_286 2023 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT_MICHELIN 4 NON-FINANCIAL STATEMENT Sustainable Development Report Product/Service Safety Training Every employee in operations that could potentially have an impact on safety is trained in Product/Service Safety practices. In the design offices, the training curriculum for design engineers is informed by a culture of risk management. The validation and certification earned after completing the courses attest that they have acquired the requisite knowledge and expertise, which are then regularly monitored by management and specialized experts in each discipline. Internal control campaigns assess the training’s compliance with risk management guidelines and safety and regulatory standards. In the production workshops, safety protocols are the building blocks of the “Cardinal Rules of Quality” that are applied across the Michelin manufacturing base. During induction training, the Rules are taught to all newly hired production operators, who are tested prior to taking up their positions to ensure that they have understood each one and how it is implemented. Regular refresher courses are also offered. Employees pay careful attention to the Cardinal Rules of Quality, which are continuously assessed by management, especially during on-site visits. Any form of non-compliance triggers an appropriate management response. Retraining is periodically offered and regular information keeps everyone alert and aware. For the most sensitive positions, certification is awarded only after independent validation by the Quality Department, thereby ensuring that the employee has acquired the requisite skills. Dedicated control plans are in place to ensure that these capabilities are tracked and maintained over the long term. Training in the Cardinal Rules of Quality and Quality Culture are audited by an internal control process. Quality managers act as customer risk management experts. In particular, the Design Quality Assurers and the Manufacturing Operations Quality Managers are trained in Product Safety and Compliance in accordance with prevailing standards. Customer training and support Another significant focus of the Group’s quality standards is to ensure that Michelin-delivered products and services are aligned with customer usage conditions. The marketing and sales teams constantly strive to understand customer needs and the risks arising from unusual or extreme conditions of use in the geographies where the products and services are sold. Their feedback is noted in the specification sheets and addressed by the research and development teams. Advice and support in the proper use of products and services is provided through technical brochures and training, including an ongoing, Michelinled program of customer training courses. CLOSE-UP “We detect shortfalls and respond quickly” Monitoring markets and responding to quality events Michelin has also deployed a system for constantly tracking the real-world performance of its products and customer service in order to detect even the most latent issues and respond quickly and effectively if necessary. This system is based on: ● Customer rooms, located close to key markets and equipped with all the necessary capabilities, that capture customer dissatisfaction and then respond, as quickly as possible, with initiatives that effectively fulfill the customer promise. If necessary, they can hand the problem over to the Quality Platforms; ● Quality Platforms, generally organized by product segment, that oversee the tracking of in-market product performance. They review all available information and data to assess any impacts on the safety of product users. This information may come from outside, via the customer rooms or other sources, such as in-use safety incident reports, or from inhouse, via alerts from the design, manufacturing or test teams; ● a review by the Product Performance Monitoring Board three times a year to ensure that the system is consistent with the Group’s Quality Policy provisions and procedures. In a situation where a product or service designed and/or manufactured and/or marketed by the Michelin Group and/or bearing one of the Group’s brands exposes customers to a potential or proven safety risk, the appropriate Quality Platform will initiate a dedicated process, defined and supervised by the Corporate Quality Department, to assess the potential impact on customer safety. If need be, a decision may be made to recall the product from the market to ensure customer safety. Such voluntary recalls are consistently carried out in compliance with legislation applicable at the date of the decision. In 2023, across the entire Group, all its brands and all its tire products, five voluntary recalls were issued, concerning 622,460 products of the total 200 million or so manufactured every year by the Group [SASB TR-AP-250a.1]. We detect deviations from our promises and react promptly.
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