Maintaining and Improving Quality

The Kubota Group believes that no pursuit of sales or profits is worth damaging the character of the Company. Guided by this belief, we have been conducting the following initiatives to increase quality awareness.

• Quality Forum

  The Quality Forum for executive management focused on cultivating the right mindset to strengthen quality and compliance initiatives. The forum included the presentation of concrete examples.

• Conducting Quality Compliance Education

  To strengthen awareness of rules regarding quality assurance, we conduct compliance education each year for employees in Japan and overseas.

• Quality Questionnaires

  In addition to the Kubota Hotline (whistleblowing system), we regularly conduct a Quality Questionnaires to encourage employees with knowledge of quality compliance issues to voluntarily provide information. The questionnaire is carried out by the Quality Assurance Promotion Department, which takes a neutral position with respect to each business unit in order to gain candid responses. The department formulates questionnaire questions that take into account potential quality issues based on the nature of each business, the operating environment and historical quality-related issues. If problems are identified in employee responses, they are reported to management and the Quality Assurance Headquarters takes the lead in examining and implementing necessary responses.
  The Quality Survey implementation rate in 2023 was 100% for domestic Group company employees^* and 98% for overseas Group company employees.

  • Kubota Group employees that have been assigned company email addresses.

• Internal Audits on Quality

  The Kubota Group has systemized, and carries out, the following internal audits on quality.

  • Quality Audits：
    Audits to improve the internal control regarding the quality of products, technologies, and services.
  • Quality Compliance Audits：
    Audits to ensure compliance with laws, public standards, and contracts with customers
  • Cross Audits：
    Audits to improve independence and appropriateness of ISO 9001 internal audits, and to ensure the competence of auditors.

• Quality Training

  We held training to educate employees about the necessary knowledge, approach, and actions for quality assurance and quality management.

Kubota is working to improve the quality of each operation process, from development through to manufacturing, sales, and services.

• Quality Improvement in Design and Development

  At Kubota, we work to prevent quality issues before they arise. A typical activity in this regard is our design review (DR)^*. We have clearly documented standards for research and development work regarding DR, and these are implemented rigorously.

  • DR is an opportunity to have the products of development and design examined by multiple participants. The participants include not only the engineers from the development and design division, but also representatives from other divisions involved in the products, such as manufacturing and quality assurance.

• QC Circle Activity Award

  An award presented to employees who have an outstanding record of activities in quality control circles.
  Kubota first introduced quality control circles in 1967 for the purpose of “fostering people” and “revitalizing the workplace.” As of 2023, there were 714 circles active across Kubota Group companies in Japan and abroad.

  • Award presentations were suspended between 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, but presentations were held online and activities resumed from 2022.

• Quality Achievement Award

  The Kubota Group recognizes employees who have made outstanding achievements in quality improvement in their activities to create valuable products and services from the customers’ perspective. The Quality Achievement Award was launched in 2017 initially for domestic sites, but has now been expanded globally to include overseas sites.
  In 2023, Kubota gave out awards in 17 categories. (Total awards since 2017: 125 themes)

As of March 31, 2024, 44 out of 73 sites (60%) had obtained certification. 23 of our 24 domestic production sites (96%) have acquired ISO 9001 certification. 21 of our 49 overseas production sites (43%) have acquired ISO 9001 certification.

Kubota [All Kubota divisions have acquired ISO 9001 Certification.]

