The myth of "Made in Japan" was hit hard again and spread widely

The data fraud scandal of Japan's third-largest steelmaking company, Kobe Steel, has been continuously fermented. It was successively banned by the European Aviation Administration and investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice. At the same time, countries in various countries have created “Made in Japan” that was once on the altar. doubt.

Kobe steel subsidence

Following Mitsubishi's change in its fuel efficiency data and Takada's change in airbag test data, the 100-year-old Japanese Kobe Steel became the third Japanese company to expose scandals that falsified multiple product data.

Kobe Steel was founded in 1905 and produces high value-added products with special applications. The world's top special metal materials are almost all from Kobe Steel. Materials, machinery, and power are its three main businesses. Most of the world’s largest manufacturing companies and military-industrial companies are customers of Kobe Steel. According to Kobe Steel, one of every two cars in the world uses the company's wire rods for automotive valve springs, which account for 50% of the Japanese market. Aluminum for railway vehicles accounts for the highest share of the Japanese market.

On October 8, the company admitted that its factory and its subsidiaries are suspected of extensively falsifying data on aluminum and copper products. At the press conference held in Tokyo on the same day, the vice president of Kobe Steel Co., Ltd. Mei Yuanshang expressed "deep reflection and apologized." The statement said that the company's internal investigation at the end of August this year found that its three factories and one subsidiary have long tampered with aluminum, The factory data of copper products is sold as mock-up products. In the past year, products suspected of being counterfeit included approximately 19,300 tons of aluminum products, approximately 2,200 tons of copper products and approximately 19,400 copper castings. Umehara also stated that the factory "is under pressure to complete shipment targets," but denies violation instructions from the headquarters.

Subsequently, the problem product range further expanded. On the 10th, an internal investigation conducted by Kobe Steel showed that in addition to aluminum and copper products, there were data fraud problems in its iron powder products.

On the evening of October 11th, Kobe Steel held a press conference admitting that there was data fraud in the alloy products used to manufacture LCD screens.

On October 12th, Kawasaki, president of Kobe Steel, also publicly apologized, saying that fraudulent products had flowed into more than 200 domestic and foreign companies, and the irregularities can be traced back to ten years ago.

On October 13th, Kobe Steel also said that it has newly discovered nine types of aluminum, copper, steel wire and special steel products that are suspected of improper behavior, totaling 11,000 tons. Kawasaki also admitted that in addition to Japanese companies, its subsidiaries in countries such as Thailand, China, and Malaysia have data fraud problems.

On the evening of October 20th, Kobe Steel, which was deeply involved in the fraud scandal, held a press conference, acknowledging that the company had discovered new violations in the course of its recent self-examination.

Many subsidiary companies and first-line factories under the Group have been tampered with, reported and fabricated quality inspection data. Among them, the subsidiary companies engaged in metal plate processing products tampered with the product data including thickness, and provided products to the customers for non-compliance. At the press conference, the person in charge of Kobe Steel also revealed that Hitachi and many other customer companies have required them to bear the costs associated with replacing the problem product. In addition, the company has also set up an "external investigation committee" composed of third parties to conduct further investigations on whether there is any illegality.

According to the report of the Asahi Shimbun of Japan, in 2006, two ironmaking plants of the Kobe Steel Group were exposed to exhaust emissions that did not meet the standards, and falsified emissions data to deceive the local government. One of them, the Kakogawa Iron Works, has been using this technique for 30 years.

Since it is impossible to ascertain the impact of altering the performance data of aluminum products and copper products, before the first half of the 2017 fiscal year is announced on the 30th of this month, Kobe Steel will determine whether it will discuss the cost burden with the customer. Withdrew FY17 performance expectations.

Kobe Steel originally expected net profit for fiscal year 2017 to be 35 billion yen (approximately RMB 2 billion), but the risk of violations leading to huge losses is rising. According to reports, the JR East Japan and JR West Japan two major rail transport groups plan to require the cost of replacing parts and components, and if the auto makers conduct product recalls (free recovery and repair), they are expected to make the same requirements. In addition, Kobe Steel may also be subject to heavy fines if it is held criminally liable.

Widespread coverage

Since Kobe Steel has a large number of customers, including many overseas customers, the storm caused by the corporate fraud scandal not only swept Japan's core core industries such as automobiles, Shinkansen, and aircraft, but also related to Japan’s rockets, missiles, fighter aircrafts and other aerospace and military industries. It also directly affects large European and American companies, causing them to worry.

In Japan, problematic products have affected about 200 Japanese companies such as Toyota Motors and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Although there are no safety hazards, the company must report to the Japanese Ministry of Industry on any safety issue at a specified time and provide a more detailed description after two weeks.

