Responsible Supply Chain Management
In society, no company can function by itself. We are not an exception and our corporate activities are conducted based on our relationships with stakeholders.
Furthermore, the relationships we have with our business partners are those developed on mutual trust.
On the other hand, in recent years, we have often seen cases where the impact of a company causing a societal issue for due to compliance violations or ethical misconduct is not only limited to that company but also affects its business partners.
For companies to promote sustainability, it is necessary to cooperate with business partners and take initiatives toward sustainability together.
We firmly believe that we need to work hand in hand with our suppliers to build a relationship in which we can prevent societal issues from occurring to ensure our integrity to our customers.
Given the above, our group is taking the following initiatives for supply chain management (SCM).
1. Requests to Suppliers to Answer our CSR Surveys and Our Responses to Survey Results
Since FY2025, we have started conducting CSR surveys for all suppliers we work with at each site. Namely, we have sent out the survey forms and have taken actions based on the results.
While this CSR survey is unique to our group, it was created referencing CSR surveys we have received from our customers in the past, CSR surveys that are common in relevant industries, and CSR surveys that were created with international standards.
There are nine items in this survey: CSR in general, Human rights & labor management, Occupational safety and health, Environment, Quality, Chemical substance management, Compliance, Information security, and Contributions to the local society. The questions and responses to the survey are quantified and from the total survey score as well as the score for each survey item, we extract themes we have not yet addressed. Based on these results, we categorize our suppliers as those whom we need to visit to observe and understand their situation, those whom we need to send letters to request for improvement, and those whom we do not need to particularly take any actions. We then execute these actions accordingly.
This survey was conducted for the first time in FY2025 over suppliers whom we have a fairly large volume of transactions with and suppliers who provide us with raw materials that are exclusive to our group. From FY2026, we will be expanding the scope to further improve our SCM quality.
2. Distribution of Our Group’s Green Procurement Standards and Hosting of Briefing Sessions to Suppliers
Our group has set our own green procurement standards to reinforce chemical substance management.
Our green procurement standards are revised constantly, taking into consideration of law revisions and new information. The standards applied today are the 10th version, effective since September 2024.
The green procurement standards are distributed to our suppliers. Along with our requests for adherence when supplying us with raw materials, we also host briefing sessions to help them better understand these standards.
In addition, we also ask our suppliers to answer a questionnaire on the chemical substances included in the raw materials they supply us. Their responses are integrated into our management system for traceability, and used for the design and development of our products or disclosed when necessary.
It is also to be noted that in light of increasing human rights due diligence, there is a growing demand for transparency regarding mineral sourcing and chemical substances. Hence, our group has been requesting each of our suppliers to fill in CMRT, EMRT, and/or AMRT, depending on what they supply us, and carefully manage the reports they send back.
- CMRT (Conflict Minerals Reporting Template)
Target minerals: Tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold
- EMRT (Extended Minerals Reporting Template)
Current target minerals: Natural mica and cobalt
- AMRT (Additional Minerals Reporting Template)
Target minerals: Those not covered by CMRT and EMRT