Toray's data fabrication caused by slack management, labor shortage: report

TOKYO, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- An expert report said Wednesday that data fabrication found at a subsidiary of Toray Industries Inc., a major chemical fiber manufacturer in Japan, was due to slack management as well as staff shortage.

According to the report by outside experts, two officials at Toray Hybrid Cord Inc.'s quality department doctored the data under pressure to meet delivery deadlines while suffering from lack of manpower and poor measuring equipment.

The report, while denying that the misconduct was carried out systematically, pointed out that the company's senior management did not pay enough attention to quality control.

Toray admitted last month that one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries had falsified data for tire cord fabric and other products for eight years since April 2008.

Products with falsified data have been delivered to 13 companies, including tyre and auto parts makers, according to the company.

Toray said Wednesday that 12 of the 13 affected companies said they have found no safety issues with the products, while one was still carrying on inspection.

Toray is a leading Japanese textile maker, with business revenue in fiscal 2016 achieving 2.264 trillion yen (19.99 billion U.S. dollars) and net profit 99.4 billion yen (877.70 million U.S. dollars).

The company is a major supplier of carbon fiber for U.S. aircraft maker Boeing Co. and also provides core materials for Uniqlo's well-known Heattech clothing line.

The incident, coming on the heels of data falsification improprieties at Mitsubishi Materials Corp. and Kobe Steel Ltd., and uncertified safety checks carried out by Nissan Motor Co. and Subaru Corp. which led to extensive recalls, dealt another blow to the reputation of Japanese manufacturing industry. Enditem