Ricoh 2012 Annual Report Download - page 59

Ricoh Group Sustainability Report 2012 58
Top Message About us Our Activities
Supply Chain Management
Data
Help understand and share information on
production, environment and CSR
The Ricoh Group has built a system to communicate information on
production and environmental impact caused by raw materials and
parts on “RaVenderNET,” a network infrastructure jointly operated
with suppliers. This system, which has been operating since 2001, was
expanded in 2005 to include overseas suppliers. As a result, the time
required for communicating information on orders was reduced from
2-3 days to half a day and production lead times have thereby been
shortened. This system has also been used to share information on CSR
procurement since 2010.
Promotion of efforts to address child
labor issues
Child labor is one of the priority issues of the Ricoh Group’s TRM (total
risk management) efforts, and relevant departments have been engaged
in various projects to address child labor issues. The Ricoh Group has
already surveyed the compliance with laws that prohibit child labor
by manufacturing sites in Japan and abroad. The survey results have
confirmed that there have been no violations. The self-assessment results
from supplier companies have also confirmed that there have been no
reports of child labor violations. We will continue to monitor child labor.
Supplier CSR Self-Assessment System
The Ricoh Group Supplier Code of Conduct contains CSR-related
standards, including environmental conservation and regulations
regarding human rights such as the prohibition of child labor. We request
suppliers to comply with these standards in their business activities. We
have developed the Supplier Code of Conduct Guidebook and distributed
it to suppliers to help them better understand the necessity of compliance
with the Code of Conduct. In 2009, we held an explanatory meeting on
the Ricoh Group’s CSR activities, inviting all major suppliers in Japan
to attend, with the aim of raising their awareness of the importance of
making efforts in the CSR area and improving their understanding of the
Code of Conduct in order to share our values.
Also in 2009, a CSR Self-Assessment System for monitoring the
level of compliance with the Supplier Code of Conduct was introduced.
Implementation of the system was initiated in Japan and has gradually
been expanded to other countries. Based on assessment results reported
to the Ricoh Group, activities needing to be improved are identified, results
are fed back to the suppliers and advice and support necessary to further
improve their activities are provided. The CSR Self-Assessment System has
been applied to local suppliers in China since 2010 and is planned to be
introduced to Thailand in 2013. The system helps suppliers to implement
the PDCA cycle by themselves, and this will eventually enable them to
meet society’s needs and requests.
An explanatory meeting to improve suppliers’ understanding of the
Ricoh Group Supplier Code of Conduct and to seek their cooperation
in self-assessment and other CSR activities was held in China in 2010,
with invitations sent to 50 suppliers at five major production sites.
Although issues related to excessive working hours and intellectual
property rights have been reported sporadically in China, the country
lags behind in fostering people’s awareness of the development of
legal systems and compliance with laws and regulations. Since we
were concerned that due to the circumstances described above,
merely translating the guidebooks into Chinese would fail to convey
the true intended meaning, we prepared guidebooks exclusively
for Chinese companies. Regarding actual implementation of the
guidebooks in China, some items are difficult for Chinese companies
to interpret correctly. However, the Ricoh Group has been working
together with Chinese companies to aid them in establishing both
environmental management systems and chemical substance
management systems, and based on this experience, they have been
actively introducing such self-assessment systems. Our goal is to grow
together with our suppliers, placing emphasis on establishing and
maintaining trusting relationships with them.
Application of the self-assessment system to Chinese legal
systems and circumstances to be taken into consideration
Our procurement is in line with our procurement strategies, including “intensive production” and “local production for local consumption.”
We use a global IT-based procurement system that ensures optimized procurement through the review of costs and supply regions.
The SCM System that enables us to share information on orders, designs, environmental issues and CSR activities with more than 1,200 suppliers in
Japan and abroad has been developed.
Procurement
nterview
I
Isao Inoue
Procurement Control Center
Global Procurement Division
Ricoh co., Ltd.