Mitsubishi Electric again admits to widespread quality control cheating

Mitsubishi Electric has admitted to widespread cheating on its internal quality control efforts. The Japanese giant makes datacenter-scale power supply products, uninterruptible power supplies, high-end optical networking kit, plus plenty of electronics and semiconductor products – so this scandal is of concern to Reg readers …

[Mike 137]

Culture change

"Mitsubishi Electric has admitted to widespread cheating on its internal quality control efforts"

A far cry from the Toyota Way. "Principle 5: build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time"

[ShadowSystems]

Re: Culture change

I bet they would aggressively enforce proper quality controls after getting their asses sued off by some other company that paid them serious money for kit that ME claimed was fit for purpose but that the purchaser has determined was anything but.

Take the UPS for example. If ME claims it can support $X load for $Y time, the purchaser has an incident that tests that claim & finds it seriously lacking, what do you think the purchasing company will do to ME for false advertising & fraud? I bet the fine they request from the court will *vastly* outweigh the cost of having a proper QC in the first place.

[Richard Jones 1]

Re: Culture change

If they sell, X000000 units and one complaint comes in, a cover culture would probably step in and cover out the incident, 'sorry sir a rogue part was included, please have this totally new upgraded item for free. We will cover all reasonable costs of the downtime.'

Such things have happened in the past and no doubt will again.

[Alumoi]

Re: Culture change

The reports detail a culture in which staff, and managers, often fudged test results to get products out the door.

And this is different from $any_other_big_corp how?

Microsoft Win8, 10, 11 and updates, Apple 'you're holding it wrong', all car manufacturers recalls, and the list goes on.

[jtaylor]

Re: Culture change

And this is different from $any_other_big_corp how?

This is not just business as usual. Plenty of companies value quality over crap. It's just not as visible when things work like they're supposed to.

When Mitsubishi Electric cheated, they didn't measure up. They failed.

[PeterM42]

Re: Culture change

And the list goes on to B.O.E.I.N.G. (Bits Of Everything In Neighbours Garden).

As you indicate, @Alumoi, Microsoft have been demonstrating this for years. Bill Gates would be turning in his grave if he was dead.

[Anonymous Coward]

This is the problem with being profit and numbers focused. If you get lambasted for not making your target numbers, you're gonna find ways to cut corners.

It's the capitalist way and we all reap the rewards..

[Anonymous Coward]

Mitsubishi Electric

Producing more Mitsubishit

[Jimmy2Cows]

Re: Mitsubishi Electric

Wonderful! Let me be the first to thank you for a cuttingly incisive, witty and well thought-out comment. This forum, nay, the world, desperately needs more people like you.

[deive]

Glad my new air source heat pump isn't a mitsubishi!

[Michael Strorm]

Mitsubishi Motors cover-up scandal anyone?

I remember Mitsubishi Motors had a big scandal around fifteen-to-twenty years ago when it was revealed they'd been covering up vehicle defects (which, according to the article, went back decades).

Yes, I know that technically that was a different company in the same group, but it wouldn't surprise me if there was a commonality of culture. It also shows that things like that can hang about vaguely in the consciousness, damaging a company's reputation for a long time.

Incidentally, that article reminded me that Mitsubishi Motors stopped selling cars in the UK last year. I wonder if that's because their market share was affected by the scandal? (They were never as common as (e.g.) Ford or Nissan, but there seemed to be more of them about decades ago).

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's be honest

A Japanese domestic product released without any QC testing is still likely to be more reliable and perform better than an equivalent sourced from anywhere else.

This is, after all, the country that launches an enquiry whenever a train is 30 seconds late.