Many weapons and equipment of the Japan Self-Defense Force use the problematic products of Kobe Steel. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan stated at a press conference on the 10th that it had received reports from four companies including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Subaru, and Ishikawajima Heavy Machinery Group, confirming that Kobe’s weapons were produced and supplied to the Self-Defense Force. Problems of aluminum and copper products provided by steelmaking. The H2A rocket launched on the 10th in Japan actually used the above-mentioned problematic products.

On October 19th, Kobe Steel was investigated by Japan's official certification body “Japan Quality Assurance Agency” and found that its seamless copper pipes did not meet the Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS). This standard certification is for the safety of Japanese industrial products. prove.

In the face of the possibility of losing Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) certification, Kobe Steel also welcomed the investigation of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Japan. Japanese media reported that on October 23rd, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Japan began investigating Kobe Steel's Daian Plant in Mie Prefecture, which is the first domestically-produced regional jetliner “Mitsubishi Regional Jet” (MRJ) for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. provide materials. The Japanese government has high hopes for MRJ and is extremely cautious in R&D. However, MRJ's R&D has encountered all sorts of unexpected difficulties and its official time to market has been postponed more than expected for a full three years.

Fires of counterfeit scandals also spread to Japan's most proud Shinkansen trains. President of JR East Japan Co., Ltd. stated that the key components of Japan's latest N700 Shinkansen used Kobe Steel's materials. Although the tensile strength of certain aluminum alloy parts is lower than the Japanese industrial standard, it is much higher than the load. Load, so it's safe.

Since aluminum and copper are widely used in the manufacturing industry, especially aluminum coils, which are the main materials for the manufacture of automobiles, trains, and aircrafts, Kobe Steel's problematic products have also been pitted by Japanese "teammates," including Honda. , Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Suzuki and Toyota and other famous car companies.

In addition to domestic companies, foreign users have also been recruiting. On October 16th, the high-speed trains between Japan and Hitachi were officially put into operation in London, England. On the way to the launch, the high-speed train not only started 25 minutes late due to technical problems, but even appeared on the way. According to reports, the vehicle uses Kobe Steel's problematic parts.

General Motors, Ford, Airbus, Boeing and other companies are also worried. Airbus said that it did not directly source products from Kobelco, but it is investigating whether the products provided by suppliers include Kobe Steel products. Kobe Steel announced in July last year that it has begun supplying titanium components to Safran, a large manufacturer of landing gear, for the landing gear of the new Airbus A350XWB.

On October 18, the European Aviation Safety Agency issued a statement advising related companies to suspend the use of Kobe steel products. In the statement, the agency stated that due to many years of fraud in the data of Kobe Steel, which involved a wide range of products, the European Aviation Safety Agency reminded European aviation companies to pay attention to this incident and put forward “preliminary recommendations”: it is recommended to engage in design, manufacture and maintenance. Related companies “check the supply chain carefully” to determine if and when they used Kobe Steel Products. At the same time, these companies should report the results to customers and competent authorities. The European Aviation Safety Agency also recommends that relevant companies “If there is an alternative supplier, the use of Kobe Steel's products should be suspended until the products involved are confirmed as eligible”.

The U.S. Department of Justice has also begun to investigate the use of Kobelco products in the U.S. market. On the 16th, the U.S. branch company of Kobe Steel was requested to submit relevant product information. Kobe Steel stated in its statement on October 17 that it will fully cooperate with the Ministry of Justice’s investigation.

It is alleged that approximately 500 companies that are potentially victimized will seek compensation from Kobe Steel for the related product replacement and inspection costs. Among them, “the amount of claims from overseas customers, especially large customers in the United States and Europe, will be particularly large.”

Examine "Made in Japan"

Once upon a time, people were proud to have a "Made in Japan", made in Japan as the representative of "excellence" and the embodiment of "perfect craft". However, a series of well-known companies have successively exposed fraud scandals, which have caused torture of the Japanese manufacturing industry that used to be "high quality" as a selling point.

The Japanese government said a few days ago that it hopes that the scandal of Kobe Steel's tampering with data will be resolved quickly and that it is worried about the reputation of Japanese manufacturers, because this incident will make it difficult for these companies to prove the rationality of leaving factories in Japan.

At the press conference on October 12th, Kobe Steel’s President Kawasaki expressed that “The credibility of Kobe Steel has been reduced to zero.” Miyazaki Tadashi, Director of Manufacturing Industry Bureau of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan stated on the 12th that some people have already stated that Kobe? The steelmaking data tampering with the scandal may affect the overall confidence in the Japanese manufacturing industry. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan is very worried about this.

With the in-depth investigation of the data collection fraud of Kobe Steel, recently four Japanese car manufacturers collectively issued an external statement stating that there is no safety issue for the aluminum parts supplied by Kobe Steel, hoping to eliminate consumer concerns about product quality. Adding unnecessary new trouble to the Japanese auto industry.

