Relationships with Customers

Create the quality to improve customer satisfaction

Customer needs for lightweight products, quieter operation, lower torque leading to energy savings, and longer product life are changing over time. In order to ensure that our customers are satisfied with our products, it is important to respond swiftly to their changing demands and to build relationships of trust with them. We strive to maintain and improve product quality globally in accordance with our Basic Quality Policy, which serves as the basic philosophy for all of our manufacturing activities, in order to create quality that satisfies our customers.
We also conduct customer satisfaction surveys as an opportunity to hear directly from our customers about their satisfaction level and requirements. In the survey for the fiscal year 2021 (ended March 31, 2022), a total of 113 customers responded and 88% of the overall evaluations were "Excellent" or "Good." Going forward, we will continue to provide quality that is responsive to customer needs in order to further improve satisfaction.

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 customers' requirements.
• Competitive quality
  We have to win quality competition.
• Quality for economy
  Quality should benefit our company.

Quality slogan

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.

Secure stable quality

We are strengthening management of newly developed products and process changes through the use of risk management analysis sheets. In risk analysis, all relevant divisions participate, confirm and evaluate from their respective perspectives to ensure early detection and prevention of quality risks and ensure reliable quality.
In order to evaluate the risk of occurrence of quality problems and the effectiveness of preventive measures, we also promote quality audits at manufacturing sites (including suppliers), globally deploy check sheets summarizing the points of quality control, and assess the results of inspections. In addition, we utilize the Global Quality Information Control Network (G-QUICK) to centrally manage customer complaints and claim information globally, and immediately inform related divisions in an effort to quickly resolve problems.

Quality month activities

Every November, at the occasion of the annual Quality Month, we conduct various activities with the aim of further raising the quality awareness of all employees. In the fiscal year 2021 (ended March 31, 2022), NTN theme was "New perspectives pave the way for improvements. Quality will DRIVE our future". This theme was an opportunity for each employee to recognize that quality creates the future of NTN, and encourage further improvement from new perspectives. Each division has promoted priority measures to improve quality at NTN globally.

Build 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, and we are working to establish and continuously improve the system. With this new core system, we will build an efficient production system that generates maximum output by effectively utilizing the domestic resources (plants) possessed by the Group.
Under the new system, in addition to ordering 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. Based on this demand information, we will implement the following measures 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

We will continue to work to ensure a more stable supply of our products to our customers and to respond flexibly to changes in market and economic conditions on a global basis.

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.

Control production, sales, and inventories across business divisions

In conjunction with the restructuring of the core system, we established the Supply and Demand Management Department (which is independent from the sales and production divisions) at our headquarters. 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 Management Department control and adjust sales, production, and inventory across all business division.
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 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 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 shift from a system of supply-demand adjustments that aims for individual optimization at all business division and establish a system of supply-demand adjustments across business divisions that aims for overall optimization.

Stabilize new core system

As a company-wide project, we are rebuilding our mission-critical systems by standardizing business processes and systems using ERP^＊ and other new packaged systems. This will serve as an IT foundation to support future DX promotions, and we are promoting business speed and service levels as well as more efficient operations. Following the start of operations of new systems in the areas of financial accounting, human resources and salaries, and technology, a new system for sales, logistics, supply and demand adjustment, inventory management, etc. of finished products in the SCM field began full-scale operations in August 2020. Thereafter, we promoted activities to introduce new systems into the production, procurement, process, work-in-process, and cost domains at each plant. New systems began operation at Iwata Works' CVJ plant, Okayama Works, and Fukuroi Works in January 2022, and at Noto Works, Akaiwa Works and other sites in May 2022. We are continuing to promote activities to introduce them to other factories.
The new systems have enabled us to improve the efficiency of drawing and prototype control through the digitization of sales activities and the introduction of a project management system, to speed up price and delivery deadline response, to strengthen inventory management, and to enhance cost management. In addition to receiving customer demand and ordering information using EDI, e-commerce, and other means, we aim to ensure a stable supply to customers and respond flexibly to fluctuations in demand by linking forward-looking demand plans using statistical forecasts to plants based on fresh demand information, inventory information, and sales results.

＊ERP is an abbreviation of Enterprise Resource Planning (enterprise resource planning).
Packaged software that oversees the company's core operations, including sales, logistics, production, accounting, and human resources.

■Overview of NTN core systems using ERP and other package systems (as of June 2022)

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.