As of March 31, 2024

Business divisions	Offices (excerpt)	Certification scope	Certifying body	Date of certification
Farm and Industrial Machinery Consolidated Division and Procurement Headquarters, Quality Assurance Headquarters (Departments affiliated with the Farm and Industrial Machinery Consolidated Division)	Head Office Tokyo Head Office Sakai Plant Sakai Rinkai Plant Okajima Business Center Tsukuba Plant Utsunomiya Plant Construction Machinery Division Hirakata Plant Global Institute of Technology Sakai Mihara Plant	Design, development, manufacture, business planning and sales of agricultural machinery, construction machinery, engines, and related parts and equipment.	LRQA	Jun. 1994
Farm and Industrial Machinery Consolidated Division (Precision Equipment Business Unit)	Kyuhoji Business Center	Design, Development, Manufacture and Supervising of Installation Service for Electronic Weighing Equipment including Load Cell.	DNV	Aug. 1994
Water and Environmental Infrastructure Consolidated Division (Materials Business Unit)	Hirakata Plant	Design, development, manufacture, sales and servicing of steel casting products.	LRQA	Mar. 1993
Water and Environmental Infrastructure Consolidated Division (Steel Pipe Business Unit)	Ichikawa Plant	Design, development and manufacture of spiral welded steel pipes	JICQA	Jul. 1998
Pipe systems Business Division	Hanshin Plant Keiyo Plant	Design. Development, Manufacture, Sales, Installation and Servicing of Below-mentioned Products; (1)Ductile Iron Pipes, Fittings, Accessories and Related Products (2)Ductile Iron Castings and Related Products	JCQA	Jan. 1999
Environmental Solutions Division	Hirakata Plant Pump Casting Section Tokyo Head Office	Project management, design & development, manufacture, casting, sales, sales engineering, procurement, installation management, commissioning and servicing, maintenance of products & equipment of pumps, pump station, valves and gates.	Intertek	Oct. 1997
	Tokyo Head Office Shiga Plant Hanshin Office Kyuhoji Business Center Kubota Membrane Co., Ltd. Head Office	Design & Development and Production of the Small-sized Plastic Septic Tank and Bathtub, and Design & Development, Production Trust Management of the Medium/Large-sized Plastic Septic Tank; Reserch & Development, Design, Production and After-sales Service of Membrane Unit, Membrane Cartridge and All Its Related Spare Parts	JUSE	Oct. 1997
	International Environmental Engineering Dept. Headquarters Hanshin Office Shin-yodogawa Environmental Plant Center	Project management, sales, sales engineering, design & development, procurement, manufacture, testing & examination, installation & construction management, commissioning and servicing of facilities for sewage & sludge treatment, water purification, and wastewater treatment, of product and equipment for hydraulic gate, pump and pumping equipment	Intertek	Jul. 2014
Global ICT Headquarters (ICT Promotion Dept. III)	Head Office Tokyo Head Office Chubu Regional Office	The design / development, manufacture and maintenance service of: order-made software product software package product network installations. The operation services for information systems and network operation maintenance. The resale of third party products (software products and computer related machinery).	BSI-J	May 1997

Affiliates in Japan

As of March 31, 2024

No.	Company	Certification scope	Certifying body	Date of certification
1	Kubota ChemiX Co., Ltd.(Including Okinawa Kubota Kasei Co., Ltd. and Kyushu Kubota Kasei Co., Ltd.)	Design, development manufacturing, and technical support service of plastic pipes, fittings, and accessories Design, development, OEM management, and technical support services of metal products (for water supply, sewerage, and building applications, etc.)	JUSE	Apr. 1997
2	Nippon Plastic Industry Co., Ltd.	Unplasticized poly (vinyl chloride) pipe and a design and development of a second artefact, and production A design and development of plastic pipes　such as polyethylene, and production A design and development of plastic sheet and plate such as polystyrene polyethylene, and production	JSA	Dec. 1998
3	KUBOTA Environmental Engineering Corporation	Design, construction, maintenance, operation, and management services of plant facilities (including equipment and machinery) for water purification, sewage, night soil, and waste. Design & development, manufacture, sales, sales engineering, procurement, construction & installation management, commissioning and servicing, maintenance of products & equipment of pump, pump station. Design, installation and maintenance of water treatment and gas treatment facilities	MSA	Feb. 2000
4	Kubota Air Conditioner Co., Ltd.	The design / development and manufacture of central air conditioning equipment & heat pump type air conditioning equipment.	JQA	Feb. 2000
5	Kansouken Inc.	Design, Development and Sales of Packaged Software that Supports Water Supply Business. Provision of Operation Support Services for Packaged Software Supporting for Water Supply Business and its Data Entry Services.	JCQA	Apr. 2004
6	Kubota Construction Co., Ltd.	DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERING WORKS AND ARCHITECHTURAL WORKS CONSTRUCTION AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT OF VARIOUS PIPELINES INSPECTION AND MAINTENANCE FOR VALUE AND ANCILLARY DEVICE MACHINE SALE AND RENTAL FOR PIPE-LAYING WORK SUPERVISORY SERVICE OF PIPE CONNECTING WORK AND TRAINING ON PIPE-LAYING	JQA	Dec. 2011

