About GC Corporation

As a general manufacturer of dental care products, GC takes the ordinary people’s perspective, providing true health to the people of the world. GC products are made with the core values of safety and effectiveness, in line with the company’s ethos of putting quality first, and we believe that protecting the global environment is a major part of our mission. We monitor each stage of a product’s life, testing for safety and for the impact of our products on resources and the environment. We scrutinize the production process to ensure that we are conserving energy, conserving resources and minimizing packaging waste. We examine the use of our products to ensure that they are energy saving and economical in terms of the resources they consume, and we examine disposal methods for our products. Naturally, GC seeks to minimize any adverse effects, paying maximum attention to the issue of the environment from the time each product is developed until its use by the consumer. As a result of GC’s endeavors in this respect, the company earned ISO 9001 Quality Systems certification in 1994, and ISO 14001 Environmental Management System certification in 1998. GC topped this in 2000 by becoming the first company in the dental industry to be awarded the Deming Application Prize. In 2003, GC was certified for ISO 13485, and in 2004, GC became only the 18th company in the world to have won the Japan Quality Medal, the pinnacle of quality control. As a further mark of the company’s reputation, the global marketplace has come to recognize GC’s products as being synonymous with quality and eco-friendliness. With an outstanding range of some 600 different excellent product types marketed in over 100 countries, GC is helping to maintain the health of people the world over. Given the importance of predicting and supporting different market demands from one region to the next, GC’s approach is to site its manufacturing operations in the optimum location for each market. Naturally, the company’s three main manufacturing bases around the world are all ISO-certified and deliver products of the highest quality.

People Friendly and Environment Friendly

Through dentists, technicians, hygienists and other dental professionals around the world, GC's quality dental care products make a major contribution to people's health. As a dental product manufacturer of global standing, GC Corporation constantly seeks to produce original products that are environmentally friendly as well as patient friendly and going a step ahead of patient's needs, while at the same time taking great care to minimize the impact of manufacturing processes on the environment.

Producing products that are people friendly and earth friendly, we will continue to create highly value-added products so as to provide oral health to the people of the world during the 21st century, a century we regard as the century of health.

ISO Certification, The Deming Application Prize and The Japan Quality Medal

As a general manufacturer of dental care products, GC takes the ordinary people's perspective, providing true health to the people of the world. GC products are made with the core values of safety and effectiveness, in line with the company's ethos of putting quality first, and we believe that protecting the global environment is a major part of our mission. We monitor each stage of a product's life, testing for safety and for the impact of our products on resources and the environment. We scrutinize the production process to ensure that we are conserving energy, conserving resources and minimizing packaging waste. We examine the use of our products to ensure that they are energy saving and economical in terms of the resources they consume, and we examine disposal methods for our products.

Naturally, GC seeks to minimize any adverse effects, paying maximum attention to the issue of the environment from the time each product is developed until its use by the consumer. As a result of GC's endeavors in this respect, the company earned ISO 9001 Quality Systems certification in 1994, and ISO 14001 Environmental Management System certification in 1998. GC topped this in 2000 by becoming the first company in the dental industry to be awarded the Deming Application Prize. In 2003, GC was certified for ISO 13485, and in 2004, GC became only the 18th company in the world to have won the Japan Quality Medal, the pinnacle of quality control. As a further mark of the company's reputation, the global marketplace has come to recognize GC's products as being synonymous with quality and eco-friendliness.

With an outstanding range of some 600 different excellent product types marketed in over 100 countries, GC is helping to maintain the health of people the world over. Given the importance of prediting and supporting different market demands from one region to the next, GC's approach is to site its manufacturing operations in the optimum location for each market. Naturally, the company's three main manufacturing bases around the world are all ISO-certified and deliver products of the highest quality.

GC Corporation Sees The 21st Century as the "Century of Health" and is Striving to be the World's #1 Manufacturer of Dental Care Products That Support the Vitality and Well-Being of People All Over the World

Dental Care, which covers both Oral and Dental Health, directly helps improve quality of life. As a type of health care that supports people's vitality and well-being, Dental Care is expected to play an even greater role in the future. GC Corporation is adapting to global changes, such as aging and the increased attention to health, by committing to contribute to the "Century of Health" realization and promoting the creation of a society focused on health and longevity.

