Basic Concept
The Nisshinbo Group's Business Conduct Guidelines, which includes "Thorough-Going Compliance" and "Fair and Transparent Business Practices," stipulates that the Group will always act fairly and with integrity in a wide range of social rules and corporate ethics, and that the Group will respect its suppliers as equal partners through sound business relationships, aiming for sustainable transactions throughout the supply chain.
To address sustainability throughout the Group's supply chain, we established the "Nisshinbo Group Sustainable Procurement Basic Policy" in 2015, under aspects such as legal compliance, fair trade, information security, environment protection, human rights, safety & health, and quality & safety. The basic policy was revised in 2024 after a review in response to recent social demands. At the same time, we established the "Nisshinbo Group Sustainable Procurement Guidelines."
The Nisshinbo Group promotes sustainable procurement initiatives while ensuring that all suppliers understand the Group's basic policies and guideline.
Nisshinbo Group Sustainable Procurement Basic Policy
- ① To strictly observe all legal obligations and social norms
- ② To ensure a safe and comfortable work environment where human rights are respected
- ③ To strive for a secure and healthy living and working environment
- ④ To give due consideration to protection of the environment
- ⑤ To always pursue business in a sound and fair manner
- ⑥ To procure raw materials responsibly
- ⑦ To aim to ensure the quality and safety of all products and service
- ⑧ To properly manage all information
- ⑨ To have a business continuity plan in place
Promotion System
Nisshinbo Holdings Inc. reorganized its organizational structure in April 2025 to establish a Managing Officer system for each functional division with the aim of building and overseeing a structure that would lead to urgent change. The Nisshinbo Group's procurement is governed by a governance system headed by the Senior Manager of the Risk Management Department of Nisshinbo Holdings Inc. In addition, the Company has established a procurement manager meeting to promote sustainable procurement and are working to implement activities.
The president of the Nisshinbo Group, who is the chief executive officer of the Group, conducts management reviews at the Board of Directors or the annual Board of Management* and receives progress reports from the Managing Officers in charge of the Risk Management Department with regard to the group's initiatives. Based on these reports, the president issues instructions on the matters necessary for management. Special items are reported to the Board of Directors as appropriate.
* The Board of Management: Executive conference consisting of Directors, Executive officers, etc.
Please refer to "Promotion System for Sustainability Activity" for details regarding the organizational structure for promoting sustainability.
Specific Initiatives of the Nisshinbo Group
6th Sustainability Promotion Plan (to be achieved by FY2027)
Feedback of questionnaire results based on procurement guidelines to major suppliers (over 80% of transaction value) 100%.
In the 6th Sustainability Promotion Plan, which targets FY2027, the Nisshinbo Group focuses on promotion of sustainable procurement as a priority activity and sets the avobe two goals to achieve improving sustainable procurement in collaboration with suppliers.
In FY2025, under the leadership of Nisshinbo Holdings Inc., Nisshinbo established a system for Group companies to conduct sustainable procurement surveys and provide feedback on the results both domestically and internationally. For the survey content, the Group conducted a joint review based on the Nisshinbo Group Sustainable Procurement Guideline to establish uniform standards in both Japanese and English, and then conducted the survey. The Nisshinbo Group then asked suppliers at the overseas offices to participate in the survey, which resulted in a 95% response rate overall. Nisshinbo Textile Inc. conducted the survey in both English and Portuguese to ensure that suppliers could easily understand it.
Going forward, the Nisshinbo Group decided to establish an email-based communication system with procurement staff and, under NIsshinbo leadership, continue the activities, which will primarily involve conducting surveys of all suppliers.
Please refer to "Sustainability Promotion Plan and KPIs" for details regarding of the "Sustainability Promotion Plan and KPIs."
Implementation of Sustainable Procurement Survey and Improvement Activities
Since 2017, the Nisshinbo Group has conducted regular surveys of all major domestic suppliers to assess the status of its sustainable procurement initiatives. Nisshinbo provides feedback on the survey results to the suppliers, along with an evaluation, so that they can use this information to drive improvement efforts. Through these initiatives, the suppliers’ understanding of the Nisshinbo Group Sustainable Procurement Basic Policy has steadily grown.
For FY2025, the Nisshinbo Group expanded the scope to include suppliers that work with the overseas offices, in addition to domestic suppliers who account for 80% of the transaction volume across the Nisshinbo core companies. Among the suppliers who participated in the surveys multiple times, Nisshinbo observed cases where the evaluation scores improved significantly. On the other hand, the Group observed that first-time participants in the survey tended to have relatively lower evaluation scores. The Nisshinbo Group will continue to ask for cooperation in its surveys and provide detailed feedback on the results. By working together with suppliers to make improvements, the Nisshinbo Group will promote sustainable procurement as a unified group.
