The Corporate Mission of JSR Group "Materials Innovation - We create value through materials to enrich society, people and the environment."
We believe that an important role of JSR Group is to offer innovative materials and excellent products that meet customer needs and contribute to the making of a better society.
We strive to carry out initiatives to ensure the quality and safety of our products so that our customers can use them with peace of mind.
Each plant has a QA Promotion Sub-Committee that works together with the Group-wide QA Promotion Committee to promote activities in accordance with corporate plans. Progress reports are presented to the Responsible Care (RC) Committee, the CSR Committee and to senior management.
Internal and quality performance audits performed by plant managers and overseen by the President or an assigned officer as well as external ISO audits are conducted on a regular basis.
All plants are ISO 9001 certified, including relevant divisions and indirect departments.
ISO 9001 certified plants:
Yokkaichi Plant, Chiba Plant, Kashima Plant, Tsukuba Research Laboratories, and relevant divisions of the Head Office
As a manufacturer, JSR Group has responsibilities to meet the quality, cost, and supply requirements of its customers. To fulfill these responsibilities, quality performance audits have been performed annually since FY2012 in place of the previously conducted head office quality audits. These audits include reports on plant QA activity concerns such as trends and corresponding solutions of claims and other issues, and activities to improve plant capability. They also include reports on customer satisfaction levels and presentations on quality improvement activities such as Six Sigma training and small-group improvement activities. The Quality Performance Audit is promoted as one of the drivers for quality improvement activities by combining the conventional QC method with the Six Sigma method in order to achieve the best possible balance between quality, cost, and stable supply. The fifth Quality Performance Audits were conducted under the leadership of the President at JSR's three plants in January and February of 2017.
A Quality Performance Audit being conducted by top management (JSR Corporation's Chiba Plant)
Presentation of a Quality Performance Audit's "highest excellence" award (at JSR Corporation's Head Office; March 28, 2017)
| Place | Date |
|---|---|
| Yokkaichi Plant | January 31, 2017 |
| Chiba Plant | February 16, 2017 |
| Kashima Plant | February 21, 2017 |
In 1994, JSR enacted its Product Liability Prevention (PLP) Standards to reinforce product safety efforts. These PLP Standards have been revised as needed to provide various stipulations for the prevention of product-related accidents at all stages of the product lifecycle, including product design, manufacturing, sales, and distribution. One example is a system for new products to be introduced to the market whereby each product undergoes safety checks starting at the product design stage, and is put on the market only after having received approval from the department manager. Similar efforts are currently being made at Group companies as well.
To prevent accidents related to products, we also strive to improve quality management throughout our supply chains—everything from raw materials procurement through distribution—by acquiring information through communication with our customers and by strengthening activities to prevent product-related accidents, such as through the revision of our quality management system and the updating of assessment technologies.
In light of recent global trends in the management of chemical substances, JSR has established the below three basic policies.
(1) Instead of hazard-based management,*1 we will endeavor to implement risk-based management.*2
(2) We will strive to manage our entire supply chain by utilizing a globally standardized method.
(3) We will strive to comply with regulations and promote self-motivated initiatives to ensure the safety of our products.
*1 Management based solely on the hazardous properties of substances
*2 Management based on exposure to the hazardous properties of substances
JSR discloses environmental and safety information to its customers by preparing a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for all products containing polymers, regardless of whether they contain hazardous or toxic substances or not.
In Japan, our current SDS items all comply with JIS Z 7253, the Industrial Safety and Health Act, the Law concerning Pollutnt Release and Transfer Register (PRTR Law), and the Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Act. Our new SDS electronic data management system has been in operation since its creation in 2002 to provide customers with SDS that contain the most accurate information possible about each product. This system includes user management, chemical substance database management, creation support, and publication (revision) history. This allows us to accurately and quickly provide environmental and safety information related to JSR products.
In accordance with the amendment of the Industrial Safety and Health Act in 2014, starting June 1, 2016, manufacturers are required to label chemical substances, submit the relevant SDS and conduct risk assessments. This amendment significantly increases the chemical substances subject to labeling. We have completed steps to comply.
The Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) was developed as an international standard to classify and label chemicals, and includes the following elements: (a) Classification of chemical products according to hazard and toxicity; (b) Labelling on product packaging and containers; and (c) Documentation and provision of details in the SDS. In Japan, the Industrial Safety and Health Act stipulates mandatory application of GHS to the labels and SDS of products containing GHS-designated chemical substances. JSR has finished conducting hazard and toxicity classification for all products that contain applicable substances and has prepared appropriate labels for its products. We have also completed the application of GHS to SDS for all our domestic products. We are completing efforts to achieve compliance in countries and regions that have enshrined GHS into law, including the EU, South Korea, Taiwan and China.
As voluntary efforts by the chemical industry, the Japan Chemical Industry Association (JCIA), to which JSR belongs, promotes JIPS*3 and LRI*4 activities; and our company contributes to these programs through participation in the association's working groups and by providing research funding. We are also proactively engaged in global warming mitigation in accordance with the corresponding JCIA policy.
*3 The Japan Initiative of Product Stewardship (JIPS):
An effort to implement the Global Product Strategy (GPS), which was presented by the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) at the First International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM-1). The aim of GPS is to attain the WSSD 2020 target, an international goal to "minimize adverse effects that the manufacturing and use of chemical substances have on human health and the environment, by 2020," which was set at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in 2002. In Japan, the JCIA has promoted JIPS activities to implement GPS. Manufacturers and importers of chemical substances are working on the proper management of chemical substances in supply chains by conducting risk assessment and releasing such assessment results and other information in cooperation with companies engaged in the processing, assembly and distribution of chemical substances.
*4 Long-range Research Initiative (LRI):
The Long-range Research Initiative (LRI) is one of the critical activities of the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA), and is a voluntary long-term research project for chemical substances that have an impact on the environment, safety and health. Since FY2013, JCIA has been engaged in new LRI initiatives to resolve the following five issues: (1) development and evaluation of the new risk assessment method; (2) study on the safety of new chemical substances including nano materials; (3) study on the effects of chemical substances on children, the elderly, and gene disorders; (4) evaluation of the impact on ecosystems and the environment; and (5) other issues that require an emergency response.
JSR outsources the distribution of its products. To maintain environmental and safety standards during transport, JSR has drivers carry a "Yellow Card" imprinted with special measures and telephone numbers in case of emergency, in addition to having logistics companies train them on specific safety issues.