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Society
- Shareholders and
Investors - Employees
- Business Partners
- Local Communities
- Safety / Environment /
Disaster Prevention / Product Quality
Shareholders and Investors
Approach
The Company discloses important information for investment decisions in a timely and appropriate manner, and promote understanding of the Group through various engagement activities.
We disclose the reference material of a financial results briefing session, which is held twice a year, and upload related videos and transcripts onto the website.
In 2024, we held our first company information session for individual shareholders. We plan to continue providing opportunities for individual investors to learn about the Company also in 2025.
Means of Communication
- Financial results briefing session (February and August)
- 1-on-1 meetings (21 times in fiscal 2024)
- Briefing for individual shareholders (held on October 9)
Briefing session for individual shareholders
Scene of the briefing session for individual shareholders
On October 9, we held our first company information session for individual shareholders, with a total of 43 shareholders participating in person and online. On the day of the briefing, President & CEO Aoki presented an overview of the Company, its structural reforms and growth investments, and its new shareholder return policy. Shareholders then asked a number of questions. The Company is involved in the B2B materials industry, which is unfamiliar to the general public, and it can be difficult to understand all aspects of our business. However, in the follow-up survey, we received many positive comments saying that the briefing session helped them better understand our business through communication. A video and transcript of the event are available on our website under “To Individual Investors” page.
Employees
Approach
Human resources are the source of our competitiveness and we promote initiatives in human capital management.
Means of Communication
- Engagement survey
- Enhancement of education and training
- Dialogue with labor unions
Business Partners
The Group promotes collaboration, coexistence, and mutual prosperity throughout its supply chains based on the “Partnership- Building Declaration,” and engages in fair and equitable trade based on its management philosophy. Additionally, based on our basic policy for procurement, we work with our suppliers to engage in procurement activities that account for compliance, reducing environmental impact, respecting human rights, standards, and other social responsibilities, and to promote efforts to combat climate change and other environmental issues, respect human rights, and resolve other social issues.
| 1 | Rigorous compliance | We have established systems for rigorous compliance and make efforts to observe laws, regulations, and social norms. |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Consideration for reducing the environmental impact (global environment) of procurement activities |
We make efforts to reduce the impact of our procurement activities on the global environment. |
| 3 | Respecting human rights, consideration for work environments | We respect the human rights of each and every individual in our supply chains in accordance with the Nippon Denko Group Basic Policy on Human Rights. |
| 4 | Providing opportunities for competition through fair and equitable trade | We comply with Antimonopoly Act and other laws and regulations for fair trade and engage in procurement activities in accordance with wholesome commercial customs and social norms. We do not engage in unfair trade that exploits our superior position. |
| 5 | Ensuring the safety and competitiveness of our products and services | We place the utmost priority on ensuring the safety of our products and services and take steps to improve competitiveness in terms of quality, price, and turnaround. |
| 6 | Response mineral procurement | We promote the establishment of supply chains free of minerals mined from regions under conflict or plagued with human rights violations. |
| 7 | Establishing trust-based relationships | We establish trust-based relationships with our suppliers through the aforementioned activities in an effort toward coexistence and mutual prosperity. |
Scene of the stands at the sponsored Kashima Antlers match
Sponsoring the Kashima Antlers match and inviting high school students
We have been supporting the Kashima Antlers as a club partner since 2023. In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of our founding in 2025, we sponsored a match on March 29 during the 7th round of the 2025 Meiji Yasuda J1 League. On the day of the event, we decorated the stadium and held a kick-off ceremony led by President & CEO Aoki to promote the Company’s name and logo. We were also able to communicate directly with many Antlers supporters at our outdoor booth.
In addition, in order to raise popularity of the Company in recruitment activities, we are currently implementing a project to invite ten high school students to every Kashima Antlers home game in 2025. This project has been well received, and we have received many applications from interested students.
Ibaraki Robots logo mark
Sponsorship agreement with the Ibaraki Robots
In December 2024, we signed a bronze sponsorship agreement with the Ibaraki Robots of the B. LEAGUE B1 professional basketball league. The Ibaraki Robots is a club based in Mito City and Tsukuba City, with activities throughout Ibaraki Prefecture. Our Kashima Plant is responsible for the Incineration Ash Recycling business, which plans to increase its electric furnaces as part of our Medium/Long-Term Business Plan. It is also essential to raise popularity in terms of recruitment activities. By supporting the Ibaraki Robots, we will raise our profile in the prefecture and contribute to the regional revitalization through communication with many supporters and local residents.
