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Quality and Safety

Governance
Thought Process
Main Initiatives

Governance

Quality and Safety Framework

Quality and Safety Implementation Framework and Quality and Safety Risk Management Framework

NEC positions ensuring the quality and safety of our products, system and services and preparing for related risks as one of our most important management issues.
NEC’s CSCO is responsible for managing the Company’s quality and safety. Furthermore, we are working to clarify our system of activities by defining companywide rules and standard operating procedures, and to improve quality and safety. This effort is headed by the SCM Strategy Division, the quality promotion organizations established at business units and at consolidated subsidiaries, and the quality/safety management officers appointed in each department and at consolidated subsidiaries under the business units.

In regard to risk management related to quality and safety, we have built a companywide framework and ensure that it is thoroughly implemented. If a customer’s system or a system with significant social impact were to experience a serious issue, or a major product incident or infringement of technology laws and regulations were to occur, the matter would be promptly escalated to management. The relevant department and specialist staff would confer and reach a swift decision on the response policy such as responses to the customer, the relevant local/regional authority, and PR measures.

Ensuring the Soundness of Construction Work

As a Social Value Innovator, NEC garners trust and contributes to realizing a better society by ensuring the health and safety of workers through safe construction initiatives that comply with relevant laws and regulations, such as safely installing NEC-developed products and systems.

With the mindset that health and safety are a priority in all work, including health management for all NEC employees and workers involved in construction work, we contribute to building an extremely safe society that provides peace of mind, and work to ensure the safety of our installation procedures in compliance with relevant laws and regulations and the soundness of construction work.

System for Compliance and OH&S in Construction Work (in Japan)

System for Compliance and OH&S in Construction Work (in Japan)

Thought Process

To realize “Better Products, Better Services,” which is one of the Principles in our founding philosophy, we have implemented a steady stream of initiatives aimed at improving quality. These include the introduction of quality controls that broke new ground in Japan, ZD Activities1, the quality-operation strategy2, and Software Quality Control (SWQC).

As a Social Value Innovator, we hope that all employees will continue to improve the quality of their own work, the products they create and the services they provide, and that customers will favor NEC as the provider of trusted “NEC Quality.”

Specifically, we have set up the Quality and Safety Action Policy, and we are conducting activities such as complying with product and service quality and safety laws and regulations, improving safety and reliability technologies, strengthening project management, sharing expertise learned from past failures and taking steps to prevent defects and their recurrence.

  • 1.
    ZD (Zero Defects) Activities: Designed to stimulate each employee’s autonomy and passion to eliminate defects from their work through creative thinking, cost reductions, and improvements in quality and service
  • 2.
    An initiative to achieve companywide improvement in the 7 Qs denoting quality in 1) management, 2) products and services, 3) human behavior, 4) workplace environment, 5) relationships with the local community, 6) business results, and 7) corporate image

Quality and Safety Philosophy

NEC strives to continue improving quality and safety based on the Principles in the NEC Way, including the founding spirit of “Better Products, Better Services.”

Action Guidelines

  1. Quality management
    • 1.
      Think and act from the standpoint of new value for customers and society
    • 2.
      Maintain and enhance the NEC brand
    • 3.
      Ensure that each member of NEC recognizes the importance of quality and strives to deliver better quality
    • 4.
      Strive to ensure product and service quality, and comply with related laws and regulations
    • 5.
      Make sincere efforts to address product and service quality problems
  2. Safety management
    • 1.
      Ensure that each member of NEC recognizes the importance of product and service safety
    • 2.
      Strive to ensure product and service safety, and comply with related laws and regulations
    • 3.
      Make sincere efforts to address product and service safety problems

Construction work at NEC is strictly managed to ensure compliance with the Construction Industry Act, the Industrial Safety and Health Act and other laws in order to ensure that we provide customers with social value. In addition, our philosophy is to advance OH&S by establishing an OH&S culture among employees. With this in mind, we have set out the following code of conduct.

Code of Conduct for Health and Safety in Construction

  1. We shall ensure that each person checks and endeavors to improve the soundness of construction work.
  2. We shall advance compliance with laws and regulations, conduct education and personnel development, implement awareness-raising activities, and ensure Companywide understanding of the importance of occupational health and safety.
  3. We shall maintain and improve the occupational health and safety management system and move forward through a plan–do–check–act (PDCA) cycle.
  4. We shall preempt legal, safety, and quality issues by conducting monitoring and correction in relation to compliance with laws and regulations and occupational health and safety activities.
  5. We shall preempt legal, safety, and quality issues by implementing risk assessments.
  6. We shall increase motivation with respect to occupational health and safety through safety conventions and other measures.
  7. We shall respond sincerely to legal, safety, and quality issues that arise.
  8. We shall collect information on potential and actual legal, safety, and quality issues and endeavor to preempt issues or prevent their recurrence.

Main Initiatives

Quality Management System

At NEC, we have created quality management systems that we implement to create social value in the form of safety, security, fairness and efficiency and realize high-quality products and services that satisfy customers’ demands and expectations. In addition, we aim to build quality into the process phase, and make continuous improvements to management systems to make our processes even better.

Quality Audits

Based on an approach to internal controls with three lines of defense, business divisions are the first line, management divisions are the second line, and internal audit divisions are the third line. As part of the second line, the SCM Strategy Division regularly audits each business unit to ensure that it is operating its quality management system properly, and works to make improvements.

