Our AC/DC Power Adapters — Desktop & Wall-Mount quality control system

This page provides a detailed explanation of the quality control system for AC adapters and switching power supplies. As a manufacturer of AC adapters and switching power supplies, we conduct thorough management at our own factory.

What Is Quality Control

According to the "JIS Z 8101 Quality Control Terminology," quality control is defined as follows.

"Quality control": A system of methods for economically producing goods or services with quality that meets the buyer's requirements. Quality control is sometimes abbreviated as QC, and since modern quality control employs statistical methods, it is also referred to as statistical quality control or statistical process control.

To effectively implement quality control, it is necessary for all company members—executives, managers, supervisors, and workers—to participate and cooperate across all stages of corporate activity, including market research, research and development, product planning, design, production preparation, purchasing and outsourcing, manufacturing, inspection, sales, after-sales service, finance, human resources, and education. Quality control implemented in this way is referred to as company-wide quality control or total quality management.

In other words, quality control is a system by which

1. the quality required by customers and society is fully understood,
2. products with appropriate quality are economically produced and brought to market, and
3. all company departments work efficiently to improve and maintain quality in order to satisfy customers and society.

This is what quality control entails.

Our Quality Control System

Our quality control system is outlined below.

Understanding the Quality Required by the Customer

The following initiatives are being implemented:

• Our Japan office and China factory hold technical specification meetings with customers
• Drafting of product specification documents
• Evaluation and identification of issues using technical samples (ES: Engineering Samples)
• Reliability evaluation and identification of issues using customer samples (CS: Customer Samples)
• The quality assurance department (QA), independent from the design department, verifies the design from a third-party perspective
• Execution of design reviews
• Submission of CS to customers
• Obtaining approval for product specification documents

Economical Production and Market Deployment of Compliant Products

The following initiatives are being implemented:

• Incoming inspection of all purchased components based on ANSI/ASQC Standard Z1.4
• Inspection of RoHS specified hazardous substance content in all purchased components using fluorescent X-ray equipment
• Daily testing of lead content in solder used in wave soldering equipment with fluorescent X-ray equipment
• Inspection of transformers by disassembly, including number and type (loose or tight) of magnet wire windings, and number and method of insulation tape wrapping
• Inspection of soldering quality in disassembled DC codes (plug, USB, core)
• Creation of QC process charts and standard operating procedures (SOP) and establishment of production lines based on process FMEA
• If defects are detected on the production line, the responsible operator activates an alarm button to alert the line manager and promptly feed back defect information to the previous process
• Not only before the start of work but also after rest breaks every two hours, line managers ensure thorough communication of recent defect information and operational precautions
• The QA department’s in-line process QC (IPQC) regularly patrols the production line to inspect worker adherence to SOPs, specification and BOM checks for supplied components, soldering iron temperature, torque driver torque values, jig and tool settings, and more
• For shipment inspection, shipment lots are divided by pallet and inspected based on ANSI/ASQC Standard Z1.4 for detailed inspection

Efficient Quality Improvement and Maintenance by All Company Departments to Ensure Customer and Societal Satisfaction

The following initiatives are being implemented:

• At the beginning of the year, all departments set goals; activities are undertaken to achieve them, and a monthly management review meeting is held to check progress and identify areas needing improvement by management
• For daily quality improvement activities, each line leader and QA participate in end-of-day meetings to share non-conformance information and work to prevent recurrence
• For market complaints, QA conducts analysis. If the defect is caused by work operation, changes are reflected in SOPs and tools are improved; if component-related, feedback is given to part manufacturers (including process audits); if design-related, changes are reflected in design standards to prevent recurrence

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