In FY2026, Nisshinbo plans to implement activities in accordance with the questionnaire content based on the Nisshinbo Group Sustainable Procurement Guidelines, including overseas offices and suppliers.
Declaration to Build Partnerships and Compliance with the Subcontract Act
The Declaration to Build Partnerships mechanism was established in May 2020 at the Council for Promoting Partnership Building for the Future, whose members include relevant cabinet ministers (Cabinet Office, METI, MHLW, MAFF, MLIT, and the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary), Keidanren chairman, JCCI president, and the RENGO chairman. This "Declaration to Build Partnerships" is a declaration of efforts for cooperation, coexistence and co-prosperity with business partners in the supply chain and compliance with desirable business practices between parent companies and subcontractors (the Promotion Standards based on the Law for the Promotion of Small and Medium-sized Subcontractors): the prevention of unfair assignment on trade terms and conditions to subcontractors.
As of May 2026, Nisshinbo Holdings Inc., Japan Radio Co., Ltd., KOKUSAI DENKI Electric Inc., Nisshinbo Micro Devices Inc., and Nisshinbo Brake Inc. announced a partnership agreement.
"Declaration to Build Partnerships" portal site
https://www.biz-partnership.jp/index.html
Specific Activities of the Group Companies
Initiatives for Recognizing Outstanding Suppliers
Since 2006, Ueda Japan Radio Co., Ltd., has sponsored the Outstanding Supplier Recognition Program to honor suppliers who have made particularly significant contributions in terms of quality, delivery, and cost. These suppliers are vital partners underpinning the company’s management and production activities. The purpose of this program is to further strengthen the relationship of trust with the company's suppliers and to promote mutual growth through recognition based on fair and rigorous criteria.
Recipients are selected from among members of the Ueda Japan Radio Cooperative Association. For each category of catalog products, specification-based products, and custom-made products, suppliers are comprehensively evaluated on annual inspection volumes, the number of defects and corrective actions, and their efforts toward quality improvement. Additionally, achievements of significant improvements in quality, cost reductions, and on-time delivery are taken into consideration. Recommendations are made following consultation among the Business Division, Production Division, and Quality Assurance Department, and the final decision is made by the general manager of the Production Division. The awards ceremony is held once a year during the Association’s regular general meeting.
Through this program, Ueda Japan Radio aims to support its partner companies’ efforst for ongoing improvement and works together to promote stable quality and competitive manufacturing.
Improvement Initiatives, Including Resolving Issues with Suppliers
Since 2021, Nisshinbo Brake Inc. has worked with its suppliers under the banner of "Joint Improvement Activities" to resolve mutual challenges and to develop kaizen proposals that generate mutual benefits.
Four to five representatives from each participating supplier attend monthly meetings to brainstorm ideas and discuss projects. Each year, Nisshinbo Brake continuously implements initiatives with fresh perspectives by rotating the participating suppliers and adjusting the departments within the company involved. Specific initiatives include optimizing product specifications, digitizing exchanged forms, and improving the accuracy of such information as preliminary notifications and purchase orders. Nisshinbo Brake strives to ensure that these efforts yield benefits in terms of cost and man-hours, regardless of scale, not only for the company but also for the suppliers.
These activities not only strengthen communication between the two companies and their representatives but also help deepen the mutual understanding of each other’s processes.
Communication with Suppliers
Nisshinbo Automotive Manufacturing Inc. in the United States holds regular weekly or monthly meetings with its key suppliers at appropriate intervals to review quality and the delivery schedules. If a supplier lacks the resources to investigate and address an issue, Nisshinbo Automotive Manufacturing may follow up and discuss measures for resolving the problem with the supplier, and then confirm the future delivery schedule.
In this way, Nisshinbo Automotive Manufacturing goes beyond simply reviewing routine matters; the company provides feedback on quality performance and delivery schedules and communicates with its suppliers to work together on solutions before major issues arise regarding quality or delivery times.
Strengthening Supply Chain Compliance and Human Rights Protection
Saeron Automotive Yantai Corporation in China places a high priority on supply chain compliance management and the protection of human rights as part of its commitment to sustainable business practices.
In terms of compliance management, Saeron Automotive Yantai clearly stipulates in its contracts that suppliers must comply with all laws and regulations and fulfill their responsibilities to protect human rights. The company requires that suppliers to strictly adhere to relevant standards regarding manufacturing, labeling, transportation, import/export, and certification. Furthermore, as part of human rights protection, the company clearly defines its responsibility to protect human rights, including the prohibition of discrimination, the guarantee of equal labor rights for workers, the provision of a safe working environment and protective equipment, the assurance of health and safety, and the prohibition of child labor and forced labor.
Saeron Automotive Yantai promotes continuous improvement among its suppliers through regular supervision and guidance and will continue to strengthen cooperation to further standardize supply chain management.