Supply Chain Management
Basic thinking on procurement
COSEL strives to build transparent, mutually trusting relationships with its suppliers, enabling coexistence and shared prosperity from a fair, equitable, and global perspective, while complying with applicable laws, regulations, and social norms.
To develop high-quality products that satisfy customers worldwide, it is essential to appropriately manage the quality, delivery performance, and costs of procured components and materials, while also giving due consideration to environmental impacts. To this end, we work to deepen mutual understanding with our suppliers through daily business interactions and regularly share information related to quality, delivery, costs, management policies, and technology strategies.
We believe that maintaining and strengthening these partnerships with suppliers is vital to our continued growth and long-term success.
Green procurement
In order to deliver environmentally friendly products to customers, it is vital to ascertain the chemical content of not only our own products but also those of suppliers and to disclose and communicate such information smoothly. For these purposes, we strive to establish a system covering the entire supply chain.
COSEL established its Green Procurement Standards in FY 2004 and has used them as conditions of transactions with suppliers since then. We also conduct regular review for compliance with laws and regulations and promote green-procurement efforts.
Initiatives to address conflict minerals
There are concerns that mineral resources mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and nine neighboring countries serve as sources of funding for armed groups in these regions.
To address this issue, in July 2010, the United States enacted the Dodd-Frank Act, requiring U.S.-listed companies to conduct inquiries to identify refiners of the conflict minerals and file reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
We support the aims of the Dodd-Frank Act and have established our own rules of investigation of conflict minerals to promote the responsible procurement of minerals. We explain the purpose and necessity of investigations of conflict minerals to our suppliers and collect information utilizing the Conflict Mineral Reporting Template (CMRT).
When customers ask us to disclose information on the results of an investigation of conflict minerals, we provide them with the information using the CMRT.
Requests for CSR initiatives by suppliers
COSEL launched its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in 2015. To achieve CSR not only within the COSEL Group but among suppliers as well, we established the COSEL Supplier CSR Code in 2024 describing our basic approach on procurement activities.
We also strive to ensure mutual understanding of and compliance with this Code when beginning transactions with a supplier.
COSEL Supplier CSR Code
(Introduction)
COSEL strives to build transparent relationships of mutual trust that enable coexistence and coprosperity with our partner suppliers from a fair, equitable, and global perspective in compliance with laws and regulations and social norms. We believe it is important for us to improve our partnerships with suppliers by maintaining and strengthening such activities.
This is why we are sharing this Code with suppliers and will strive toward solutions to social issues throughout the supply chain. Suppliers are requested to carry out business activities that conform to this Code, including encouraging their own supply chains to do the same.
A. Labor and human rights
1. Prohibition of forced labor
Respect the free will of all employees and never compel them to work. Provide terms of employment in advance, in language understandable to employees. Never demand that employees submit official identification, passports, or work permits for keeping by the employer.
2. Prohibition of child labor and consideration for young workers
Never employ children less than the minimum age of employment. Do not employ employees under 18 years of age in work that threatens their health or safety.
3. Appropriate working hours
Keep working hours within legally prescribed ranges.
Give employees at least one day a week off.
4. Appropriate wages and benefits
Pay employees the legal minimum wage, overtime pay, and wages including allowances without delay, indicating pay slip.
5. Prohibition of inhumane treatment
Respect employees' human rights and prohibit acts of actual or potential inhumane treatment, such as harassment or abuse. Clearly inform employees of disciplinary policies and procedures concerning such acts.
6. Prohibition of discrimination
Endeavor to build workplaces free from harassment and unlawful discrimination. In employment activities including hiring, refrain from discrimination and acts that could lead to discrimination on grounds of race, skin color, age, gender, sexual orientation, sexual identity, ethnicity or nationality, disability status, pregnancy, religion, political affiliation, union membership, marital status, or other reasons unrelated to work.
7. Workers' rights
In accordance with laws and regulations, respect the freedom of association of all employees and their rights to join or not join unions, to collective bargaining, and to participation in peaceful gatherings. Strive to ensure employees can communicate openly with management, without fear of discrimination, retaliation, threats, or harassment.
B. Health and safety
1. Occupational health and safety
To ensure employee safety, ascertain conditions in the workplace, on the job, etc. and take appropriate technical and managerial methods to prevent or mitigate any identified risks or dangers. Provide employees with health and safety information, training, and necessary protective equipment. Employ appropriate measures and considerations to reduce health and safety risks to expectant mothers.
2. Emergency preparedness
Evaluate actual and potential risks, such as those of accidents or injuries in the workplace, take measures to minimize damage, and provide the necessary training. Include in countermeasures checking structural safety, securing evacuation routes, and installation and inspection of disaster-prevention equipment.
