Quality and Safety Assurance

Under our customer-focused philosophy, our policy is to carry out quality assurance activities globally together with all of our employees to deliver safe, eco-friendly products of reliable quality.
We promote our quality assurance activities in accordance with FOSTER TQM, which is based primarily on the maintenance and improvement of the quality management system (QMS) and process through daily improvements, the development of a system and operational procedures using diverse methods, and human resource development in quality management targeting all employees. We believe that we can satisfy our customers, society and our employees by focusing on these three primary initiatives while responding to changes in our business environment. We will strive to achieve long-term growth through these initiatives.

1.Maintenance and Improvement of the QMS

Having started with the acquisition of the ISO 9001 and QS9000 certifications in 1998, we have been steadily expanding certifications on international quality management systems, having obtained certifications under ISO/TS 16949 in 2004 and IATF 16949 in 2017. At the same time, we identify issues through internal and regular third-party audits and implement a PDCA cycle, thus improving the effectiveness of our QMS.
Moreover, in addition to fulfilling the requirements of these standards, we are working to improve our QMS with the aim of achieving “Zero Defect”.

2.Development of a System and Operational Procedures

For quality assurance throughout processes from product planning to shipment, we have built a quality assurance activity system based on Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) and operate this system globally. We ensure that we take the quality actions needed in each Phase. At each one of the five Gates, we review the activities in each Phase, and approve the transition to the next Phase. Through this process, we ensure comprehensive and uninterrupted quality assurance.
With these activities, we pay meticulous attention to quality in the early development phase to prevent complaints, ensure uniform quality globally, shorten the development period by front-loading, and further, drive cost reduction.
We will continue to evolve this APQP system to enhance our quality assurance activities.

3.Enhancing Quality Awareness and Developing Human Resources in Quality Management

We have designated every November as Quality Month and hold a variety of events by involving overseas sites to raise quality awareness among all employees.

Quality improvement case exhibition

We hold this exhibition online by collecting cases of quality-related improvement and know-how we should share from headquarters and all overseas sites, and summarizing them in videos. Leveraging the advantages of an online exhibition, we ensure the cases are viewed by many employees and encourage them to horizontally deploy the improvement activities across departments.

Quality lecture presentation

In response to growing demand for advanced quality management amid current quality trends, we hold quality lectures by inviting speakers from other companies. They introduce the latest information and examples of advanced initiatives and compare them with our quality issues. In doing so, we identify new ways to address quality issues based on specialized knowledge and objective third-party perspectives, which we in turn apply to our quality improvement activities.

QC Circle Company-wide Convention

We promote QC Circle activities and company-wide conventions of teams representing factories to improve on-site capabilities. Each year, a total of more than 100 circle teams are conducting activities at overseas sites under the theme of quality improvement.
Among them, teams that won the QC Circle Convention at each factory give presentations of their achievements at the company-wide convention.
During the Quality Month, we develop a quality awareness and accelerate the development of human resources in quality management with specialized knowledge. By sustaining and enhancing Quality Month, we establish a foundation for fostering human resources, helping develop talent as the basis of our quality competitiveness.

We hold the Global Quality Meeting (GQM) at the end of each fiscal year for a general review of our quality improvement activities in each year. At GQM, senior management from headquarters and overseas factories and sales companies come together to share the progress of priority measures and issues in our quality improvement activities and express their commitment to improving quality in the coming year.
Through GQM, we align the direction and awareness of quality globally and further reinforce the quality assurance system of the overall Foster Group, thereby providing value that fulfills customer expectations and improving customer satisfaction.