Inspector Team
Inspector Team
Our subsidiaries under Western Japan Trading are equipped to perform inspections on imported products. These inspections are conducted both during the manufacturing process at factories and before shipping. Our aim is to detect and rectify quality defects before the cargo arrives in Japan, thus providing Japanese customers with significant cost and labor savings.
Process flow for inspections attended by on-site import inspectors
Inspection to problem discovery
Problem discovery to improvement check and application of same improvements in other areas
Examples of successful application of the inspector system
- Utilizing inspectors to improve delivery times and drastically reduce the number of occurrences of defective products
- Import of new large-scale equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic
Example for Company A
Imported items: cast iron and steel-fabricated parts
Conventional problems: quality defects and delivery delays
Western Japan Trading initiatives:
We dispatched our on-site inspectors to the manufacturer's location and took the following measures.
1. Thorough inspections before shipping.
2. Daily checks of the following production processes.
Compliance with manufacturing processes
Inter-process inspections
Managing instruments
How paint / coatings are used, the expiration date, and whether the base coat quality for the paint / coating is observed
4M compliance
Analysis of the causes of past problems and handling of response measures
3. Based on 1 & 2, we conducted on-site inspections and submitted a report to Company A on each occasion. We also obtained evaluations and instructions from a representative in charge at Company A, and conveyed these to the manufacturer. As a result of continuous efforts such as these, we not only made improvements with regard to quality and delivery issues, but also linked them to improvements in yield and cost reductions, and received an award from Company A recognizing us as the best vendor out of hundreds of vendors worldwide.
Example for Company B
Imported items: Large-scale manufacturing equipment
In the initial plan, the engineering team at Company B—the buyer—was scheduled to visit China to perform candidate manufacturer selection, technology exchanges, and interim and pre-shipment inspections, but this became difficult in reality as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we were asked to act as an agent on the company's behalf. To guarantee that the delivery date and quality requirements of Company B were met, we sent our local staff and inspectors to visit each manufacturer. Connecting with Company B remotely from China as necessary, they were able to inspect and select candidate manufacturers, conduct technology exchanges and on-site inspections, and ensure delivery without any major delays in comparison with the initial plan. Even in the subsequent installation and adjustment stage, when the manufacturer's supervisor could not come to Japan, we were able to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic by again utilizing the remote format to support local work.