ESG
Promoting CSR Activities with Suppliers

ESG

Philosophy concerning Promoting Sustainable Procurement in the Supply Chain

The Fuji Electric Code of Conduct stipulates that we “Respect and value our business partners,” and we believe it is important to be a company with high social value by building a supply chain that supports a sustainable society.

One of the commitments under Fuji Electric’s Environmental Vision 2050 is to “realize a recycling-oriented society.” From the perspective of global environmental protection, we actively promote green procurement by sourcing materials with low environmental impact from suppliers who actively engage in environmental protection activities.

Initiatives for Achieving Sustainable Procurement with Our Suppliers

We are expanding “Fuji Electric’s CSR Procurement Guidelines” globally, while also aiming to build responsible supply chains with our suppliers in Japan and abroad. These Guidelines were formulated for the purpose of sharing our concept of CSR with our suppliers and having them put it into practice.

We ask our suppliers to conduct the self-assessment of CSR procurement in accordance with the Fuji Electric CSR Procurement Guidelines. This selfassessment helps us see a clear picture of CSR initiatives in our supply chain. Furthermore, in providing their answers to the questions in the assessment, our suppliers gain a better understanding of Fuji Electric’s CSR philosophy and what we would like them to comply with and practice. If any supplier seems to need more efforts in terms of CSR, we work with them so that they will achieve a higher level of CSR, thereby reducing risks involved in CSR in a supply chain

PDCA for Self-Assessment of CSR Procurement
PDCA for Self-Assessment of CSR Procurement

Fuji Electric’s CSR Procurement Guidelines

Fuji Electric established the Fuji Electric CSR Procurement Guidelines, which summarize our requests to our suppliers in order to reduce risks involved in CSR in a supply chain. We consulted the RBA Code of Conduct, which is published by the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) that promotes CSR in global supply chains, and the Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct, which is published by the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA), while creating the Guidelines.

Green Procurement Guideline

In promoting green procurement, we established our Green Procurement Guideline and confirmed the following two points with our suppliers.

  1. 1.

    Management status of chemical substances contained in products

  2. 2.

    Status of chemical substances contained in delivered materials

In order to properly manage chemical substances throughout the supply chain, we request the cooperation of our suppliers in using the Green Procurement Guideline to investigate chemical substances contained in products. Furthermore, we recommend management based on the “Guidelines for the Management of Chemicals in Products” established by the Joint Article Management Promotion-consortium (JAMP), and request that JAMP’s chemSHERPA* be adopted as a common management tool to facilitate the investigation of substances contained in products.

*

chemSHERPA is a support tool recommended by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) that integrates JAMP and the former Japan Green Procurement Survey Standardization Initiative (JGPSSI) to manage and communicate information on chemical substance content throughout entire supply chains (from upstream to downstream), including those of trading companies, for each product.

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Support for Raising Awareness among Suppliers

Surveys of Supplier Initiatives

In fiscal 2022, we expanded the target of our survey to include suppliers of our group consolidated subsidiaries in Japan and overseas. Of about 6,000 suppliers in total, 767 major suppliers in Japan and overseas, which made up the top 80% of our subsidiaries’ suppliers during the three years covering fiscal 2019, 2020 and 2021, cooperated in the self-assessment of their efforts based on the Fuji Electric CSR Procurement Guidelines. We gave them feedback based on their assessment results. The survey found that 7 suppliers were rated D, which means they needed to work on improvements in their efforts to fulfill their CSR. We made sure that these suppliers were interviewed so they would have a deeper understanding of CSR initiatives, and that issues were successfully resolved. We will keep communicating closely with our suppliers so that we can continue to work together to create a supply chain that supports a sustainable society.

Numbers of companies that conducted self-assessment
Assessment Results (After Improvement)
Assessment Results

Procurement Policy Explanatory Forum

Once a year, we invite suppliers who have made significant contributions to our business to attend a “business policy explanatory forum.” We use this as an opportunity to further deepen relationships of mutual trust with suppliers in recognition of the valuable support we receive from them.

Although we canceled the business policy explanatory forum in fiscal 2022 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we certified 91 suppliers as best partners. We also commended those suppliers who have made outstanding contributions to our business.

Once a year, each Fuji Electric factory and business office holds a “procurement policy explanatory forum” for its local suppliers. In addition to our key procurement policies, we share information on our sustainable procurement activities by communicating our policies and initiatives concerning the environment, quality, compliance, and so forth.

Awards ceremony
Awards ceremony
commendation

Environmental Activities with Business Partners

We are enhancing activities with our suppliers in the aim of achieving a sustainable society through the entire supply chain. As part of these efforts, our semiconductor factories are promoting activities in cooperation with our suppliers with the aim of “conserving the global environment” for future generations. These activities give our suppliers the opportunity to carry out their improvement plans based on the evaluation they received with respect to initiatives for conserving the environment. We also began supporting suppliers who had not yet acquired environmental ISO certification by conducting environmental audits, training, and guidance to help them acquire the certification.

In fiscal 2022, we visited two suppliers and conducted audits to confirm the good standing of their companies. In fiscal 2023, we plan to continue promoting environmental activities in cooperation with our suppliers.

Response to Conflict Minerals

Fuji Electric has a policy of not supporting acts that indirectly violate human rights through its supply chain. Based on this policy, Fuji Electric and its affiliates have worked to ban the use of minerals associated with the funding of armed insurgents, human trafficking, forced labor, child labor, abuse, war crimes, and other human rights violations. These minerals include tin, tantalum, tungsten, gold, cobalt, mica and its derivatives produced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or areas of conflict in surrounding countries.

In February 2014, we became an official member of JEITA's Responsible Minerals Trade Working Group. In this role, we promote effective activities in collaboration with industry groups, including by collecting the latest information on conflict minerals.

Rejecting Any and All Ties with Antisocial Forces

Fuji Electric continues to reject any and all ties with antisocial forces. Prompted by the growing sophistication of financing techniques adopted by antisocial forces in recent years, the government of Japan has announced specific guidelines to combat these techniques. Fuji Electric and its associates have concluded memoranda of understanding concerning the rejection of ties with antisocial forces with all new and continuing suppliers in Japan. At the same time, we respond to requests from customers, such as those asking us to conclude similar memoranda, in good faith.

Occupational Health and Safety in On-Site Construction Work

Fuji Electric outsources on-site construction and installation of power generation facilities and industrial equipment to external professionals. The Company undertakes various activities recognizing its responsibility in the management of occupational health and safety with respect to construction work.

Promoting Health and Safety among On-site Staffs

Danger prediction meetings and tool box meetings are held to discuss and predict areas of potential risk, and clarify safety requirements for each work process. In addition, inspections of tools and equipment, onsite safety patrols and other related activities are conducted on a daily basis.

Moreover, safety deliberation meetings with construction companies are organized for large-scale projects. Ongoing steps are taken to prepare occupational health and safety materials as well as to distribute occupational health and safety reports. At the same time, special education and training programs are regularly implemented for the handling of hazardous substances including hydrogen sulfide.

Guidance Related to Social Insurance Enrollment

In accordance with the amendment of Enforcement Guidelines to the Construction Business Act in Japan, companies are required to instruct subcontractors to enroll in social insurance programs such as medical insurance and pension plans for their workers as part of their responsibilities as a principal contractor and to promote public social security.

Fuji Electric has begun confirming the social insurance enrollment status of subcontractors, and creating a related database, as part of its responsibilities as a principal contractor, beginning with construction work outsourced from November 1, 2012. We select subcontractors and provide guidance based on this information.