Relationships with Customers

Secure stable quality

To ensure the stable quality of new products, reviews are conducted at each step from development to mass production. All relevant divisions participate in the reviews and confirm and evaluate from their respective perspectives to ensure early detection and prevention of quality risks and reliable quality assurance.

Basic Quality Policy

■Pursuing right quality to meet functions and specifications requested by our customers.

• Applicable quality
  Our quality should immediately respond to the change of our customer’s requirements.
• Competitive quality
  We have to win quality competition.
• Quality for economy
  Quality should benefit our company.

Quality slogan

Improvement activities to improve quality

Every November (which is "Quality Month"), we conduct a variety of activities with the aim of further raising the quality awareness of all employees. This year's theme is "The basics remain the same in these days of rapid change. You shape NTN Quality." By setting the theme, we provide an opportunity for each individual to reaffirm their basic quality behavior, and encourage each individual to take action to create NTN quality. Each division is promoting priority measures and working to improve quality at NTN globally.

Quality management system

In order to improve customer satisfaction and provide products/services in a consistent manner, the Group’s domestic and overseas manufacturing sites have acquired ISO9001 certification, which is an international management system standard. We are steadily working to acquire certification for new businesses and newly launched plants. 100% of our domestic and overseas consolidated subsidiaries related to manufacturing have acquired certification for their quality management systems.
We have also acquired IATF16949 certification, a standard for the automotive industry, and JISQ9100 and Nadcap, standards for the aerospace industry, as well as CRCC (China) certification for the railroad industry.

Building an efficient production system for domestic plants

In August 2020, we started the operation of a new core system in the supply chain management (SCM) field. With this new core system, we will build an efficient production system that generates the maximum output by effectively utilizing the domestic resources (plants) possessed by the Group.
Under the new system, in addition to orders and the latest forecast information from domestic customers and information from domestic and overseas Group sales companies, we update demand information for the following 12 months on a daily basis utilizing statistical forecasts. We will implement the following measures based on this demand data to realize an efficient production system.

• ・ Secure stable procurement of materials, processed materials, parts, etc.
• ・ Change the operation shifts and secure personnel in line with changes in demand by verifying up-front load at manufacturing sites
• ・ Prior implementation of production support and production transfers between multiple sites
• ・ Reduce inventory assets by promptly implementing production management (production cutbacks) when demand declines

Going forward, we will work to ensure a more stable supply of our products to our customers on a global basis and to respond flexibly to changes in the market and economic conditions.

Establishment and maintenance of logical inventory standards by part numbers

Production plans for the new core system are automatically drafted based on demand forecasts using order information and the latest demand information from customers and statistical methods, as well as logical "standard inventory" settings by item. These standard inventory settings are calculated by combining manufacturing lead times, production frequency, and safety factors based on the accuracy of demand planning. The master setting to the system is made for each shipping item. By adhering to standard inventory, we can respond to demand fluctuations by using reserve inventory to ensure a stable supply to customers. We will also prevent excessive inventory and curb inventory assets. We will renew this masters periodically monitoring trends in sales results and the accuracy of demand planning.

Controlling production, sales, and inventories across business divisions

In conjunction with the restructuring of the core system, we established the Supply and Demand Center (which is independent from the sales and production divisions) at our headquarters. Until now, several organizations were involved in the supply-demand adjustments, and business processes were complicated. In the future, however, in order to further ensure a stable supply of products in line with customer and market demands, we aim to have the Supply and Demand Center control and adjust sales, production, and inventory across all business divisions.
Using the system, we will verify the upfront loads of manufacturing sites based on demand information for the following 12 months, and in the event of an overload, we will consider expanding production capacity, scrutinize demand information and make adjustments. Production and sales meetings are also held as necessary, and based on the revised demand information and the standard inventory set for each item, production plans are automatically formulated through the system and deployed as production instructions to each plant. Through these measures, we will transform from an optimum supply-demand adjustments for individual business divisions to a cross-business division supply and demand adjustment system that seeks overall optimization.

Stabilization of the new core system

Our core system has been in operation for nearly 40 years and has become aging. Currently, we are promoting company-wide project activities in order to standardize business processes and systems using new package systems such as ERP^＊, improve business speed and service level, and improve business efficiency and accuracy. Restructuring in areas such as finance, accounting, personnel and salaries, and engineering had already been completed by 2020, and is being rolled out to domestic Group companies.
In August 2020, we launched a new system for sales, logistics, supply and demand management and inventory control of finished products in the SCM field, which is the most important for the restructuring of core systems. We are currently promoting activities to introduce this system into the production, procurement, product process, work-in-process, and product cost areas of our plants.
The operation of the new system in the SCM field has enabled us to improve the efficiency of drawing and prototype management through the digitization of sales activities and the introduction of a project management system, to speed up price and delivery response, and to improve the accuracy of inventory management. In addition to receiving customer demand and ordering information using EDI, e-commerce, and other methods, we aim to take flexible measures to ensure a stable supply to customers and cope with fluctuations in demand by linking forward-looking demand plans using statistical forecasts to plants based on fresh demand information, inventory information, and sales results.

＊Abbreviation of Enterprise Resource Planning.
Package software that controls a company's core operations, including sales, logistics, production, accounting, and human resources

Strengthening information security

We are promoting information security measures from the following viewpoints to ensure a stable supply of our products to customers in response to computer viruses and cyber-attacks aimed at companies that are becoming increasingly complex and sophisticated every day.

• ・ Establish an emergency response system for information security
• ・ Protect critical data and expedite recovery response
• ・ Strengthen a detection mechanism to minimize damage and a protection mechanism to reduce the risk of damage

We are also working to ensure thorough compliance with rules and governance. For example, we provide threat information to all employees and provide information security training through e-learning. In addition, telework is expanding against the backdrop of work style reform and the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, so that employees can conduct operations safely and securely without being limited by location constraints. To this end, we have introduced a detection and defense mechanism that reduces the risk of cyber-attacks even while teleworking, and are strengthening information security by monitoring everything on a daily basis.