection certificates by more than one inspector.
The company established an investigation committee, which includes outside experts as its members, on Monday, planning to compile a report by the end of this year at the earliest.
Toray is looking into whether there are any similar wrongdoings at its group companies.
It will decide on punishments for those involved in the data manipulation once the probe is completed, Nikkaku said.
Quality control managers of Toray Hybrid Cord Inc., based in Nishio, Aichi Prefecture, tampered with data so that its products could satisfy the quality requirements of its client companies, Toray said.
Between April 2008 and July 2016, there were 149 cases of data manipulation at the subsidiary for tire cords, cords for car hose belts and cords for paper making.
The problem was detected in July 2016. Toray failed to disclose the wrongdoing promptly, although it took preventive measures.
The data falsification started when Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), served as Toray president from 2002 to 2010. Now senior adviser to Toray, Sakakibara may be held responsible for the scandal, sources familiar with the situation said.
Toray is the latest in a series of major manufacturers that has been hit by product quality assurance problems, including Kobe Steel Ltd., Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Materials Corp.
“I’m deeply sorry for causing great trouble and worry,” Toray President Akihiro Nikkaku said at a press conference held at the company’s head office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
On why it took 16 months for Toray to make public the irregularities, Nikkaku said his company initially had no plans to disclose them because there was no law violation or safety problem.
After online postings on the wrongdoing appeared this month, however, the company concluded that it should disclose accurate information, he said.
Nikkaku said he will consider how to take responsibility over the data manipulation after the company finishes its ongoing investigation.
He informed Sakakibara of the problem on Monday and was advised by the former Toray president to take appropriate measures, according to Nikkaku.
According to Toray, two senior employees who served as chief of its quality assurance office between April 2008 and July 2016 manipulated inspection data during the process to approve test certificates.
Toray said there were only slight differences between the product test results and the quality requirements, adding that it has so far found no safety problems or law violations.
After the data falsification was detected, Toray replaced its quality assurance office chief in October 2016 and created a system to check quality inspection certificates by more than one inspector.
The company established an investigation committee, which includes outside experts as its members, on Monday, planning to compile a report by the end of this year at the earliest.
Toray is looking into whether there are any similar wrongdoings at its group companies.
It will decide on punishments for those involved in the data manipulation once the probe is completed, Nikkaku said.
- November 29, 2017
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