In the case of pharmaceutical products, which affect people's lives and health, upholding quality is extremely important. A system delivering a stable supply of these products is also vital.
Maruho's Hikone Plant is the company's production base. Styling itself "a World-Class Pharmaceutical Plant Making Dermatology-Related Medications", the plant turns out a steady supply of high-quality pharmaceutical products.
Located in Hikone, Shiga prefecture, amid verdant surroundings with many water features, our Hikone Plant has been carefully designed to provide our workforce with an excellent working environment. It has been called a "factory in a garden".
This plant complies with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) guidelines. High-quality pharmaceutical manufacturing is carried out on the basis of rigorous quality control and manufacturing control at all stages of the manufacturing process. By using automation processes comprehensively on our manufacturing lines, and establishing an efficient production system capable of responding swiftly to the needs of the market, based on Maruho's outstanding proprietary topicalization and drug formulation techniques and expertise, we have enabled this plant to provide a steady supply of products.
New production wing (the
building's fourth wing)
added to Hikone Plant
Based on the ethos expressed by our corporate credo, "Pursuit of the Truth", Maruho is committed to ongoing quality control. We are working towards the international standardization of our quality assurance system in all aspects of our business activities.
Our Hikone plant obtained ISO 9001 certification in February 2007. This is just one example of the efforts we are making. In concrete terms, we are acquiring the physical wherewithal enabling us to enhance our quality-control system and further improve our quality assurance and productivity. In abstract terms, we are ensuring that our organizational system can adapt to changing times, and enhancing our training and deployment of human resources, among other things.
At our Hikone Plant, which is our production base, we built a new production wing in October 2007. Through implementing a higher level of automation, we have established a more stable and efficient production system for the Hirudoid series - our mainstay product - and other lines. Our annual production of topical medications has reached a figure as high as 2,200tons, and our production system is now more stable than ever.
For distribution within Japan, we use our Eastern Japan Distribution Center (in Kazo, Saitama prefecture) as well as our Hikone Plant. We have established a system enabling us to transport our products nationwide with no delays.
Located upstream from Lake Biwa, a Quasi-National Park area, our Hikone Plant was ahead of the curve in implementing environmental conservation initiatives and becoming an eco-friendly factory. The plant has a waste-water treatment facility complying with the latest environmental standards, and all its utilities - air-conditioning, water and sewerage, electricity and so on - are controlled from a central monitoring room, and operated in an efficient manner. This plant also acquired ISO 14001 certification in February 2001, and carries out eco-friendly manufacturing based on constant improvement.
