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Has appointed the Corporate Executive in charge of Product Quality and Safety and has tasked them with coordinating efforts to improve product and customer service quality and ensure timely responses to problems;
Has appointed Quality Officers within each business unit and has tasked them with spearheading product- and business-specific initiatives under the supervision of the Corporate Executive in charge of Product Quality and Safety and the senior executive of the relevant business unit;
Has appointed a Software Quality Officer in each business division to promote the maintenance and improvement of overall software quality under the direction and supervision of the Quality Officer. This includes ensuring connectivity between the products supported;
Quality Hotline
(Updated on August 12, 2013) It is vital to detect product quality-related problems as early as possible. To that end, Sony therefore established the Quality Hotline in 2003, to gather product quality-related information, including reports of problems, as well as opinions from Sony Group employees. Employees can send messages regarding such matters as issues that are too difficult to handle at their workplace and problems concerning the quality of Sony products and/or customer services from the customer's perspective, to the Quality Hotline's in-house website. Upon investigating a problem to ascertain the veracity of the information received, the Quality Hotline proposes and introduces measures to prevent previous problems from recurring and precluding potential new problems. For example, in digital high-definition video cameras, based on information gathered from employees, Sony implemented an overhaul of product specifications related to image processing, leading to an improvement providing higher image quality. As of March 2013, Sony had received more than 1,610 reports since the establishment of the Quality Hotline. The diverse range of information received has included proposals to develop products and manuals more user-friendly, and has led to more than 1,040 improvements.
At Sony's head office, information related to quality issues arising in the marketplace is gathered in a timely manner from a broad range of sources in Japan and overseas and reported weekly to head office quality management and technical specialists under an information-sharing system. Based on reported information, Sony ascertains whether or not issues in the marketplace have been addressed appropriately. As well as ensuring that such issues are thoroughly addressed, by promoting measures to prevent recurrence and proactive measures in relation to quality issues, Sony is accelerating its quality improvement performance.
Initiatives Aimed at Improving the Quality, Safety and Long-Term Reliability of Products
(Updated on August 12, 2013) Initiatives Aimed at Improving the Quality of Products Sony pursues design-, manufacturing- and parts-related initiatives aimed at improving product quality.
Design-related quality initiatives In the initial stages of the design process, the individual in charge of a particular business group verifies new technologies and new parts and, from a user's perspective, determines how a product is to be used. At the conclusion of the design process, the individual in charge confirms the degree to which the intended level of product quality, reliability and usability has been realized.
In addition, to ensure our ability to provide customers with products of a quality worthy of the Sony brand, we required OEM/ODM companies and parts suppliers to comply with Groupwide quality standards. Compliance with these standards is also tested at the end of the design process.
Such approaches prevent the occurrence of problems pertaining to new technologies and product parts, as well as ensure product designs that incorporate consideration for user convenience.
Parts-related quality initiatives Recognizing the importance of parts, and resolved to manufacture products built for long-term use, Sony carefully selects key parts independently for each of its major product categories and is pursuing focused efforts aimed at increasing the reliability of the parts it uses through cooperation with relevant departments and Sony's headquarters.
Initiatives Aimed at Improving Product Safety In line with its efforts to improve the safety of its products, Sony has assigned managers in charge of product safety assessment from a medical perspective, and has prepared related internal standards, which they updates and modifies as necessary to reflect the ever-evolving understanding of human health. Sony is also promoting efforts to strengthen internal processes for ensuring that Sony's products are in line with applicable laws, regulations and standards.
When developing products employing new technologies, Sony also seeks advice on product safety from a medical perspective from experts outside the Company, which it then incorporates into product development, design and engineering. When deemed necessary, Sony also conducts evaluation tests to verify safety with the assistance of a specialized organization.
Initiatives Aimed at Improving the Long-Term Reliability of Products The Quality Reliability Lab continues to enhance Sony's product reliability, thereby ensuring Sony's ability to deliver safe, durable and reliable products to customers.
Sony has assigned specialists to work full time on improving technologies essential to product reliability and continues working to ensure the long-term reliability of its products by developing elemental technologies for preventing the deterioration, wear and corrosion of materials and parts, as well as technologies necessary to ensure the reliability of new technologies and products and to evaluate such technologies and products.
The reliability and evaluation techniques, and the information obtained through these activities, are openly accessible and available to all Sony employees via training sessions, seminars, and websites, and are utilized to improve design and parts selection processes.
Sony also presents some of its own knowledge on new evaluation techniques at academic meetings and industry conferences and gatherings, in its efforts to contribute to industry. For example, a drop test method, using strain gauges applicable to surface-mounted semiconductor devices, has been adopted by Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) as its standard, illustrating how Sony extends its contributions to industry and acts above and beyond the responsibilities of a manufacturer.
In addition to establishing a special function for collecting security risk-related information from outside experts, Sony has created an internal software vulnerability team comprising individuals assigned to each business group who are responsible for software vulnerability issues. Based on information received, the teamled by such individualsassesses the impact of risk on customers from a security perspective and implements appropriate measures.
To ensure its ability to deliver products that customers can use with confidence, Sony has also established internal guidelines pertaining to software vulnerability and continues to implement employee training programs. Additionally, in 2009 Sony reinforced its product security framework by introducing a mechanism that detects software vulnerabilities during the security inspections prior to product shipment and ensures that the inspections are duly conducted.
Sony also responds swiftly when a problem arises, by investigating the facts and taking the appropriate actions. Sony approaches such efforts with a global perspective, working closely with concerned parties in local markets.
Sony also seeks to respond swiftly to the concerns of customers in the event of a quality-related issue, following a process common to all Sony products for determining the basic policy and timing of a public announcement. This process starts with the gathering of information from Customer Service Centers
With regard to methods and media for issuing public announcements of product quality-related issues, Sony examines the effectiveness of the various means at its disposal, including the Internet, e-mail or other electronic media, as well as direct mail, newspaper advertisements or other conventional media.
External Recognition
(Updated on August 12, 2013) As an organization that manufactures and sells a wide range of products in markets around the world, Sony strives to ensure its ability to provide safe products by promptly resolving safety-related issues by, among others, leveraging its internal product supply systems and reporting to top management, and is working actively to raise awareness internally, as well as to rebuild its culture of product safety. In fiscal year 2009, these efforts were recognized when Sony was chosen to receive the Director-General for Commerce and Distribution Policy Award in the third METI Minister Awards for Best Contributors to Product Safety, sponsored by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
At the fifth METI Minister Awards for Best Contributors to Product Safety, for fiscal year 2011, Sony was once again honored with the Director-General for Commerce and Distribution Policy Award, this time in
1. Having objectively evaluated the effectiveness of R-Map risk management, the VAIO & Mobile Business Group developed a proprietary testing method tailored to the types of situations in which Sony products are used to ensure that product safety is built into product designs. 2. Using results generated by the self-diagnostic functions incorporated into products to identify key safety-related considerations, the VAIO & Mobile Business Group created a monitoring system that detects abnormalities after products have been sold, thereby helping prevent accidents before they happen. 3. All employees of the VAIO & Mobile Business Group were given training aimed at enhancing their awareness of product safety by enabling them to hear directly from customers regarding product uses and customer perspectives.