In 2011, when we celebrated our 90th Anniversary, we established a new GC Corporate Center in Hongo, Tokyo, moving our headquarter's functions and creating several floors specifically designed for sharing information with our customers. Having designed this site to be a center for the dissemination of useful Dental Health Information, we hope that it will create new value as a space that can be used for communicating with the public regarding various issues related to Dental Care.

In September 2013, we opened a space called Kamuller, which aims to propose concepts to help people achieve the keys to health and longevity by chewing properly and enjoy eating. We also have the GC R&D Center, a research development center that serves as the starting point for our "Communications Loop", GC's space concept and the Fuji Oyama Factory. This center serves the functions of a mother plant for overseas developments (to Belgium, the United States and China) and as a manufacturing base for the GC Group. To promote the organic integration of our three major basic functions in Japan and multinationalism in the sense of strengthening our activities in the global market by adapting them to local needs and characteristics, we have established GC International AG in Switzerland as a new platform that will lead our activities in Europe, the United States and Asia.

Our worldwide colleagues at these global centers will all be working towards the shared goal of achieving Vision 2021, whose target is our upcoming 100th Anniversary, by putting GQM2021 into practice. Together, we are striving to make a company that delivers health and strong smiles to people all around the world.

We at GC Corporation are sincerely grateful to everyone who has supported this company over the 90 years since its founding. We hope you will continue to work with us in our efforts to create a dental industry that has immense future potential.

With Dental Professionals

GC maintains close communication with clinicians, researchers and other professional practitioners of dental medicine. As part of this communication process we study, develop and provide samples of safer, better products while exchanging the latest academic and clinical information regarding dental care. We will continue to maintain close communication with dental professionals and thereby contribute to the development of dental products.

GC Membership Society

The "GC Membership Society," founded in 1956, is a member organization that provides information to dentists and dental technicians. The idea is to allow dental clinicians to share information with the dental material manufacturer and thus facilitate the development of new products and technologies based on our firmly held view that "in the new era, product research must be done hand in hand with the intended users of these products."

The GC Membership Society has grown from a circle of approximately 3,600 members to a large organization boasting around 43,000 members in 2007. Approximately 47% of all practicing dentists in Japan are members. Last year, in celebration of the GC Membership Society's fifty-first anniversary, we launched a new member organization for dental hygienists. With the organization we can interact with all dental professionals. We actively provide support for members regarding dental care, such as information on new products (brochures of new products before their release in the general market, product discount vouchers and quarterly-issued member journal); academic information (academic seminars, symposiums, GC Membership communities, and education on clinical techniques and dental clinic staff (GC Membership Society seminars).

The "GC Membership Society's Member Site" is a member-only site that features information, tools, materials and other contents that are useful in the clinical scene. The content can be viewed, practiced and utilized by members. The ""GC Membership Society Internet News," which provides the latest academic information and product information in real time, is today accessed by nearly 10,000 members.

Second International Dental Symposium

Following the inaugural "International Dental Symposium" held in 1996 to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the GC Membership Society and the seventy-fifth anniversary of the company, in February 2006 we organized the "Second International Dental Symposium in Commemoration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the GC Membership Society" at Tokyo International Forum in Yurakucho. The two-day event was attended by a total of 14,965 dentists, dental technicians, dental hygienists, dental clinic staff and the general public.

The theme of the Second International Dental Symposium was "Future Prospects of Patient/Citizen-Centered Dentistry." At the opening ceremony, President Makoto Nakao said, "Believing in health and longevity supported by occlusion and mastication, and also in the roles played by eating and communication-two basic activities of man - as well as our physiological functions, we aspire to make the twenty-first century the 'Century of Health' by working together with dental professionals." Thereafter, Chairman Michéle Aerden of the FDI (FDI World Dental Federation) and President Takayuki Kuroda of the IADR (International Association for Dental Research) gave their messages.

