Outstanding Product Quality
Path of Quality Development
In our process of implementing “Total Quality Management,” we are guided by our business philosophy and customer needs. We have insisted on adherence to quality, continuous improvement, technological innovation, and that customers come first. We focus on the management of processes and details while constantly improving different aspects of our operations such as R&D, marketing, management and so forth as we continue to advance towards our vision of “building a world-class company with firm profits and steady growth in the industrial safety component business.” We have separated our journey into four specific stages, with the history and results covered in the following section.
| 1985-1996 | |||
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| Quality inspection stage | Description | For our business model as a trader, we prioritized the selection of high-quality, third-party manufacturers and through supplier assessment and audit, we ensured consistency between product quality standards and what our customers expect in order to satisfy customers’ needs. | |
| Activities and results | ・Supplier assessment, supplier audit ・ External quality verification for quality assurance |
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| 1997-2008 | |||
| Quality manufacturing management stage | Description | Established our production base and focused primarily on stable quality and rapid production. During this period, we introduced a quality management system that met our customer requirements and a testing center laboratory verified our facility to validate the accuracy of tests we perform. | |
| Activities and results | ・Committed to the development of Grade 80 hooks in 1997 ・Established our own testing center and introduced non-destructive testing of magnetic particles ・Obtained certifications for API QMS ISO 9001 and API Specification Q1 ・Product manufacturing assessments: ABS, API, CCS ・Product type certifications: ABS, DNV, DGUV and SGS |
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| 2009-2018 | |||
| Quality design for prevention stage | Description | With the altruistic philosophy of “win-win-win” (i.e. customers, suppliers and YOKE), we actively promoted the importance of preventive management. Externally, we advocated at the supplier conference that SPC could be utilized to detect and reduce NG products preemptively to boost productivity and reduce costs; internally, we introduced an advanced product quality plan (APQP) to achieve early identification of quality issues and take preventive measures to avoid losses from later changes while delivering quality products to customers in a timely manner. | |
| Activities and results | ・Became a leading brand for Grade 100 hook products in 2010 ・Inspected and calibrated relevant equipment and apparatus; introduced tightened and reduced planning system ・Promoted operation of the quality management system and relevant internal/external audits ・Provided quality and defect analysis and feedback; offered assistance to our suppliers ・Established our R&D center and jointly established R&D center with National Taiwan University to complete our development of Grade 120 materials ・Introduced various systems including MES, PLM and Salesforce ・Introduced the concepts of 5S, continuous improvement activity group (CIT) and TPM |
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| 2019-2028 | |||
| Quality excellence sustainability stage | Description | In 2016, we promoted the cultures of “total participation and continuous improvement” at YOKE. Since then, we have been organizing the continuous improvement activity group competition on a yearly basis to use the 8D problem-solving model for the analysis and improvement of issues. During the mid-term and end of year, we carried out audits to improve efficiency. At the end of the year, we would also invite outstanding suppliers to participate in the activity to inspire other suppliers to attend. At this stage, we expected the quality culture we had been building to positively influence our employees’ values and conduct and boost their work performance and acclimatize them to adhering to the processes and instructions of quality management. Ultimately, we hope employees can eventually reach the state where quality is simply a product of “habit.” In order to help employees become more quality conscious and achieve the goal of total participation, we have been organizing factory-wide SOP tests on quality and all employees (the general manager included) quarterly starting from 2019. | |
| Activities and results | ・Organized factory-wide SOP test on quality ・Introduced SPC system to digitize QA data for easy management and quick response ・Introduced 3D scanner to refine inspection and measurement accuracy ・Digitization at our laboratory ・Full-fledged promotion to become the leading quality for Grade 120 hooks ・Obtained environmental, safety and health certifications (ISO 14001 and ISO 45001) ・Expansion of industry-academia collaborations |
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Laboratory setup
Based on the priority of product safety testing, the laboratory conducts 11 validation tests in accordance with international product standards. For more than 10 years, the laboratory has been performing product testing in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025 laboratory quality management system, in order to enhance the accuracy and credibility of laboratory testing.
In light of the fact that dynamic fall tests for products had to be commissioned to overseas laboratories, the test would usually take 2-3 months to complete. In 2020, we introduced a new dynamic fall test to meet requirement of ANSI/ASSE Z359.14 for our laboratory and we obtained the certification of ISO/IEC 17025:2017. This helps us save time and money. Since the testing of 10-ton tensile force testing machines in the laboratory does not comply with ANSI Z359.18, we have started to improve the compliance procedures of testing capability and are conducted external validation in January 2022 in order to effectively improve the testing capacity of the laboratory.