3. Occupational injury and illness prevention
Ascertain the status of employees' occupational injuries and illnesses, provide necessary care, and implement corrective measures.
4. Industrial health
Identify, evaluate, and manage risks of exposure of employees to harmful biological, chemical, or physical substances or conditions in the workplace.
5. Consideration for physical burdens
Identify, evaluate, and manage appropriately risks that could lead to occupational injury or illness in connection with work that involves heavy physical burdens on employees.
6. Safety measures for machinery and equipment
Evaluate the safety of production machinery and other machinery, take measures to prevent occupational injury, and maintain and manage it appropriately.
7. Appropriate health and safety
Ensure health, safety, and appropriate environments in facilities provided for employees (such as dormitories, dining halls, and restrooms).
8. Health and safety communication
Provide appropriate safety information and drills on various potential risks to employees in the workplace, using wording and methods that are understandable to employees. Also, encourage employees to be conscious of safety concerns themselves.
C. Environmental protection
1. Compliance with environmental laws and regulations
Obtain necessary permits, submit necessary notices and reports in accordance with laws and regulations.
2. Pollution prevention and resource conservation
Minimize polluted wastewater and waste in accordance with laws and regulations. Also, control use of water, fossil fuels, minerals, and other natural resources to avoid wasting them through such means as modifying production equipment, using alternative materials, and reusing resources.
3. Control of harmful substances
Identify and appropriately manage chemicals, waste, and other substances that could be hazardous to human health or the environment.
4. Appropriate waste disposal
Together with identifying, controlling, and reducing the waste generated in business processes, implement systematic approaches to waste disposal or recycling.
5. Atmospheric emissions
Strive to reduce such atmospheric emissions as harmful substances, greenhouse gases, and ozone-depleting substances.
6. Restricted substances
Comply with applicable laws, regulations, and the COSEL Group Green Procurement Standards regarding specific substances whose use is prohibited or restricted in products or production processes.
7. Water management
Monitor the state of water resources and wastewater and ensure it conforms to regulations.
8. Energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions
Make efforts to minimize energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
D. Ethics
1. Business integrity
Refrain from all types of bribery, corruption, extortion, and misappropriation.
2. Elimination of improper gains
Never promise, offer, permit, provide, or receive bribes or other improper gains.
3. Information disclosure
Conduct all commercial transactions with transparency and maintain accurate accounting ledgers and records. Disclose information concerning labor, health and safety, environmental activities, finances, and business results in accordance with general business practices.
4. Protection of intellectual property rights
Respect, manage, and protect intellectual property rights.
5. Fair business practices, advertising, and competition
Strive to ensure fair business practices, advertising, and competition.
6. Whistleblower protection and prohibition of retaliation
Keep whistleblower reports from suppliers and employees confidential and anonymous and protect whistleblowers from retaliation.
7. Responsible minerals procurement
Make efforts to provide reasonable guarantee that tantalum, tin, tungsten, gold, and other minerals contained in products are not direct or indirect sources of funding for armed groups causing severe human-rights violations in the Republic of Congo or neighboring states.
8. Protection of personal information
Employ consideration for privacy regarding all personal information concerning employees, suppliers, consumers, employees, and others involved in business activities.
E. Management System
1. Corporate commitment
Formulate policies on social and environmental management approved by management.
2. Management accountability and responsibility
Ensure that the officers in charge are responsible for steady implementation of management systems. Have the officers in charge review management systems periodically.
3. Legal requirements and customer demands
Establish processes for understanding applicable legal and regulatory requirements and customer demands, including the requirements of this Code.
4. Risk evaluation and risk management
Carry out risk evaluation and risk management concerning compliance, labor, health and safety, the environment, and ethics.
5. Improvement targets
Prepare targets and implementation plans for improvements in social responsibility and environmental responsibility.
6. Training
Maintain training programs that satisfy applicable legal and regulatory requirements so that management and employees can implement appropriate policies, procedures, and improvement targets.
7. Communication
Clearly and accurately communicate to employees, suppliers, and customers information concerning policies, results, expectations, and performance.
8. Employee feedback, participation, and complaints
Maintain complaint resolution systems, such as those for employee understanding and reporting violations of this Code.
9. Auditing and evaluation
Conduct periodic self-evaluations of conformity to legal and regulatory requirements and those of this Code.
10. Corrective measures
Carry out corrective measures for nonconformities identified through internal and external evaluation and auditing.
11. Documentation and records
Prepare and maintain documents and records to ensure compliance and protect privacy appropriately.
12. Supplier responsibility
Communicate the requirements of this Code to your suppliers and encourage their conformity with them.
13. Business continuity planning (BCP)
Take measures toward a stable supply (such as procurement from multiple suppliers and securing inventories) to be ready for natural disasters, accidents, and other unforeseen incidents.
Established May 2024