At the GC Dental Show held concurrently with the symposium, we exhibited new products and conducted demonstrations in a manner allowing "visitors to take their time and thoroughly examine our new offerings and the hot products." We set up trial booths for brushing, mouth-washing and implantation, etc. We also held a seminar entitled "The Imaging Diagnosis of Implantation" and others. The show attracted approximately 3,800 visitors.

Third Citizen's Dental Awareness Survey

Following the first and second surveys in 2004 and 2005, we conducted a third survey to shed light on the awareness, requests and other comments that citizens have regarding dental care. We randomly sampled men and women of ages 15 through 79 in 47 prefectures across Japan, and asked questions by focusing on the relationships between "age, sex, postal code and other social factors" and "visit to a dentist and choice of paying by insurance or privately." We received replies from approximately 1,200 respondents. The tabulated results are presented as reference to member dentists of the "GC Membership Society."

MI Concept to Improve QOL of All People

At GC we instituted our unique MI (Minimal Intervention) concept in 2000 by rephrasing the original MI concept proposed by the FDI in 1999 and defining the three approaches of "Identify," "Prevention" and "Treatment & Control" to better fit the clinical situation in Japan. Since then, GC's MI concept has been at the basis of various products and information developed and disseminated by the company. Today, our MI concept is recognized in the dental community as an ideal framework for programs designed to treat dental caries. We are developing MI-related products to help all people maintain and improve their quality of life (QOL).

GC is also involved in the development of a full range of denture products and care products intended to improve the QOL for senior citizens, whose population is growing in today's super-aging society.

"MI21.NET" Website

https://www.mi21.net/

With the General Public

With help from dental professionals, GC provides the general public with useful information to encourage dental and oral health. Our goal is to foster and entrench a new mindset for oral care so that all people can live in health and happiness.

"Citizen's Forum on Dental and Oral Health"

In February 2006 we co-sponsored four sessions of the Citizen's Forum on Dental and Oral Health (organized by the Tokyo Dental Association, with GC as a special sponsor) over two days during the Second International Dental Symposium as health education events with public participation.

During the forum, participants were given useful information on dental and oral health through fun-filled programs, including a healthy exercise session with instructor Hiromichi Sato, who is hugely popular among children for his appearance in a children's exercise program, and a tooth-brushing lesson by Dr. Nanae Kuraji, a dentist. The venue was packed to full capacity each day by about 2,800 parents and children.

Dental Information Booklet "Healthy Diamond" (In Japanese Only)

In collaboration with Diamond Inc., the publisher of the business magazine Diamond Weekly, which provides economic, financial and corporate information, we published an information booklet for the general public called "Healthy Diamond." Two issues of the booklet were sent to subscribers of Diamond Weekly. The compact booklets are filled with information people should know about their teeth, with all topics explained in plain language in a manner anyone could understand. In the first issue, entitled "Periodontal Diseases and Health of the Whole Body" (December 2006), and the second issue entitled "The Importance of a Proper Bite" (September 2007), renowned dentists in their respective fields explain the relevant information in an easy-to-understand manner.

 "Information on Dental and Oral Health" Page For Citizens (In Japanese Only)

In 2006 we created the "Information on Dental and Oral Health" webpage on our Internet site as a visual source of information for the entire family. The page features information on periodontal diseases and implants, the correct way to brush your teeth, etc., in order to help the general public gain the correct understanding of dental and oral hygiene, and to foster and entrench a new mindset for oral health in Japan.

We also provide useful contents on the "Cavities" page, which is designed for use at home and primary schools as an educational material. The segment "Cavity Prevention for Parents and Children" talks about the characteristics of cavities in children, brushing technique for small children and other dental care information for parents. It also features games, visual storybooks and other interesting ideas designed to help children learn in a fun setting.

Brushing Class

GC collaborates with local dental associations to participate in citizen's events, and also to visit schools and companies on a regular basis in order to give brushing classes and organize other educational programs.

With Dealers

GC products are delivered to dental professionals through the hands of special agents and dealers. So that our products will be used properly, we provide dealers with the correct medical techniques and detailed product information and also ask them to obtain feedback from customers.

