Report: Mitsubishi Materials unit falsified product data for years

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A Mitsubishi Materials Corp unit falsified product data for years, the Nikkei financial daily reported, the latest in a series of quality assurance scandals involving Japanese manufacturers.

Mitsubishi Cable Industries had falsified data on its O-rings, used by hundreds of customers for industrial products such as aircraft, the report said. No safety problems have been found so far, it said, citing multiple sources.

Company officials could not immediately be reached for a comment on Thursday, a national holiday. But the company will be holding a press conference on Friday, providing further details about the tampered product data, reported Nikkei.

The company website said O-rings, used as a sealing product, are supplied "to the critical area of aircraft and aerospace and nuclear use, based on high quality and reliability."

The Nikkei report said the company found the issue during an investigation following a data falsification scandal at Kobe Steel, Japan’s third-largest steelmaker.

Mitsubishi Materials has a 45 percent share in a copper tube joint venture with Kobe Steel, including the Hatano plant, the center of the falsification scandal.

Kobe Steel has admitted that workers tampered with product specifications, causing global automakers, aircraft manufacturers and other companies to check whether the safety or performance of their products had been compromised.

Confidence in Japan’s manufacturing prowess has also taken a hit from recent revelations that automakers Nissan and Subaru had failed to comply with final inspection procedures for decades.

Source(s): Reuters