Establishing a unique quality control system to deliver safety and trust to our customers
Prioritizing the safety and quality of our private brand (PB) products and strengthening quality governance throughout the entire supply chain, we established a new PB Quality Control Section in September 2025, thereby enhancing our quality control processes. With the section playing the central role, we conduct self-assessments of the Group’s standards for the development of PB products and quantitatively evaluate the results. If improvement is needed, we request the development of a concrete improvement plan and conduct an on-site audit by specialist staff thereby ensuring reliable operation. We will continue to guarantee the safety and quality of our products through close collaboration between our business partners and us.
Reflecting market expectations in products
The Group considers customer trust and satisfaction as the foundation of its quality control. We position customer feedback as the most critical information for quality improvement, and the PB Quality Control Section centrally manages and analyzes it. We have launched a system to identify potential issues from data, promptly request relevant departments and business partners to improve them, and thoroughly follow up on the implementation status thereafter. By leveraging this PDCA cycle, which starts with customer feedback, we will further improve the precision of our product development and create sustainable brand value.
Conducting manufacturing plant audits to ensure product safety and security
To reduce risks throughout the entire supply chain and maintain quality consistently, the Group determines priorities based on objective indicators and conducts audits of its contract manufacturing plants. We determine the audit priorities by comprehensively analyzing the factory assessment rank and the severity and frequency of customer feedback. We systematically conduct audits by classifying them into the following three categories according to risk and objective.
New factory audit: Pre-contract audit to assess the suitability of the manufacturing system and evaluate the feasibility of the contract manufacturing of private brand products. Regular factory audit: Regular audit based on assessment ranks to evaluate the maintenance and improvement of the quality system and whether to continue the contract manufacturing. Emergency factory audit: Audit conducted in the event of a critical issue to investigate the cause, verify the effectiveness of corrective measures, and re-evaluate whether to continue the contract manufacturing.
At a factory audit
ISO 9001:2015 certification - establishing a quality management system based on an international standard
The Group has set forth the vision of realizing the No. 1 high-quality private brand products in the
drugstore industry by FY2030 and of delivering genuine satisfaction (smiles, joy, and excitement) to our
customers. To establish a solid foundation for achieving this target, we obtained ISO 9001:2015
certification, the international standard for quality management systems, in April 2026.
Based on the requirements of ISO 9001:2015, we have established a private brand product quality control
system, as well as product development and management processes. In addition, we have developed and
maintain a system for continuously reviewing and properly managing operations throughout the entire supply
chain, from raw material procurement to the manufacturing process.
By leveraging this quality management system, we will consistently and stably provide our customers with
high-quality products that put safety and security first, thereby fostering long-term brand trust and
enhancing our corporate value.
Developing eco-friendly private brand products
Since FY 2021, we have been developing eco-friendly private brand products. For their materials, we have adopted those that will help environmental preservation, such as FSC certified paper, biomass plastic, and vegetable oil ink. Our target is to increase the ratio of eco-friendly products to all private brand products to 30% by 2030.
Developing products using FSC certified paper
- Percentage of eco-friendly private brand products
- 2030 target 30%
Percentage of eco-friendly private brand products*
* Percentage of eco-friendly products among all private brand products
* SUGI Pharmacy only (excl. Hanshin Dispensing Pharmacy)