Dental College

"Dental College" is GC's original educational framework for dealers. The college consists of seminars to learn the basics of our products, as well as group training programs to support sales representatives. The group training program, held in Tokyo in 2004, had the participation of approximately 150 representatives from our special agents throughout Japan. In a special lecture organized as part of the program, the participants listened to case studies of successfully managed dental clinics, methods of instructing members of an organization, etc. At the group training program for dealers in 2006, over 100 participants attended a lecture entitled "Defensive and Offensive Selling" and took part in sales workshops. We also launched an e-learning site in July 2006. The number of registered users has already reached 310.

Consulting Sales Academy

We at GC want to answer the various requests (on esthetics, functionality, comfort, economy, etc.) from patients and meet the desires of dental clinics to improve the quality of life for their patients. As part of the effort, we have organized the "Consulting Sales Academy" as a workshop curriculum to teach sales representatives the techniques of selling by providing solutions. The event gives dealers an opportunity to learn the management of dental clinics in order to meet the needs of patients.

We conducted a total of six Consulting Sales Academy events totaling more than 40 hours in February through November of 2001 (phase 1), which were attended by approximately 30 sales representatives from special agents across Japan. Inviting dental management consultants as lecturers, the academy touched on wide-ranging topics such as useful information on dental clinic management, management simulation, how to use business planning software, and practical information on cash-flow management. These workshops are designed to foster sales representatives who can also work as consultants. In 2007 (phase 7), the academy was attended by approximately 700 people.

GC, as a dental manufacturer, considers excellence in its core business to be the most important mission. We will grow into a more trusted company by interacting with society through our core business.

GC Fuji IX

Under a joint research project with the WHO (World Health Organization) on the development of technologies and materials suitable for the dental-treatment environment in developing countries, GC developed a high-strength glass ionomer cement called "GC Fuji IX." GC Fuji IX can be used with a dental procedure known as ART (Atraumatic Restorative Treatment), which does not require special technology or machinery. GC Fuji IX was introduced by the WHO on World Health Day in 1994 as an innovative restorative method that can be implemented in developing countries where complete facilities are not available and the standards of hygiene are low.

The technology has been applied in numerous countries since then. GC Fuji IX is also widely used in industrialized nations as a restorative method in keeping with today's emphasis on retaining the tooth structure. The theme of the 1994 World Health Day was "Oral Health of A Healthy Life." The year 1994 was designated as the "Year of Oral Health", and GC served as an official supporter as a global dental company contributing to the cause of WHO activity. The circle of efforts to enhance oral health is expanding throughout the world.

Plant Tour

Our Fuji Oyama Factory offers tours for the dental students and our customers in order to show them first-hand how GC products are made, in hope that it helps deepen their understanding of our advanced technologies and commitment to product quality, and in the process it helps create enthusiastic supporters of the GC name. The plant also communicates with residents in the neighboring community to explain the efforts we are making to reduce the negative impact on the environment and provide opportunities for them to become more interested in their dental and oral health.

Tour guides are selected from among associates, and appointed guides study our products in detail to gain in-depth knowledge so that they can share it with visitors. Additionally, they create tour brochures themselves and strive every day to give better tours.
 

Achievement of Zero Waste Plant and Cleanup Around Plant

The Fuji Oyama Factory became a "zero waste" plant in September 2007. All waste materials generated from the plant are classified and recycled/reused.

In addition to reducing waste within the facility, the plant is making the neighboring community cleaner by organizing a bi-annual community cleanup event. This year a total of 360 people participated in the cleanup event.

Scholarship Programs

"Toshio Nakao Chair" at University of Leuven in Belgium

In 1999, the "Toshio Nakao Chair" was established at University of Leuven in Belgium. The course, whose title features the name of our former president, is taught by Dr. B. Van Meerbeek, a world-renowned researcher of dental bonding technique, and other talented staff. The seminar is recognized as one of the premier research vehicles in the field of dental preservation and dental material science.

IADR Toshio Nakao Fellowship

The IADR Toshio Nakao Fellowship was established in 1994. The program provides a scholarship of US $15,000 to dental material researchers belonging to the IADR (International Association for Dental Research). As a member of the international business community, GC will contribute to the fostering of people and research programs that help create a better tomorrow.

