NOK Receives the Prestigious Global Award for Quality Excellence
NOK Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, has recently been honored with the Global Award for Quality Excellence by Yamaha Motor Corporation during the 2026 Yamaha Global Suppliers Conference. This esteemed recognition marks the fourth time NOK has received this award, cementing its reputation for quality management.
The award was given to NOK for its effective quality management system that ensures consistent quality across its five global sites. The company's commitment to excellence reflects its ongoing dedication to improving quality on a global scale. With this achievement, NOK is set to continue its efforts to enhance its quality management initiatives in the years to come.
Design of the Award
The trophy presented to the award-winning company features designs symbolizing trust and hope through the iris, alongside the blue ocean wave pattern representing development and success. This distinctive design serves not only as a recognition of quality but also as a motivational symbol for continuous improvement in manufacturing excellence.
Quality Management at NOK
NOK operates with a forward-thinking quality management strategy that utilizes video technology and digital tools across its global locations. By visualizing and standardizing essential skills—known as the “know-how”—the company enhances skill transfer and promotes consistent quality assurance practices. The focus is also on addressing operational challenges in real-time, which directly contributes to stable quality outcomes.
Visualization and Improvement Through Video Technology
- - The company analyzes footage from workers' perspectives to visualize and standardize the “tactics and skills” that define their elite crafts, ensuring effective skill transfer and knowledge retention.
- - From analyzed visual footage, NOK extracts areas of difficulty in the workplace and proactively improves working procedures and environments based on the findings.
- - In instances of equipment shutdowns, recorded footage allows teams to review the circumstances leading up to the incident, helping identify the root causes of disruptions.
Structured Training with Digital Tools
- - NOK has established a repeatable training framework using tablets on-site, fostering knowledge and skill retention while standardizing procedures across all levels.
- - Quality managers conduct closely monitored inspections to quickly identify and resolve minor anomalies, ensuring that quality standards remain consistently high.
About NOK Corporation
NOK Group is dedicated to “Essential Core Manufacturing,” which focuses on producing components essential for a safe and comfortable society. With a workforce of approximately 37,000 across 14 countries and regions, NOK emphasizes the importance of foundational research in product development and aims to achieve high-quality, stable mass production. Its innovations serve various sectors, including automotive, electronics like PCs and smartphones, medical and healthcare devices, industrial robots, and even satellites, ensuring that its contributions are vital across multiple industries.
As NOK looks to the future, it remains committed to innovation and excellence in all its endeavors, ensuring that it continues to be a leader in quality improvement worldwide.