Strengthening Supply Chain Management

Relevant SDGs

8 Decent work and economic growth 12 Responsible consumption and production

Reason for Priority

The processes of development, design, procurement, production, and sales form a value chain before the provision of products to customers by business enterprises. The manufactured products that are delivered to customers must not only be of high quality, but must also guarantee social responsibility on global issues such as human rights, labor, and the environment. In the value chain process of procurement, when business enterprises procure raw materials from supply chains around the world, there may be problems in individual worksites, such as human rights violations, poor working conditions, environmental destruction, and conflict minerals, which have been recognized as social issues. The supply chain may also contain many risks on these issues at tier 2 and tier 3 suppliers. Business enterprises are required to contribute to solving these social issues by visualizing supply chains and consistently doing business with suppliers who share the same vision and work together to address these issues.

Commitment

The rapid changes in the external environment, which are typified by the recent COVID-19 pandemic, pose the challenge of responding to the new normal. In general, under such an environment, enterprises tend to prioritize profit in order to survive and neglect consideration of the human rights of workers, the environment, and other issues. At the Nikon Group, we believe we should pursue profit and respond to social issues simultaneously. By strengthening collaboration with our procurement partners, we aim to boost corporate competitiveness, solve social issues in the supply chain, and engage in sustainable corporate activities together. The Nikon Group seeks sustainable procurement in collaboration with our procurement partners that will contribute towards the building of a sustainable society through a supply chain based on transactions with procurement partners who share the same approach.

Nobuyuki Ishizuka
General Manager of Production Technology Division

Main initiatives and results in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021

Expanding the Integrated Procurement Data Management System, and Enhancing Data Quality

To facilitate the establishment of a Total Supply Chain Management (TSM) system, the Nikon Group is working to strengthen the visualization of procurement information. More specifically, we built a system for the integrated management of supplier information held by each department in the Nikon Group and have commenced operation of the system, starting with the data collected from Japan and Asia where our major procurement partners are concentrated.
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021, we worked on improving the quality of the information in the system. Besides working to update the corporate information of already-registered procurement partners, we added data such as transaction status and ESG information for each company.
In addition, we expanded the regions covered in the system, and began to register the procurement partners of the Group companies in Europe. We also started to register procurement partners that supply indirect materials.

Expanding the CSR Assessment to Tier 2 Suppliers

The Nikon Group has established the Nikon CSR Procurement Standards, and we ask our procurement partners and their suppliers to act responsibly in accordance with the Standards. Furthermore, in order to verify the actual situation and reduce CSR risk, we conduct CSR assessments of those procurement partners who account for the top 80％ of Group-wide transaction value, using a self-assessment form. On the basis of the results obtained in the assessments, we conduct CSR audits and require that corrective action be taken.
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021, we expanded the scope of assessments to tier 2 suppliers. First, we requested the cooperation of 11 trading company procurement partners (which have many tier 2 suppliers) and conducted CSR assessments at 60 of their contract manufacturers.

Nikon Sustainability Report

For more details, please see the Nikon Sustainability Report.

Strengthening Supply Chain Management (PDF:917KB)
Nikon's Supply Chain Management
- Basic Policy for Procurement
- Nikon Group's Supply Chain
- Procurement Partner Management
- Supply Chain Materiality
- Nikon's Supply Chain Management System
Promoting CSR Procurement
- Basic Approach to CSR Procurement
- Main Points in Implementing CSR Procurement
- Corrective Action
- Capacity Building
- Responding to the Responsible Minerals Sourcing
Promoting Green Procurement
- Approach to Green Procurement
- Auditing of Procurement Partners' Environmental Management Systems, and Nikon Environmental Partner Certification
- Presentations for Procurement Partners and the Nikon Group
- Cultivation of Environmental Management System Auditors

Responsible Minerals Sourcing

Relevant Information

Procurement
Contains the Nikon Basic Procurement Policy, the Nikon CSR Procurement Standards, the Responsible Minerals Sourcing Policy and the Nikon Green Procurement Standards.