Team Minus 6%

GC is a member of a national project called "Team Minus 6%", launched to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 6% and help Japan keep its promise in the Kyoto Protocol, which came into effect in February 2005.

External Recognition and Awards

Awarded the Insignia of Commander of the Crown of Belgium

In 1995, President Makoto Nakao was awarded the Insignia of Commander of the Crown of Belgium from the Kingdom of Belgium. The relationship between GC and Belgium dates back to 1972, when we opened our European branch in Kortrijk. Subsequently, we built a new office and warehouse in Leuven, near the capital Brussels, in 1984. We also constructed our first European plant in Belgium in 1989 and the second European plant in 1994. Our investment in Belgium over the years, and its positive benefits in stimulating the local economy and creating jobs, has been recognized by the country.

Awarded the Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry's Award for Distinguished Services in Pharmaceutical Affairs

President Makoto Nakao was awarded the Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry's Award for Distinguished Services in Pharmaceutical Affairs in 2004. The award was given to President Nakao for his diligent efforts in the field of pharmaceutical affairs and hygiene, for his contribution to public health. A total of 91 individuals were awarded in 2004, but President Nakao was the only one from the dental industry.

GQM Activity

GC's products are sold in over 100 countries across the world, helping bring true health to people around the world. As a global general dental manufacturer, we will never stop making efforts to develop products that live up to the reputation of "GC the Leader in Quality", and GQM^* will always be the basis of these efforts.

GQM: GC's Quality Management

GC declared the introduction of GQC (GC's Quality Control) in 1981, as our unique total quality control initiative echoing the management philosophy "Social Contribution, Quality First, and Sense of Fellowship." This in turn reflects the unchanging founding motto of the company based on the concept of "Semui." In 1995, GQC was expanded into the GQM (GC's Quality Management) activity, centered on the three pillar concepts of "Improve Customer Satisfaction," "Improve Employee Satisfaction" and "Improve Quality of Work", which form the kernel of our business management philosophy.

Also in 2000, we defined the following seven key points of GQM in order to drive various efforts toward quality improvement throughout the company:

1. Drive VISION management centered on GQM as the core of the business management approach;
2. Implement global strategies based on the basic concept of "globally optimized sourcing";
3. Implement product strategies designed to let us develop "the world's best products" and enter into new business fields;
4. Realize great production capability that allows us to create "quality" products to meet our customers' needs;
5. Implement sales strategies developed through a clear division of the roles of "people who create, sell and use";
6. Improve the quality of our business operations through digital management utilizing IT;
7. Become a company united by "fellowship," deriving its energy from its "people."

President's Review

The president of GC regularly visits various departments and conducts "President's Review." The purpose of this is for the president to visit various departments and verify with his own eyes how the company's policies are understood and implemented by those departments. Through this practice the president can also determine the degree to which these policies are implemented and whether they are entrenched throughout the organization. Following each review, through a series of meetings the employees and management exchange ideas to identify the issues. The president's review not only helps manage the results of solutions implemented to address the issues but has also become a part of our improvement process.

During each six-month period the president spends a total of about a month touring different departments and interviewing employees on the actual implementation of measures designed to achieve the policies and targets presented by the management, while also answering questions and requests raised by employees. At the end of each president's review session, which lasts from three to six hours, a review report describing the specific areas of improvement and issues to be addressed is prepared. These review reports are used to improve how we view things in a midterm run so that we can raise the standard of our PDCA cycle and thereby contribute to the promotion of GQM.
Fifty of the president's reviews were conducted in 2007.

KI Activity and CFT Activity

To "Improve the quality of work," the objective cited as one of the three pillars of GQM, we are driving KI (Kaizen & Innovation) activity. The KI activity is intended to harness synergy among the "fellow employees who respect one another," in keeping with our management philosophy, and thereby promote kaizen (improvement) and innovation. Each department sets its own theme for the improvement of work quality and presents the outcomes of efforts made under these themes, thus fostering a sense of competition that spurs the company-wide effort toward quality improvement. The KI Activity Presentation Conference is held in June and November of each year.