The "Financial Times" of the United Kingdom has listed a series of fraud scandals that have eclipsed "Made in Japan" in the past two years. Many of them are related to the Japanese automobile industry:

Last month, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Japan found that Nissan Motors used unqualified employees to inspect vehicles. Nissan had to announce that it would stop selling 60,000 new cars. In June of this year, Japan's Takada, the world's largest manufacturer of airbags, filed for bankruptcy. The company’s airbags had potential safety hazards that caused Volkswagen, General Motors and many other companies to be forced to recall millions of cars. In April of last year, Mitsubishi Motors fell above the "fuel efficiency gate". The company admitted that it had falsified the fuel consumption data of its various vehicles, and this fraudulent act continued for 25 years...

Singapore’s “Crossing Times” stated that “despite the lack of security issues, this incident has seriously affected the reputation of the Japanese manufacturing industry.” The US “The New York Times” also commented that Kobe Steel’s data is false, destroying the entire Japanese manufacturing industry. Reputation.

What problem does the "Nihon Keizai Shimbun" have in the title "Made in Japan"? In the commentary, there is a limit to rethinking the Japanese production experience and model that goes to the world. Another article in the newspaper stated that society’s attitude toward corporate scandals has become more and more stringent. A scandal not only concerns the company’s own survival, but it also causes customers’ companies that do not know the product to have problems to lose credibility. The self-discipline, self-purification, and self-correcting ability of Japanese manufacturing companies that have always been proud are being severely tested.

Cases cannot conclude that Japan’s manufacturing capacity has declined, but a series of cases have sharply reflected the common problems of Japanese companies and Japanese society. Including the professional ethics of companies, Japanese society has been declining these years. Due to the high level of the original, the phenomenon of declining road has failed to arouse people's vigilance.

In a series of scandals, Japanese companies involved have given reasons such as “internal management, executives' conduct, and performance pressure”. Many leading companies in the Japanese manufacturing industry have exposed scandals such as tampering, fraud, concealment, and false reports, which undoubtedly exposed the deep crisis in Japan’s economic and social development.

According to a statistic by Roland Berger, a consulting giant in Germany, the productivity of Japanese companies has fallen to about two-thirds of that of Europe and the United States. Roland Berger, president of the Japanese company, Nagashima Sato, pointed out that “because of the influence of their own politics and organizational closure, there are many cases of duplication of work, resulting in a lot of waste.” In his view, the global market share pursued by Japanese manufacturing companies has gradually given way to the return on capital. "In the future, how Japan's enterprises are transformed and how the Japanese economy has been upgraded has become an important factor in determining Japan's renaissance or sinking." Nagashima Satoshi also said that the "depravity" of Japan's manufacturing industry is the tip of the iceberg of the dramatic changes in Japan's economic environment under the tide of globalization. .

Professor Yuan Zhijia, a professor at the School of Economics at Japan’s Riken University, believes that the root cause of frequent manufacturing problems lies in the pyramidal division of labor within the Japanese manufacturing industry. He believes that manufacturers of finished products are at the spire, materials and parts suppliers at the bottom of the tower. For a long time, the final product companies are accustomed to pursuing their own product replacements at the expense of material and component suppliers, and require suppliers of materials and components to follow up on technology and cost. After entering this century, although the technological innovation of manufactured goods is changing with each passing day, suppliers are increasingly unable to keep up with the pace of leading companies. The development of new materials requires huge investments, and these companies are already overwhelmed.

Japanese public opinion believes that from the fact that it was touted as "Japan's No. 1" to the economic downturn that has lasted for more than 20 years, the harsh reality has dealt a heavy blow to the morale of Japanese nationals. The phenomenon of low staff morale and declining professional ethics is common within the company. The sense of responsibility of the employees and the spirit of “loving the company” are already worse than before. Whether it is the falsification of data on product quality or the falsification of financial data reflecting corporate profits and losses, the common ground is to create a false impression of success. Japanese companies used to be of higher quality than developed countries such as the United States and Germany, and are now facing competition from Chinese companies. The rising quality of Chinese products has made Japan’s leading space smaller and smaller. The anxiety generated in this environment has made Japanese companies even more hope to strengthen and maintain their own successful image. When it fails to do so, it takes the road to fraud.

In addition, global manufacturing industry is in an upgrade and transformation. Mei Zegaoming, head of the Japanese business at Kearney Management Consulting, said that the problem with Japan's manufacturing industry is that it has not promoted the upgrading of business strategies and profit models, but only changed the management model to achieve the goals. In short, after experiencing the hollowing out of manufacturing, Japan is still looking for ways to survive in manufacturing.