At an extraordinary meeting of the Board of Directors held on the 28th July 2021, Mitsubishi Electric announced the results of an investigation, whilst the Director, Representative Executive Officer, President & CEO Takeshi Sugiyama resigned effective immediately. Resolutions were also made concerning a successor to the positions of President & CEO and Representative Executive Officer, as well as with regard to the executive officer structure.
The announcement follows a series of issues within the company about quality-related conduct issues discovered in late June and early July this year. At that time, discrepancies were found pertaining to HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning systems) for railcars manufactured at its Nagasaki Works (Togitsu-Cho, Nishisonogi-Gun, Nagasaki Prefecture).
An internal investigation found that inspections of certain HVAC were different from the inspections represented in specification documents provided by customers, or that it had not actually conducted inspections or had used improper statements in its inspection reports.
Through further investigation, the company also discovered on June 28th that for certain air compressor units for railcars it had previously shipped, inspections differing from those represented in specification documents had been conducted or that inspection had not actually been conducted.
The company established an investigative committee consisting of external experts, following an announcement to Reform its Quality Culture on July 2nd. They returned their findings today, indicating that the resin material used in MMP-T32 motor starters was found to be different than the material originally certified by and registered for the product with Underwriters Laboratories (UL). UL is a third-party safety-science organization in the United States.
Mitsubishi Electric states it will investigate the “root causes” of the series of improper quality-related conduct, and will also promote reform of the company’s corporate culture. Image: Mitsubishi Electric.
The MMP-T32 motor starters products and accessories incorporating the products are manufactured at the Kani Factory within Nagoya Works in Kani, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. The MMP-T32 connects an electromagnetic contactor with a protective thermal relay to prevent devices from burning out due to overcurrent. The company believes that approximately 140,000 MMP-T32 manual motor starters, shipped between April 2013 and April 2021, contain the different resin.
The company stated that the different resin that was used has no effect on the function, performance or safety of the MMP-T32 products or accessories incorporating the products. It also confirmed the MMP-T32 units currently in the field may continue to be used safely. The matter has been transferred to the investigative committee that was established by the company on July 2.
Kei Uruma becomes Representative Executive Officer, President & CEO, whilst Tadashi Matsumoto shifts to Representative Executive Officer, Senior Vice President, Export Control and Building Systems. Kunihiko Kaga is given the role of Executive Officer, Corporate Strategic, Planning and Operations of Associated Companies, CSO, as Tomonori Sato becomes Executive Officer, Research & Development, CTO.
Finally, Jun Nagasawa steps into the positions of Representative Executive Officer, Senior Vice President, Auditing, Legal Affairs & Compliance and Corporate Communication (Sustainability, Public Relations and Advertising), CCO.
Under the leadership of the new President & CEO and Executive Officers, Mitsubishi Electric states it will investigate the “root causes” of the series of improper quality-related conduct, and will also promote reform of the company’s corporate culture.
You can find more information about Mitsubishi Electric and the results of its investigation on its website.
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