For each issue that is deemed urgent from the viewpoint of corporate management, a CFT (Cross-Functional Team) is formed to gather members with various kinds of experience and skills from multiple departments so that actions can be implemented based on a top-down approach. A number of these cross-functional teams are active throughout the organization, whereby a focused effort is made to resolve issues that affect the entire company.

Receiving the "Deming Application Prize"

GC, in the year 2000, became the first company in the dental industry to receive the "Deming Application Prize".

The Deming Prize (Japanese Administration Office: Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers) is the highest honor in the area of quality control, and is conferred upon companies (or individuals) that have made a significant improvement in business result through total quality control implemented company-wide. The Deming Application Prize is given annually to the company that has made significant improvements in business results through the application of total quality control.

GC received this coveted prize for its business activity, which is aimed at "becoming a company that improves quality throughout the organization and provides true health for people around the world," and is implemented through GQM to form the basis of the management approach.

Receiving the "Japan Quality Medal"

GC, in 2004 became the 18th company in the world to receive the "Japan Quality Medal," the highest echelon in quality control in Japan.¹

The Japan Quality Medal was established to commemorate the first International Conference on Quality Control (ICQC), which was held in Tokyo in October 1969. It is given to a company or business unit each year that has received the Deming Prize and applied TQM² continuously for three years or more (including the year of conferment of the Deming Prize), and has thereby achieved a remarkable business result.

The reason for GC's winning this prize is as follows: "(GC) has steadily implemented its policy based on a Mid-Term Management Plan to achieve the 2010 VISION initiative, and has achieved steady outcomes in the running of the company through active promotion of excellent quality management efforts, such as the development of new technologies and products, the improvement of productivity under factory innovation programs, the establishment of an onsite quality-assurance system, the innovation of production management systems, the centralization of information using IT, human resource development based on a skills list, quality management, and environmental management."
 

<sub>1. GC Dental Products, an affiliate of GC, received the Japan Quality Medal in 2006 as the twentieth winner of the award. In Europe in the same year, GC Europe received the "Committed to Excellence" prize from the EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management).
2. TQM (Total Quality Management). GC is implementing its own version of TQM called GQM.</sub>

Quality Assurance at GC

GC's most important social responsibility, as a company involved in dental medicine, is to provide products that are better and safer. We are striving to make quality products that will usher in the "Century of Health".

Quality-Assurance System

Dental materials and devices are becoming increasingly advanced and complex. Therefore, it is increasingly important to ensure the quality and reliability of these materials and devices. GC's quality-assurance system is a comprehensive approach that encompasses all the processes relating to the needs of product users, the seeds of GC and the oral health of citizens, as well as the associations among all these processes. Through this system we provide better products and services offering the level of quality required by customers.

QA Certified Section Scheme

To reduce problems in the manufacturing process and raise the standard of quality, in 1992 GC introduced a scheme of certifying the manufacturing sections that met the required quality-assurance level (QA Certified Section Scheme). The scheme has since been expanded to the logistics, customer service, engineering and sales operations of the company, where each section strives to improve its quality-assurance level.

To provide an overview of the certification steps, each section receives an advanced preliminary evaluation and preliminary evaluation by the Quality Assurance Department, as well as a final evaluation by the president and the officer in charge, based on an evaluation check sheet specifying the relevant information regarding the issues addressed by the section. The section that has been certified is given a QA Certificate. Currently, we have 56 certified sections. Certified sections must receive an evaluation every two years in to renew the certification. The introduction of this scheme has produced the following benefits:

1. Reduction in percent-defective numbers in processes and manufacturing warranty claims;
2. Activation of corrective activities and improvement activities;
3. Improvement of process control levels through utilization of control charts, foolproof measures, etc.;
4. The fostering of a positive competitive spirit among sections, and acceleration of creative efforts in each section;
5. Growth of section chiefs who will shoulder the company in the future;
6. Improvement of the overall quality-assurance level throughout the company as a result of expanding the scheme beyond the manufacturing operation to also cover indirect and sales operations;
7. Creation of a key selling point in the examination processes for the Deming Prize and Japan Quality Medal, helping the company win both prizes;
8. Enhancement of our dedication to customer satisfaction.

