Feature: Key Challenge 1
Working to Bring Great Taste and Safety to Dining Tables
Group-wide Initiatives for Safety and Quality
Quality Management System
The Ajinomoto Group Management Policies clearly indicate the group's commitment to offering “innovative products and services of the highest standards and quality.” Based on this approach, the group established the Ajinomoto Group Quality Policies in 2000, and is carrying out its own strict quality assurance from raw material procurement to sales under the Ajinomoto System of Quality Assurance (ASQUA), which covers all products and services of the Ajinomoto Group. ASQUA also encourages proactive quality assurance initiatives while providing a framework for improving products, services, and business activities by quickly responding to customer opinions and requests. In principle, ASQUA has been applied throughout the entire Ajinomoto Group, unless it was deemed unnecessary due to such issues as conflicts with national or regional laws and regulations, or incompatibility with characteristics of certain products.
Comment
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Yoichi Ueda
General Manager, Quality Assurance Group, Quality Assurance & External Scientific Affairs Department, Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
By “quality,” we are not only talking about the quality of products—before that comes the quality of business operations and the capabilities of our people who conduct those operations. Our management quality is also of central importance. ASQUA is based on the concept of going through the PDCA (plan-do-check-act) cycle to achieve the best “quality.”
Ajinomoto Group Quality Policies
Philosophy
We contribute to a better life for all throughout the world by providing safe and high-quality products and services.
Policies
- We pay full attention to the request of our customers, and provide products and services meeting with their satisfaction.
- We actively provide appropriate information to our customers and continue to improve our trustworthiness.
- We make no compromises with regard to safety, conducting surveys and research as thoroughly as possible, faithfully complying with applicable laws and regulations, and always delivering products and services of uniform quality.
- We assure quality through the Ajinomoto System of Quality Assurance (ASQUA), based on the concepts outlined in the international ISO standard.
- Under the leadership of our management, each one of our company's employees makes the greatest effort to provide safe and high-quality products and services through work at all levels, from research and development to production, distribution, sales and services.
ASQUA's PDCA cycle
Quality Management System
Product recalls
The Ajinomoto Group has a system in place for conducting product recalls if such an action were to become necessary for ensuring safety. In the event a product quality report requiring urgent action is issued, information on the product is first evaluated, in line with the group's standards for determining a quality control emergency response, and a Quality Control Emergency Response Meeting is held to deliberate, resolve and take actions to ensure product safety.
Voluntary recall of frozen food products
1) NEW Beef Croquettes 60 g (possibly made with an ingredient supplied by Meat Hope Co.)
In June 2007, Meat Hope Co. in Japan admitted to have mixed minced pork with minced beef in its products for shipment. After determining that this may have been used as an ingredient in NEW Beef Croquettes 60 g, produced by Ajinomoto Frozen Foods Co., Inc. (FFA), Ajinomoto conducted a voluntary recall of the product, prioritizing food safety above all else. The recall included 14,194 packages recovered from consumers and 7,910 packages recovered from goods in transit. The company verified that the material in question had not been used in its home-use products and food service-use products.
2) Home-use Spicy Kalbi Fried Rice and food service-use Kalbi Kuppa (made with an ingredient from Tianyang Food in China)
In January 2008, news reports uncovered that frozen gyoza (Chinese dumplings) manufactured by China's Tianyang Food Processing Ltd. had been contaminated with the organophosphate insecticide methamidophos. In response, FFA conducted an investigation revealing that some products produced at plants in Japan were using flavored kalbi meat made by Tianyang Food as a basic ingredient. After testing this material for agricultural chemicals in September 2007, FFA did not detect any methamidophos.
Nevertheless, since the origin of contamination was undetermined, the company conducted a voluntary recall of products made with the material to ensure consumer safety. Subject to the recall were 450-gram packages of home-use Spicy Kalbi Fried Rice (8,120 packages recovered from consumers and 249,579 packages recovered from goods in transit) and 150-gram packages of food service-use Kalbi Kuppa (1,682 packages recovered from consumers and 40,672 packages recovered from goods in transit).
At a later date, the company tested all flavored kalbi meat in its possession for residues of 46 organophosphate agricultural chemicals, including methamidophos and dichlorvos, and confirmed that no problems existed regarding any of these chemicals, in accordance with Japan's Food Sanitation Law.
Study session for top managers
In December 2007, the Ajinomoto Group held a study session run by the Quality Assurance & External Scientific Affairs Department for the presidents of group companies in Japan and general managers of the main departments in Ajinomoto Co., Inc. During this meeting, the participants, who numbered about 50, discussed policies and goals for group-wide improvement of quality, communicated the expectations that society places on the Ajinomoto Group, and clearly defined the roles of top management.
In March 2008, a study session was led by external instructors for executives of Ajinomoto Co., Inc., and the persons responsible for quality assurance at each internal company. The 20 participants learned about initiatives taken by Toshiba Corporation, a leading company in the area of quality management.
Distribution of educational pamphlets about quality
In response to society's stricter scrutiny of food companies, in July 2007, Ajinomoto Co., Inc., prepared and distributed an educational pamphlet entitled “Making Products Better! A Quality Declaration” (in Japanese only). The content of the pamphlet was shared with part-time and temporary employees as well as regular employees.
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The pamphlet explains quality issues in simple terms using the cartoon character ASQUA-chan. |
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Seventh QMS School in Japan
In October 2007, the Ajinomoto Group held a two-week training course for eight regional staff members in charge of quality assurance at overseas subsidiaries in the United States, France, China, Thailand, and Vietnam.
In addition to learning about ASQUA and the group's philosophy on quality assurance, the participants experienced first-hand quality-related activities and technologies at the head office, Kawasaki Plant, Food Development & Technology Center, Tokai Plant, and sites of Tokai Knorr Foods Co., Ltd.
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Third ASQUA School in Thailand
In November 2007, the Ajinomoto Group held a training course for 20 regional staff members in charge of quality assurance at companies in the ASEAN region (Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Singapore).
In addition, two people from Ajinomoto Co., Inc., and two people from Shanghai Ajinomoto Food Research and Development Center Co., Ltd., participated as trainees. As they deepened exchanges over a three-day period, the participants learned about the quality management of all raw materials, including management concerning the auditing of suppliers.
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