Building Good Relationships with business partners

The Kurita Group considers that we need to work together with our business partners that provide raw materials, supplies, and perform services for initiatives related to sustainability in order to realize a sustainable society and corporate growth. The Kurita Group has established the Kurita Group Procurement Policy as a groupwide policy on procurement.
Additionally, the Kurita Group has established the “Kurita Group Sustainable Procurement Guidelines,” which include “respect for basic human rights,” such as the prohibition of forced labor and child labor, elimination of discrimination, and conflict minerals; “Preservation of the global environment,” including compliance with environmental laws and regulations; and “compliance with laws, regulation and social norms,” including fair trade practices and prohibition of corruption and briberies.
Based on the Kurita Group Procurement Policy, the Company has also established Procurement Operation Regulations as a regulation related to supplies, equipment, the procurement of labor and services required in the Companyʼs business activities.
The regulations clearly state that we present the Kurita Group Procurement Policy to business partners and they are expected to further strengthen their cooperative framework in order to promote procurement activities that emphasize social responsibility throughout the entire supply chain. We also request business partners to clarify their confirmation and understanding of its contents in writing.
Additionally, we ask business partners to understand the Kurita Group’s policies, take necessary measures accordingly, and submit relevant information.

The following shows the steps to start transaction

Process to Start a Transaction

The status of business dealings with the Companyʼs business partners is as follows.

The Kurita Group incorporates multiple methods of engagement with its business partners, depending on the theme, in order to appropriately understand and evaluate their actual status and to achieve smooth communication with them.
In fiscal 2024, we investigated the record of raw materials of suppliers with large procurement amounts of electronic parts as investigation for conflict minerals. We also conducted on-site audit by outside experts for business partners with a large number of Technical Intern Trainee in order to understand human rights risks and take responsive measures.

The Company has been using the platform of EcoVadis to understand and evaluate the actual situation of the business partners since fiscal 2022 with the aim of expanding evaluation items, enhancing the reliability of evaluation results, and reducing the burden on our business partners.
As of March 2024, 150 companies were registered on the platform. We promote improvement initiatives to business partners where risks have been identified.

• A platform for rating the sustainable procurement capabilities of suppliers from a CSR perspective, in which the contents and number of questions are customized according to industry, company size, and country or region in the four areas of “environment,” “labor and human rights,” “ethics,” and “sustainable material procurement.” By answering questions about activity contents, etc., a participating company can visualize its performance, which facilitates the company’s understanding of improvements., etc.

The Company requires its business partners and those of Group companies in Japan to understand its compliance activities, such as observing the Subcontract Act and confidential information management, and confirms the appropriateness of transactions with such suppliers by carrying out surveys of transactions with the Company. These surveys target suppliers who fall under the category of subcontractors, as provided in the Subcontract Act, and are conducted once a year. In the event that status checks or improvements are deemed necessary after responses are confirmed, we instruct the relevant department to respond and conducts a follow-up check on the result of the response.

Status of business partner compliance survey implementation

The Company has established the Public Interest Whistle Blower Protection Rules and strives to quickly discover misconduct. In accordance with these rules, an advising and reporting liaison that makes use of an independent organization was established, and business partners can use this. Helpline for business partners was also launched so that business partners can seek advice on issues such as concerns and worries they have about business with the Kurita Group.
There were no cases in which Helpline was used in fiscal 2024. We will work to enhance awareness of the Helpline, and gain a proper understanding of the process for necessary measures such as fact-checking, corrections, remedial actions, and preventive measures to ensure that the helpline installed is fully functional.

The Company provides opportunities for communication with business partners and strives to strengthen its partnerships with them. The main initiatives conducted in fiscal 2024 were as follows.