In 2007, various sections of our overseas plants were also certified.

Risk Analysis of Products and Gathering of Information from Markets

Products handled by GC are dental materials and devices that affect human life. Accordingly, we pay careful attention to our products by analyzing the associated risks. When developing a new product we conduct analysis and evaluation repeatedly from the design stage, in keeping with the requirements for medical device risk management specified in "ISO 13485." We have a secure information-management system in place, and we endeavor to receive feedback and requests from the dental professionals who use our products.

"ISO 9001" and "ISO 13485" Certification

"ISO 9001" is an international standard for quality management systems encompassing all areas of quality assurance as well as some aspects of organizational management, such as customer satisfaction and improvement. GC, as a global company, became one of the earliest to receive an ISO 9001 certification in 1994. In April 2004 we received the ISO 13485 certification, which specifically provides for the quality assurance of medical devices. GC was the first dental equipment/material manufacturer to receive either certification. Currently, all partner companies of GC are certified under ISO 9001 and ISO 13485.

Information Security

GC received a certification under the JIS Q 15001 (Privacy Mark) standard with the goal of clearly defining our activities to manage information security to protect personal information, and for the purpose of carrying out corporate activities in a manner considering information security. GC Dataland, an information systems management subsidiary of GC, is also certified under the ISO 27001:2006 (Information Security Management System) standard.

Establishment of the "Quality Policy"

We established our quality policy in 1994, and in 2003 portions of the policy were revised.

"Quality Policy"
We will put quality first by focusing on safety and effectiveness while maintaining and improving the effectiveness of our quality management system in order to provide true health for people around the world.

(Explanation)
For people to live in happiness and health every day, it is important that they enjoy the food they eat.
To enjoy the food they eat, we must keep our teeth healthy. The products made by GC must continue, through their roles in dental medicine, to contribute to the dental health of people the world over.

It is our mission to provide better products. We will maintain and improve the effectiveness of our quality-management systems in order to deliver quality products that are not only safe to the human body but also demonstrate the intended effects.

We at GC strive not only to make highly unique products that meet customer needs, but also to make clean products by giving thorough consideration to the manufacturing process and global environment. We will continue to make environmental efforts around the world so that we can maintain a harmonious coexistence with lives on earth.

Nationwide Network Offering Finely Tailored Service

GC Corporation has built up a Japan-wide network of distributorships, as well as a core establishment of branches, sales offices and service centers. Creation of a substantial before- and after-sales service system is also well underway, using as combination of DR activities (Dental Representative carried out by "GC Man" and "GC Lady") and machine maintenance and service centers.

GC is also using its "Green System" (based on the world-leader in ERP software packages, R/3) to facilitate shared access to the company's database information in real time and so expedite selectivity between distribution and sales. As a result, developments in logistics that deploy IT have led to data centralization and to center-based delivery of product. By utilizing its nation-wide dealer network, GC is able to deliver fresh product to its users with optimal ensure the safety and effectiveness of the products that people receive.

GC's Worldwide Sales and Production Network

GC manufactures some 600 types of products, which are sold in over 100 countries around the world. Due to the existence of differing needs in different overseas markets, GC has very deliberately localized its European, America and Asian operations. It is losing no time in optimizing its on-site activities, while at the same time fulfilling its obligation as a local enterprise by taking an active part in dental industry associations in each country. In terms of its daily operations, GC is not only using contract distributorships to expand its sales network, but is also developing its user-oriented activities through close ties with key opinion leaders in key markets.

In this way, GC is embracing the priority markets of Europe and the United States - markets with comparatively large market volumes - but manufacturing in optimum locations around the world, thereby accommodating market demand while building a presence in the Chinese and Indian markets - markets with firm expectations of growth. Its three main production centers have all acquired ISO13485 certification, and the Company is becoming increasingly well known in the global marketplace for the quality of its products.

GC aims to bring product reliability and product quality of a global standard to the people of the world, thereby making the 21st century "the century of health."