Quality Assurance

Mission to create value

We supply products and services that are safe and provide peace of mind through our quality assurance activities based on relationships of trust with our various stakeholders including our customers and suppliers.

Policies

Our quality policy is to "provide global top-level quality that contributes to the sustainable development of society," and through quality assurance activities, we offer safe and secure products and services to our customers throughout the entire product cycle, from development and design to launch, manufacturing, sales, and post-marketing. Additionally, by aiming to maximize the value provided through co-creation based on trust relationships with various stakeholders such as customers and business partners, we strive to contribute to the sustainable development of society.

Promotion system

Quality assurance activities at Resonac are primarily led by the quality assurance departments located at each manufacturing site, the frontline of manufacturing, and are promoted daily through collaboration among all departments involved in manufacturing.
In addition, the Quality Assurance Headquarters (a headquarters organization) under the Chief Manufacturing Officer (CMEO) and Chief Quality Officer (CQO) is responsible for the comprehensive strategy and system planning (Plan & Action) function, system management (Do) function, and risk assessment and audit (Check) function regarding quality assurance for Resonac group. By establishing a collaborative system where the headquarters organization and each manufacturing site engage in close information sharing and communication, we are advancing the continuous improvement of the quality assurance system by running the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle for quality assurance throughout the entire group.

Activities related to quality assurance are reported to management through the "Sustainability Promotion Conference," in addition to which the company has established a system to promote the sharing of the quality assurance policies and key issues of our group between the headquarters and the business sites through the annual "Quality Assurance Managers' Meeting," where the quality assurance managers from each manufacturing site gather.

Ensuring quality-related compliance

We incorporate strict adherence to quality compliance in the "Quality Assurance and Quality Control Regulations" and further elaborates on the implementation details related to quality compliance in the detailed rules, ensuring thorough enforcement of related measures at both the head office and business sites.
The lessons learned and recurrence prevention measures from the inappropriate inspection case detected at former Hitachi Chemical in 2018 have been carried over to Resonatec, where efforts to strengthen the system and prevent recurrence are ongoing.
The headquarters Quality Assurance Department promotes employee awareness through quality compliance education, including e-learning, and to eliminate risk factors for inappropriate inspections, it establishes inspection systems with no room for falsification or fabrication, and conducts quality risk assessments and audits of business sites from a compliance perspective. In 2024, following the domestic offices survey conducted the previous year, a consciousness survey concerning quality compliance was conducted targeting overseas group companies to evaluate to what extent an organizational culture that values promises with stakeholders has been cultivated. This consciousness survey is planned to be continued on a biennial basis alternating domestically and overseas.

In addition, an analysis of past cases revealed a tendency for a higher risk of inappropriate inspections to occur in tasks designated as "exclusive work performed by a single inspector." Hence, we first focused on the electronics Business Unit division to conduct a risk survey of inspection tasks, identified inspection tasks that were exclusively assigned to one inspector, and have been promoting the elimination of exclusivity through inspector rotation and the development of multi-skilled workers. We plan to roll this out company-wide, including overseas, going forward.

Roadmap for 2030

Targets and rseults of non-financial KPIs

We have set “zero product accidents” and “zero quality compliance violations” as indicators and goals, and we aim to have the entire Resonac Group operating under a globally unified quality assurance framework by 2030, thereby building trust with customers through quality and maximizing the value provided through our business activities.

• ※ Definitions are based on the Company’s accident standards

Product safety management

As a basic rule for activities to ensure product safety, in addition to compliance with laws and regulations, we have established "Quality Assurance and Quality Control Regulations" within the company. Within these, in order for customers to use our products safely and with peace of mind, we have established various audit operations and risk management tasks to ensure product safety at each stage of the product lifecycle. Additionally, for "sample shipments" and "product launches" where new products are provided to customers, we have established a review system that determines whether to proceed with shipment and launch based on a risk-based approach.
Furthermore, for certain certified products, external audits regarding product safety are conducted periodically. Certified products display a mark, and the effectiveness of quality maintenance is confirmed through periodic external audits of the certified products even after certification. As an example, the UL mark is displayed on products that meet the safety standards set by UL Solutions, an authorized company.

Implementation of quality risk/capability evaluation and audits

We have conducted quality risk assessments by the headquarters quality assurance department with the aim of strengthening governance across the entire group and clarifying and sharing the strengths and weaknesses of each Business Unit, office, and group company. Starting from 2025, we plan to take this initiative one step further by establishing a framework to evaluate the competence of business sites from both risk and capability perspectives, and to promote a cycle of improvement activities.This was named "QRiC," taking the initials from Quality Risk/Capability Assessment. In QRiC activities, evaluations are conducted from seven perspectives: [1]customers and society, [2]product safety, [3]compliance, [4]quality assurance, [5] quality control, [6]management systems, and [7]people and organizations, both at the headquarters and business sites. Through alignment, we carry out convincing evaluations that lead to improvements. If high-risk sites are identified during this process, we establish a system that enables prompt measures through audits and other methods.

Enhancement of on-site capabilities

To improve the level of quality assurance and quality control, we have set "strengthening on-site capabilities (the skills and awareness of workers on site)" as a priority, and are globally advancing the development of quality assurance personnel necessary for a globally top-class functional chemical manufacturer by constructing an education system tailored to different levels (providing education curricula suited to each level). Additionally, to promote improvement activities by sharing examples of activities beyond the boundaries of individual sites, a system was established to share and utilize best practices implemented at each site as "Good Practices" across the entire group. Furthermore, joint meetings and exchange events are held between sites to advance collaborative efforts.

Aiming for fewer quality-related complaints

Resonac is working to increase customer satisfaction and maximize customer experience (CX) and thereby achieve fewer quality-related complaints. By implementing measures to prevent recurrence based on the essential causes of issues that lead to complaints and utilizing lessons learned from complaints that have been received to date, we aim to reduce the number of complaints by 20% each year.

Quality management system

At Resonac, each manufacturing site has developed a quality management system tailored to its specific products and organizational structure, and has obtained certifications for international standards such as ISO 9001 and IATF 16949.
We will continue to strengthen our quality management systems and strive to further improve the quality of our products and services, as well as maximize customer experience (CX).

Quality Education and Culture

There are two pillars of quality education: a technical program of elective courses that teach various knowledge necessary in the field of quality assurance and quality control, and a compliance program that includes quality compliance e-learning aimed at all employees. The technical courses include about 15 courses such as "Quality Risk Management," which covers product safety, PL measures, and product risk assessment; "Root Cause Analysis" for identifying the root causes when problems occur; as well as "Statistical Analysis Courses" and "Internal Auditor Training Courses" tailored to different levels, with a total of approximately 4,000 participants having taken these courses. Regarding quality compliance, in 2024, about 12,000 employees, accounting for approximately 90% of the domestic group companies, took e-learning courses. Additionally, video materials with subtitles in three languages were prepared to promote understanding and deepen awareness of compliance.

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