Providing Support for Group Companies
In the interests of strengthening group management, we are providing active support for the RC initiatives of our Group companies.
Support for Environment and Safety Activities
RC discussions
The RC Division holds RC discussions every year to promote and improve RC initiatives for Group companies both inside and outside Japan.
In FY2023, discussions were held in-person with six Group companies in Japan and one Group company outside Japan.
In these discussions, the companies in Japan reported on the planning and achievements of their RC initiatives. And the company outside Japan reported on the planning and achievements of its RC initiatives, as well as the status of operation of its management systems. We provided them with advice and support.
Environmental and safety audits
Environmental Safety Department at the Head Office conducts environmental and safety audits at our Group companies in Japan each year to check the environmental safety management structure and system operation status.
In FY2023, audits were conducted at four Group companies in Japan, and we were able to confirm the status of compliance with legal requirements as well as the status of the establishment and operation of necessary standards for environmental safety. We also confirmed that environment and safety management systems are properly implemented. Environment and safety personnel from Group companies in Japan also participated as observers, providing an opportunity to learn about the management system operations of other companies as a reference for their own activities.
Environment and safety exchange meeting
Environment and safety personnel of our Group companies in Japan gather to introduce their RC initiatives and share information with each other to improve the level of their initiatives.
In FY2023, the meeting was held at the Himeji Plant of Nippon Shokubai to introduce and share information about the content and facilities for hands-on training at the Himeji Plant. In addition, views were exchanged on the initiatives of each company in response to the new chemical substance regulations of the Industrial Safety and Health Act.
Support for Quality Activities
Support for quality assurance initiatives
For Group companies in Japan, in FY2023, we continued to provide advice and support on their quality activities and quality issues through quality roundtable meetings.
For SAP manufacturing sites of Group companies outside Japan, to ensure high quality at the same level at our all sites for our core businesses, we have a quality meeting every year with the members in charge of quality of each site.
In FY2023, all site quality personnel met face-to-face at the Houston Plant of Nippon Shokubai America Industries, Inc. (NAII) for the first time in four years. Periodical meetings with each site are held at not only SAP manufacturing sites but also other sites. We also provide more intensive support for efforts such as further enhancing quality-related databases for global sites.
Quality audits
As well as in FY2022, quality audits for the Group companies in Japan for FY2023 were conducted focusing on products that had caused issues in the past. Through a Lot traceability exercise, the auditors checked whether day-to-day operations had been conducted in accordance with established procedures, and whether countermeasures against the recurrence of the issues had been taken on an ongoing basis. The audit findings were shared within the Group companies to raise the level of their initiatives.
In FY2023, internal audits for Group companies outside Japan were conducted on-site at all manufacturing sites except for NAII Houston plant. (The audit of the NAII Houston Plant will be conducted in FY2024 due to scheduling.) At Sino-Japan Chemical Co., Ltd., the audit was conducted focusing on the same topics as Group companies in Japan, while at other sites, the audits were conducted focusing on prevention of contamination with foreign material. We confirmed that the quality management system is functioning effectively at each site, for some sites it was conducted for the first time in four years since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Quality exchange meeting
The FY2023 quality exchange meeting—the annual gathering of quality personnel at the Company and Group companies in Japan held at a different company each year—was held at Tokyo Fine Chemical Co., Ltd. Based on the theme of “raw materials management,” a prior survey was conducted, and participants shared their current status and challenges to be tackled. The participants had an active exchange of views on how to manage expiration periods of raw materials and green procurement, and it provided an excellent opportunity for all companies.
