At Canon, we believe that the most basic and important duty of a manufacturer is to provide its customers with products and services that are 100% safe. In order to make this possible, we require that all Canon products comply with safety standards already established by law as well as our own Substantial Safety* standards devised from our customers’ perspective.
For example, we employ plastics that are more flame resistant than the law requires, and we implement redundancy protections for important safety-related components. Such company standards that incorporate enhanced safety measures are mandatory throughout the Canon Group and strict checks are enforced during every step of the manufacturing process to make sure they are adhered to. In addition, we continue to examine and reevaluate our safety standards in response to such changes as advances in technology or new ways that customers use our products.
Canon Inc. has set up testing facilities compliant with public standards and relevant laws to accurately and thoroughly assess the safety of products in terms of electromagnetic interference (EMI), noise, flame resistance ratings, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and genotoxicity. Canon has also obtained certification in public standards such as ISO1, IEC2 and OECD3 from domestic and international organizations, enabling certified testing to be carried out in-house according to highly precise measurements, as well as testing and verifications that are stricter than these standards.
Anechoic chamber
Electromagnetic emissions: Canon possesses industry's leading scale anechoic chambers and shielded rooms, which are used to determine whether unnecessary electromagnetic waves emitted by products affect other products and whether products will malfunction due to the effects of lightning, TV electromagnetic waves and other interferences.
Hemi-anechoic chamber
Noise: Canon has established a hemi-anechoic room with sound-absorbing materials installed on the walls and ceiling, leaving only the floor, to evaluate the various levels of noise produced by products via measurements based on ISO/IEC 17025 standards. Testing is also performed for extremely quite noises measuring.
Large-product flame resistance verification room
Flame resistance: Along with testing for large products in a large-scale flame resistance verification room, Canon possesses a plastic flame resistance testing room in which flame resistance evaluation is performed for plastics including product covering.
Special-purpose chamber for chemical substance emission testing
Chemical substances released from products: Canon assesses the chemical emissions from its printers, multifunctional devices (MFDs), projectors, and other products. We also measure volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for which exposure limits have been set both within Japan and internationally, verifying that emission levels meet our in-house standards, which match or even exceed those set worldwide.
In vitro cultured cell micronucleus tests
Ink, Toner and Other Consumables: With regard to the materials for ink and toner, we carry out assessments related to genotoxicity, thought to be closely linked to carcinogenicity, using bacterial reverse mutation tests and in vitro mammalian cell micronucleus tests. Canon’s testing laboratories are highly reliable and have been certified by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as in compliance with Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) standards. Canon’s laboratories also comply with GLP standards set by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Furthermore, Canon became the first in Japan to have its in vitro mammalian cell micronucleus test certified as in compliance with the GLP standards in the Chemical Substances Control Law.
Canon considers it essential to maintain and improve the quality and reliability of every component, including semiconductors and various electric parts, to ensure products are safe and reliable. We have developed and continue to strictly implement our own in-house quality certification system for electric parts. When selecting parts under this system, we evaluate reliability and structural soundness in accordance with standards for each type of part, ultimately using only electric parts that meet these standards of quality. Moreover, to make structural evaluations at the selection stage and scan for defects, we utilize high-precision nondestructive evaluation technologies, such as X-ray CT scans and thermal analysis, as well as detailed processing, observation, and measurement.
More and more of Canon’s products, including multifunctional devices and cameras, are being connected to other products via networks, greatly enhancing convenience. At the same time, cybersecurity risks, such as leaks of personal or confidential information from a network-connected device, have increased.
In response to such risks, Canon installs security functions for network-compatible products during software development and conducts various types of vulnerability testing. We have also worked to raise awareness about security, vulnerabilities, and risks, and to standardize company-wide approaches to testing methods.
We have also introduced the Vulnerability Assessment Check-Sheet as a quality confirmation requirement prior to starting production.
Moreover, recognizing the importance of minimizing the impact on customers when a vulnerability is found after products have been shipped, we strive to grasp and publish necessary information about any such issues in a timely manner. Accordingly, we have established a system to investigate market trends on vulnerability, including the products of other companies, and to quickly share information internally to prevent similar problems from occurring in our own products
Canon's approach to quality and proprietary QA management system