Overseas Group companies

As of March 31, 2024

No.	Company	Certification scope	Certifying body	Date of certification
1	Kverneland Group Operations Norway AS	Development, production and sales of farm implements for soil cultivation	DNV GL	Nov. 1993
2	Kubota Materials Canada Corporation	Design, development and manufacture of cast steel including stainless, heat resistant and corrosion resistant alloys, in the production of steel castings and fabricated assemblies, as well as the manufacture of non-metallic mineral products (titanic oxide compounds) .	SGS North America	Feb. 1995
3	SIAM KUBOTA Corporation Co., Ltd. （Head office）	Manufacture of small diesel engine (water cooled single cylinder) and power tiller (walk-behind tractor) Provision and distribution of spare part for KUBOTA product	MASCI	Mar.1997
		Management of after-sale service of diesel engines, power tiller, tractor, combine harvesters, tillers and excavators Technical support for maintenance Services of marketing and marketing support for after-sale service	MASCI	Mar.1997
4	P.T. Kubota Indonesia	Manufacture of internal combustion engines	LRQA	Jan. 1998
5	Kubota Manufacturing of America Corporation	The manufacture and distribution of farm implements, lawn tractors, sub-compact tractors, RTV’s, tractors and skid steer loaders.	SGS	Dec. 1999
6	Pulverizadores Fede, S.L.	DISEÑO, FABRICACIÓN, COMERCIALIZACIÓN Y REPARACIÓN DE MAQUINARIA DE PROTECCIÓN DE CULTIVOS. COMERCIALIZACIÓN Y REPARACIÓN DE MAQUINARIA AGRÍCOLA.	BUREAU VERITAS	Dec.2004
7	Kubota Saudi Arabia Company, LLC	Production of cracking coils for petrochemical companies, reformer tube for refinery and fertilizer companies. Valve maintenance for industries	TÜV NORD CERT	2011
8	Kubota Agricultural Machinery (Suzhou) Co., Ltd.	Design & manufacturing of harvester, Paddy transplanter; manufacturing of tractor	CAM	Jun. 2011
9	SIAM KUBOTA Metal Technology Co., Ltd.	Manufacture of casting iron parts	MASCI	Oct. 2012
10	KUBOTA PUMP (ANHUI) CO., LTD.	DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE OF CLEAN WATER PUMP, SEWAGE PUMP, AXIAL FLOW PUMP, MIXED FLOW PUMP.	CCS	May. 2013
11	KUBOTA Engine (Thailand) Co., Ltd.	Manufacture of diesel engine	LRQA	Oct. 2013
12	SIAM KUBOTA Corporation Co., Ltd. （Amata City office）	Manufacturing of farm tractor with and without wheel and tire including transmission and front axel, agricultural machinery (combine harvester), implement (rotary tillers, slasher).	LRQA	Feb.2014
		Assembly and Distribution of Agricultural Machinery	LRQA	Feb.2014
13	Kubota Engine (Wuxi) Co., Ltd.	Manufacture of water-cooled multi-cylinder diesel engines used in industrial machinery and agricultural machinery	SGS United Kingdom	Nov. 2014
14	Kubota Construction Machinery (Wuxi) Co., Ltd.	Manufacture of hydraulic crawler excavators	SGS United Kingdom	Dec. 2014
15	KUBOTA Precision Machinery (Thailand) Co., Ltd.	Manufacture of transmission assembly and linkage hitch hydraulic cylinders for agricultural tractors	LRQA	Jul. 2015
16	Kubota Baumaschinen GmbH	Development, distribution, procurement, manufacturing and service of construction machines	PÜG mbH	Feb. 2016