Pre-order Screening

Before embarking upon a new project, we conduct a pre-order screening, and the person in charge and specialized staff in each department identify the risks involved in executing it and check that sufficient countermeasures are in place. The screening is multifaceted, covering aspects such as technological risks and safety risks related to quality as well as the development scale and timeframe and the project framework.

Quality Assurance Guidelines for Machine Learning-based Artificial Intelligence

In 2019, NEC addressed this issue by formulating Guidelines to Quality Assurance for Machine Learning-based Artificial Intelligence, designed to ensure the quality of AI systems that cannot be handled using conventional software quality assurance alone. We have applied these guidelines to the design and development of important AI systems. We make updates to the guidelines on a regular basis, and aim for increased sophistication with improvements to checklists related to generative AI.

Initiatives in Medical and Healthcare Fields

NEC Ethical Review Committee for the Life Sciences

We conduct research and development in the field of life sciences with the goal of commercialization.
When conducting proof of concept or research involving human subjects or information and data related to people, we follow guidelines issued by organizations including Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the NEC Ethical Review Committee for the Life Sciences, which includes external experts, deliberates on the ethical validity of the research, including the purpose of the research and consideration for the human rights and dignity of the subjects.

Initiatives to Ensure Transparency in Relationships with Medical Institutions

NEC is working to ensure the transparency and soundness of its relationships with medical institutions, with a view to gaining a wider understanding of the medical device industry’s contribution to the development of life sciences as well as the high ethical standards that companies in that industry adhere to in conducting their corporate activities.

Initiatives in the Medical and Healthcare Fields

We have been establishing a management framework and moving forward with Quality Management System activities and compliance with relevant laws and regulations, with the aim of establishing commercial businesses in the medical and healthcare fields.

  • In 2019, we obtained a Class I Medical Device Manufacturing and Sales License and established a management system.
  • Regarding compliance with relevant laws and regulations, we have prepared guidelines on compliant advertisement and a checklist for determining which items are covered by Japan's Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Act. Moreover, we have incorporated the guidelines and checklist into the processes of related business entities.
  • We have begun establishing and managing processes pursuant to the Quality Management System Ordinance and ISO 13485:2016.
  • We promote compliance with respective countries’ medical devicerelated laws, such as Japan’s Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act as well as the European Union’s Medical DevicesRegulation 2017/745 and The UK Medical Devices Regulations 2002.

Thorough Compliance for Quality and Safety

Compliance with Relevant Laws and Regulations

At NEC, by using an internal generative AI system specialized in learning technology laws and regulations that each product should comply with, we strive to comply with laws and regulations in Japan, including the Electrical Appliances and Materials Safety Act, Radio Act and Telecommunications Business Act, and with laws and regulations in various other countries related to our products for international markets.

NEC is enforcing compliance with relevant acts and internal rules for instructions and labeling related to the quality and safety of its products and services. If violations are found or suspected, NEC will properly address the problem by following the direction of the relevant ministries and agencies. We also keep up-to-date knowledge of technology laws and regulations in advanced technology and new business domains, and check on the status of implementation of quality management systems through quality audits.

Ensuring Product Safety

NEC complies with the product safety standards IEC 62368-1 (JIS C 62368-1) and IEC 60950-1 (JIS C 6950-1), and we have also established our own Group safety standards adding unique safety measures. In addition, we also perform risk assessments to ensure product safety.

If product safety issues arise, we provide information on the NEC website and swiftly notify our customers.

Training and Awareness Raising on Quality and Safety

We believe that developing personnel and improving their skills are extremely important measures for improving the safety and quality of our products, and are therefore implementing the following initiatives.

Employee Training and Development of Specialists

  • NEC conducts training programs for specific jobs and fields of specialization with the aims of improving practical design and construction skills and providing basic and specialist knowledge on quality and safety management standards as well as technical standards.
  • We provide rigorous education on technology laws and regulations, such as the Radio Act and the Telecommunications Business Act, which are needed for operating telecommunications businesses, and develop engineers by fostering a correct understanding of laws and regulations and a safety-oriented mindset.
  • Web-based training on NEC’s approach to quality, safety, and technology laws and regulations is conducted once annually for employees of NEC Corporation and consolidated subsidiaries in Japan.

Project Management Award

  • The Project Management Award provides awards and other commendations to raise awareness of the importance of project risk management among employees of NEC Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries in Japan, and to demonstrate the significance of challenging high-risk projects, accomplishment and recovering from setbacks.
  • NEC holds an annual presentation of outstanding cases and presents a Project Management Award to the organization or group that demonstrated the most beneficial project support, or the project team that tackled a difficult project and achieved a particularly outstanding result.
  • NEC also recognizes that increasing awareness of award-winning cases throughout the Group helps to prevent risks from materializing in new projects through the horizontal spread of risk management best practice.

Increasing Awareness of Quality through “Quality Month” Activities

  • In November, which we have designated “Quality Month,” members of senior management and experts from inside and outside the Company conduct seminars and dialogues aimed at ensuring that employees are always highly conscious of quality and safety as they work.
  • In fiscal year 2025, talks were held in each workplace using video materials on the topic of quality fraud and inappropriate behavior to raise awareness of creating an open and communicative work environment.

Construction Work Project Management

We strive to prevent occupational injuries and to improve health and safety standards through our Occupational Health and Safety Management System. In particular, using our construction work project management system, we have achieved 100% implementation of risk assessments and fixed-term Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance.
There were no serious occupational accidents in fiscal year 2025.