Kobe Steel: More data fabrication cases possible

[nitpicker]

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-41591284

Kobe Steel: More data fabrication cases possible

54 minutes ago

From the section Business

Kobe Steel has warned that there may be more cases of falsified product data, in a sign the unfolding scandal could worsen. The Japanese company has already admitted that products were sold to about 200 firms with false data about their strength and durability. Toyota, Mazda and General Motors are among the firms affected.

The Japanese government wants the steelmaker to report on the result of its safety checks within two weeks. The country's trade ministry also wants Kobe Steel to provide reasons for the data fabrication and prevention measures within a month, the company's president, Hiroya Kawasaki, told reporters after meeting with the ministry.
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Kobe Steel revealed on Sunday that some aluminium and copper products shipped from September 2016 to August 2017 were falsely labelled as meeting the specifications requested by customers. It admitted the fabrications may have started a decade ago. Since then the embattled firm has seen its shares plunge nearly 40% - wiping more than $1.5bn (£1.1bn) off its market value - though the stock stabilised in trading on Thursday.
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But concern has spread across the range of industries - including automotive, train and aircraft manufacturers - that use Kobe Steel's products. Companies from Japan and abroad are investigating whether the safety of their products has been compromised.
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Many questions have been raised about how these types of irregularities could have gone unnoticed for so long. Kobe Steel's spokesperson Gary Tsuchida told me that dozens of employees - some of them veterans - were involved in the fabrication of the data. But he couldn't tell me whether these errors were intentional.

At the heart of this are some very simple questions: Did Kobe's management know that the certificates were being falsified? Or are there systemic issues in the firm that led to these errors? Management now has a month to deliver its findings. What they say will reveal just how deep the rot in corporate Japan goes.

Toyota, General Motors, Honda and Mazda are among the major carmakers checking their models. Toyota said it used materials from Kobe in bonnets, rear doors and other auto parts. Both Honda and Mazda use Kobe aluminium in the bonnets of some of their cars.
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[nitpicker]

1. More from MarketWatch

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kobe-steel-joins-rogues-gallery-of-companies-that-have-falsified-data-2017-10-11

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The company’s statement on Sunday described the latest “improper conduct” as “systematic.” The practices go back up to 10 years for some items, according to executive vice president Naoto Umehara who apologized for the fabrications at a news conference on Sunday. He said workers were “feeling pressure” to meet delivery goals the products, but that senior management had ordered or was aware of the conduct.

See: Boeing supplier’s stock has dived after it faked inspection data
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[nitpicker]

2. Link to the Kobe statement

http://www.kobelco.co.jp/english/releases/1197808_15581.html