Happy New Year!
For the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the world.
I thank all of you for appropriately responding to the risk of infection and working continue manufacturing and supplying products and to maintain business continuity.
The impact of COVID-19 has resulted in the further digitalization of society as a whole, including telework and the need to revise the supply chains, society has greatly changed.
Within these huge changes, we need to actively change from a corporate group that is kept alive by society into a corporate group that transforms itself by independently providing value to society.
Corporate Philosophy and SDGs
We have entered 2022, there are only 8 years left to achieve the SDGs by the target year of 2030.
“Drawing on more than a century of expertise in the development and fabrication of advanced materials, we will contribute to the realization of a sustainable society through continuous technological innovation.” This is the Corporate Philosophy of the Furukawa Electric Group. The DNA of the Furukawa Electric Group comes from the words of our founder, Ichibei Furukawa: “value employees, value customers, value new technology, and contribute to society.” These ideas are linked to the SDGs adopted by the United Nations, and I believe that it is ESG management itself, which gives care and consideration for the environment, society, and governance. And the direction indicated by the Furukawa Electric Group Vision 2030, which sets forth our vision and goals for 2030, aligns with the SDGs.
Directed at achieving the SDGs, the issues of climate change, becoming carbon neutral and human rights are receiving increased attention around the world. None of these issues are simple, but by achieving Vision 2030, we will be able to contribute to solving these issues.
Three requests for the employees
Safety and Health First
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought renewed awareness of the importance of health. As safety and health are the foundation upon which we carry out our work, please continue to give full consideration to maintaining safety and health.
Upon working safely in factories, we need to work to increase our “ability to envision close calls” - the ability to notice danger in situations not easily recognized to be dangerous. Along with increasing your sensitivity to dangerous locations, strive to grasp the presence of danger through dialogue, recognize the danger through the knowledge and perspectives of multiple people and work to make our working environment safe.
Increased “Comprehensive Capability” of Monozukuri
We are currently facing rapid, large changes in the business environment. Last year, a shortage of semiconductors, unstable raw material supply and higher prices, logistics bottlenecks and soaring logistics expenses occurred. In order to survive in such circumstances, we need to acquire the true ability to appropriately respond to change. Let’s work to increase our “comprehensive capability,” which includes workplace capability, procurement capability, marketing capability and management capability and continue to grow and evolve without being satisfied with the current state.
Increased “Ability to Follow Through” as an Organization
Along with addressing the issues as a team rather than struggling alone, it will be important to agilely carry out the PDCA cycle.
Accumulating small successes without being afraid of failure will lead to major effects. I want all of you to strive as a team to set and challenge higher goals.
Furukawa Electric Group’s efforts towards the SDGs
based on the “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” adopted by the United Nations, the Furukawa Electric Group has formulated the “Furukawa Electric Group Vision 2030” which sets the year 2030 as its target and is advancing efforts with the aim to “Build a sustainable world and make people’s life safe, peaceful and rewarding, Furukawa Electric Group will create solutions for the new generation of global infrastructure combining information, energy and mobility.” Toward the achievement of our Vision 2030, we will take open, agile, and innovative approaches to promote ESG management that that aims to increase corporate value over the medium to long term and will contribute to the achievement of the SDGs.
