Satisfying your needs with compound development and global quality
With the advanced system for quality assurance, the environmental, performance and characteristic requirement demands are met.
Our high technical competence is the driving force to keep the top-grade share in the PVC compounds industry. Amid mounting demand for the performance and characteristics required for any type of resin, we have established a Technical Development Center. We have been working on the development of compounds that can meet the advanced needs of our customers.
We are receiving several thousands of development requests from customers every year, as we produce a tailor-made compound for every product. To meet these requests, we established the technology development division at the Technical Development Center.
Engineers from the center actively support customers from the starting stage. The technology development team hears the details, suggests plans from a technical perspective and promptly proceeds with development.
To create better products for customers, it is essential to select compounds that can fit their products. We can provide such technical suggestions as we have a great deal of experience for development. With technical support in the development process, we are providing suggestions that can add value to the customer’s products.
Issues brought to us by customers are not only for the Technical Development Center to respond to, but also for all divisions in the company to resolve. We are seeking the solution by building a framework to share the issues, including an on-the-day assignment of contact persons.
Not only developing a compound based on the customer’s request, Showa Kasei Kogyo is also participating in joint development with the customer as a material manufacturer by actively advancing the manufacturing of better compounds based on the extensive expertise cultivated since its founding. In addition, we are developing and deploying technology by considering the value added through responding to the customer’s challenge.
One example is a customer who is an expert in molding products but who does not have enough knowledge of the compounds used for them. It is probable that the quality of the products will improve or they will become easy to mold by arranging for the compounds to be used. Our accumulated expertise on manufacturing greatly contributes to resolving these issues.
Amid the various demands for eco-friendly products in a variety of industries, we focus on commercializing compounds with no environmental load. In response to “RoHS,” which defines the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in the EU, we have developed lead-free compounds. Additionally, responding to the newly implemented “RoHS2,” which defines four phthalic acid substances as those which are prohibited, we are developing halogen-free compounds.
Amid mounting demands for developing and manufacturing special grades of compounds, such as weather-proof, heat-resistance, low shrinkage and arc-resistance, we have been building a quality control system that can surely meet the customers’ needs for quality.
We aim to provide trustworthy products for our customers, and quality control for quality products is one of most important topics for us. The steady provision of compounds for medical applications, which have an ultimate mission of saving human life, is the result of our efforts for quality control. We are equipped with the most advanced analyzers, including a tensile strength tester, atomic absorption photometer, liquid chromatography, etc., and we perform each inspection strictly.
As defined in the Quality Policy, we are working “toward the target of ‘ZERO Defection’ to provide reliable products to our customers.” For that purpose, we have “ISO9001” certification, the international standard of quality control, and continuously improve the quality control system. Furthermore, we are actively working on quality protection support so that the quality control staff will not cause the manufacturing of non-conforming products by entering the production sites.
We are improving quality by keeping stable quality control, sharing among domestic and overseas production sites the expertise on the maintenance and manufacturing process regarding quality control, and closely communicating on-site information for risk reduction.
For all compounds manufactured at the domestic and overseas production sites, samples are sent to the Technical Development Center and checked by the quality control department.
ISO periodic calibration with test/check facilities and the equipment check/calibration, including the function check of safety devices, are conducted as a part of quality control.