17	KUBOTA (U.K.) Ltd.	The import, sales and distribution of engines, agricultural and construction machinery including the provision of service and training to a dealership network	CQS	Aug. 2016
18	Kubota Europe S.A.S.	Tractor reassembly: Local market application	Apave Certification	Sep. 2016
19	Kubota Farm Machinery Europe S.A.S	Production and shipping of agricultural tractors, technical assistance and spare parts	BUREAU VERITAS	Feb. 2017
20	Kverneland Group Manufacturing Lipetsk	Design, manufacturing and delivery of Seeding combinations AIRSEEDER; Cultivators CULTIBAR; Mechanical universal pneumatic precision seed drills OPTIMA, MONOPILL; Fertilizer spreaders EXACTA; Mowers conditioners and rotary rakes TAARUP; Pneumatic seed drills DGⅡ; seeding combinations MSC; Field sprayers Explorer, IXtrack; Trailing/Semi-mounted reversible ploughs PN/RN; Universal trailers, universal hitches, spreader trailers; Disc harrows Qualidisc; Big bag lifters Exlift; Cultivators CTC Maxi; Sub-Soiler Great Plains SS1700; Cultivators Great Plains 8539 FCF; Seed drills Great Plains NTA 3510;Mechanical seed drills Great Plains 2SF30	IQNet	Apr.2018
21	Kubota Kasui Vietnam Co., Ltd.(Head office)	The manufacture and supply of chemicals for water treatment systems; Provision of RO membrane cleaning, water treatment regenerated resin and water analyzing service.	IAS	May.2018
22	Kubota Kasui Vietnam Co., Ltd.(Bac Ninh)	The manufacture and supply of chemicals for water treatment system; Provision of RO membrane cleaning, water treatment regenerated resin and water analyzing service.	IAS	May.2018
23	Kubota (Deutschland) GmbH	Sales and customization of tractors, machines for ground care, attachments, spare parts, engines, engine accessories, service and customer support	EQ ZERT	Sep. 2018
24	KUBOTA Turkey Makine Ticaret Limited Sirketi	Manufacture and Import of Tractors and Pedestrian Controlled Tractors	KINGCERT	Sep. 2019
25	Escorts Kubota India Prt Ltd,	Manufacturing of Tractor and its Assemblies	TUV SUD	May.2021

1. LRQA : Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance Ltd.
2. DNV : DNV GL BUSINESS ASSURANCE JAPAN K.K.
3. JICQA : JIC Quality Assurance Ltd.
4. JCQA : Japan Chemical Quality Assurance Ltd.
5. JUSE : Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers
6. Intertek : Intertek Certification Ltd.
7. BSI-J : BSI Group Japan K.K.
8. JSA : Japanese Standards Association
9. BCJ-SAR : The Building Center of Japan
10. MSA : Management System Assessment Center Co., Ltd.
11. JQA : Japan Quality Assurance Organization
12. MASCI : Management System Certification Institute (Thailand)
13. CCS : China Classification Society
14. CQS : Certified Quality Systems
15. LMS ：LMS Certification Limited
16. TÜV SÜD ：TÜV SÜD South Asia Private Limited
17. SGS ：Société Générale de Surveillance S.A.
18. IAS ：International Accreditation Service（IAS）United States Of America
19. SGS North America ：SGS North America Inc.
20. KINGCERT ：King Cert International Certification Ltd.
21. BUREAU VERITAS ：Bureau Veritas Iberia S.L.