Nov. 23 (UPI) — Mitsubishi Materials on Thursday “sincerely apologized” for falsifying data about some of its products.
The Japanese company said three divisions — Mitsubishi Cable, Mitsubishi Shindoh and Mitsubishi Aluminum — faked data for products supplied to the aerospace, car and electric power industries.
Mitsubishi said the subsidiaries “deviated from customer standards or internal company specifications due to misconduct, including the rewriting of inspection records data.”
Mitsubishi Aluminum’s products were deemed safe.
As a result, the company said it is strengthening its quality control. “MCI and MSC will need to promptly validate the safety of their products with the cooperation of their customers, and then, we have decided to publicly announce the status of the handling of non-conforming products,” the company said.
The company said it is suspending delivery of all non-conforming products from its plants.
“We have not at this time identified any instances of illegal conduct or concerns relating to safety at either [subsidiary],” Mitsubishi Materials said.
The Nikkei Asian Review reported the subsidiaries appear to have abused a business practice called tokusai, which allows clients to accept products that do not meet agreed-upon standards.
Last month, Kobe Steel admitted to falsifying data on products sold to big clients, including Boeing and Toyota.
Mitsubishi has a 45 percent venture with Kobe Steel to produce copper tubes.
Between April 2015 and September of this year, $254 million worth of products were shipped from its Mitsubishi Material Wakayama plant to 229 companies, including 70 in the aerospace industry and seven car makers.
Mitsubishi Shindoh rigged data on brass and copper products from its Fukushima plant worth $1.07 billion, which were supplied to 29 companies, including products in the automotive and electronics industries. Mitsubishi Shindoh, the nation’s largest exporter in the copper industry, was established in 1925.
Mitsubishi Aluminum began in 1962 under the name Mitsubishi Reynolds Aluminum and its plant is in Fuji.
In April 2016, the company’s automotive subsidiary, Mitsubishi Motors, admitted to cheating on fuel efficiency tests.
