Social

Value Chain Management

Value Chain Management (1) Responsible Procurement

Responsible procurement

Stable procurement of superior quality products and services at appropriate prices is a prerequisite for continuing business activities in a sustainable manner, and what serves as the foundation for this prerequisite is the relationship of trust between our Group and our business partners.

As stated in the Mitsuboshi Belting Group Procurement Policy, we are committed to engaging in “fair and impartial procurement activities” and “establishment of a mutually reliable partnerships” with all of our business partners. Through these efforts, we will work to build the type of relationships with our business partners that allow us to co-create new values.

Declaration of Partnership Building

In 2021, Mitsuboshi Belting made the "Declaration of Partnership Building" advocated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, with the aim of creating new added value and conducting fair transactions throughout the supply chain.

1. 

   Mitsuboshi Belting Group Procurement Policy

   Staying true to its Corporate Philosophy of “To give attentive consideration to both humanity and nature,” the Mitsuboshi Belting Group will engage in fair and impartial procurement activities and strive to establish mutually reliable partnerships with our business partners.
   
   

   1. Fair and impartial business transactions

   We provide fair and impartial business opportunities to business partners who wish to do business with us. When selecting business partners, we comprehensively consider quality, technical capabilities, delivery dates, prices, stability of supply, and other factors.
   
   
   

   2. Building partnerships

   We aim to build mutually reliable partnerships through fair and impartial business transactions so as to achieve mutual growth.
   
   
   

   3. Compliance and confidentiality

   When conducting procurement activities, we comply with related laws and social norms, and we do not disclose confidential information about our business partners obtained through procurement transactions to third parties without the consent of our business partners.
   
   
   

   4. Promoting CSR procurement

   We comply with laws and social norms, and promote procurement that fulfills our social responsibilities while taking into consideration respect for human rights, health and safety, information security, and timely and appropriate disclosure of information regarding such details.
   
   
   

   5. Promotion of green procurement

   To preserve the global environment and realize a sustainable society, we will work with our business partners to engage in procurement activities that aims to reduce environmental impact.
   
   
   

   February 1, 2023

Initiatives in FY2023

For the Mitsuboshi Belting Group to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society, we must share our values with our business partners and implement CSR procurement (compliance, respect for human rights, health and safety, information security, information disclosure, etc.), and green procurement (response to climate change, biodiversity conservation, water security, circular economy, etc.) at a deeper level so as to aid in improving various social issues.

In 2023, the Mitsuboshi Belting Group intends to compile and disclose our philosophy regarding procurement and the items we would like to work on together with our business partners in the form of "Procurement Guidelines" based on the ten principles in four areas (human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption) established by the UN Global Compact, with the aim of revitalizing the efforts in realizing a sustainable society throughout the entire value chain.

Initiatives to address climate change, biodiversity conservation, and water security

Mitsuboshi Belting Group Head Office's CO2 emissions from Scope 3 - Category 1 "Purchased goods and services" in FY2022 are approximately 38,000 tons, far exceeding the total CO2 emissions of Scope 1 and Scope 2 in the same category, which are approximately 29,000 tons. To stop global warming, while it is important to reduce the CO2 emissions by our Group, we must also focus on reducing CO2 emissions throughout the supply chain.

There are also issues aside from reducing CO2 emissions that must be addressed throughout the supply chain. Regarding the Human Rights DD activities conducted in FY2022, we have identified forced labor and child labor in production areas of cotton and natural rubber, raw materials for power transmission belts which are our Group's main product, as issues that must be addressed in our human rights protection activities.

Furthermore, a survey conducted in FY2023 on the relationship among biodiversity, water security, and Mitsuboshi Belting Group's business activities revealed that deforestation due to poorly managed natural rubber cultivation is threatening biodiversity conservation. Similarly, it has become clear that watering and pesticide contamination from poorly managed cotton cultivation are exacerbating water stress in cultivation areas that already have high levels of water stress. These two have been established as issues that this Group must address.

The business activities of the Mitsuboshi Belting Group, including the value chain, are closely associated with a variety of social issues. The Mitsuboshi Belting Group will work in coordination with business partners who share our values so as to promote initiatives that tackle these social issues.

Regarding business partner audits

The Mitsuboshi Belting Group annually conducts two-party audits (in some cases, one-party audits) in accordance with ISO 14001 (Environmental Management System (EMS)) or ISO 9001/IATF16949 (Quality Management System (QMS)) to monitor, evaluate and improve the status of business partners’ efforts regarding environmental conservation and quality assurance. The business partners to be audited are narrowed down by considering past audit results.

Based on the results of our audits to date, we have determined that our business partners are doing well in terms of environmental conservation and quality assurance, but the challenge for the future is to expand the scope of auditing to include not only business partners of the Procurement Department of the Mitsuboshi Belting Group Head Office but also business partners of affiliated companies of the Mitsuboshi Belting Group.

Additionally, we have been requesting our business partners to formulate and execute Business Continuity Plans since FY2020 as part of our efforts to address climate change, and we confirm the status of their implementation through annual one-party audits. The number of one-party audits is increasing year by year, and in FY2022, 75 of our 79 major business partners, or 95%, cooperated with our audits.