The Hitachi Group's Quality Management Division officially announced the internal selection results for the "Outstanding Quality Individual for Fiscal Year 2023", with Jessie Shi from the HGAP-SZ Quality Department receiving this honor. This award is not only a recognition of Jessie’s personal efforts but also a vivid interpretation of Hitachi Group's corporate culture, which continuously strives for quality improvement.
Hitachi Group has always prioritized quality as essential for business success, continually striving to improve and refine it. Presently, as businesses embrace digital transformation, HGAP-SZ has pioneered a new method to enhance quality via digitalization. This initiative aims to reduce quality-related costs and expedite customer feedback by digitizing quality processes.
Cost Reduction and Efficiency Increase Embracing Quality Process Automation
In Hitachi's 2024 mid-term plan, prioritizing loss cost reduction and quality automation is essential. In response, the HGAP-SZ Quality Department abandoned traditional software development, which is high in cost, and instead utilized the low-code platform—Microsoft Power Platform—to create customized applications.
During new project development, production, and customer feedback stages, the HGAP-SZ Quality Department created four custom applications. Integrated with Power Automate for automated workflows, these apps facilitate automatic notifications and approvals, addressing real business challenges. The quality monthly report, designed in Power BI, offers data visualization, guiding quality staff in swift, well-informed decision-making.
Enhancing Quality and Building an Outstanding Corporate Culture
To strengthen the construction of a corporate culture that enhances quality through digitalization, HGAP-SZ conducted a series of training sessions for different functional departments. It hosted sharing sessions on improving quality processes through digital software and quality tools and used performance dashboards to track quality indicators, fostering a sense of ownership and responsibility for quality among employees.
Versus FY2022, HGAP-SZ has noted impressive advancements in new project development non-compliance item handling, production line defect resolution, and swifter customer feedback. By cutting down on repairs, defect handling wait times, and material waste, a considerable proportion of loss costs have been diminished, substantially boosting customer satisfaction.
In the future, HGAP-SZ plans to further create applications like “On-site Audits” and electronic document management. Extensive training and hands-on knowledge sharing will minimize errors and refine automated systems. This continuous improvement drives quality in products and operations via digitalization.