Scene of Myoko Fireworks, Shumisen Festival
Myoko City 20th anniversary event
We sponsored the first “Myoko Fireworks, Shumisen Festival” held in January 2025. This festival was held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Michi-no-Eki (roadside station) Arai and the 20th anniversary of Myoko City, and it was also a milestone event for the Company, which has a plant in Myoko City and is celebrating its 100th anniversary. On the day of the event, handheld fireworks and other performances were held, entertaining the many visitors to the roadside station. In addition, we conducted PR by displaying products and installing panels that showcased the history of the Myoko Plant, in a company introduction space set up in part of the roadside station.
Safety / Environment / Disaster Prevention / Product Quality
Safety and Health
The Nippon Denko Group is augmenting its occupational safety and health management system and engaging in activities to ensure the safety and health of its employees under the safety and health basic policy.
Basic Policy
- Respect human life in the execution of all operations under the assumption that ensuring safety and health is the utmost priority
- Strive to prevent work-related accidents under the belief that prevention is the foundation of safety and health management activities
Creating a Secure and Safe Workplace
Video-based work instructions
| Targe | |
|---|---|
| Number of disaster response incidents | 0 |
We believe that it is important to predict and mitigate risks in order to prevent work-related accidents, and we consider “reliably predicting hazards” and “identifying and addressing risks” as important measures for safety activities. However, five disasters that forced the injured employees to take days off occurred in 2024 due to insufficient risk awareness and an inadequate response to changes in work procedures. In response to this, the plant and the head office worked together to review the inspection system including management, identify potential risks in the workplace, and re-establish work standards with the aim of creating a more secure and safer workplace environment.
dition, we have introduced video-based work instructions on a trial basis for workplaces that are unable to secure sufficient on-site training periods due to operational circumstances, as these are highly effective for learning. We are setting up a system that enables employees to receive training anywhere anytime by using mobile devices. We will continue to develop video-based work instructions and efficient implementation methods. Then, we will proceed with the full-scale adoption at each location, focusing particularly on high-risk tasks.
Furthermore, last year, we implemented risk experience training using VR (virtual reality) that focused on themes directly related to serious accidents in an effort to increase the risk sensitivity of employees. This year, we will expand our range of experiential scenarios focusing on past disaster trends and familiar risks, while introducing low-floor oscillation devices to enable more effective experiences, with the aim of further improving risk sensitivity. We will actively continue measures for securing the safety of employees.
Comments from participants who experienced the VR-based risk experience device
- The visuals were superb and the sound quality was high, giving me a sense of a real-life experience.
- VR was more realistic than educational videos, allowing me to feel the danger more vividly.
- I realized that injuries can happen in an instant, and I recognized the importance of disaster prevention measures.
Acquiring Certification from Third-Party Organizations
The Group uses its ISO 45001 management system to create a structure for eliminating work-related accidents and other forms of risk with the aim of creating work environments where employees can work with a sense of safety and security. We obtained the certification for the Myoko Plant in August 2023 and for the Toyama Plant in April 2024 for a total of 4 plants including the already certified the Tokushima Plant and the Kashima Plant. We will make continuous efforts to get the certification for all of our plants.
Creating Comfortable Workplaces and Promoting Physical and Mental Health
The Group promotes new 5S training and makes other efforts to ensure and maintain comfortable work environments, and steadily implements measures to improve facilities with the aim of preventing occupational diseases. We also promote employee health care through measures such as coordinating with industrial physicians to accommodate work style reform, conducting stress checks and promoting measures for mental health, and raising awareness about the many ways to prevent lifestyle-related illnesses, lower back pain syndrome, and the loss of physical capacity.
Disaster Prevention
The Group has established systems for disaster prevention management and disaster response and banded together to engage in other disaster prevention activities to enhance each and every employee’s capacity for disaster prevention with the aim of eliminating disaster response incidents.
Disaster Risk Prevention Activities
The Group has established manuals and conducts drills for responding to typhoons, earthquakes, tsunami, and other natural disasters, and also takes steps to reduce risk in responding to fires, explosions, and other plant disasters, specifically by conducting risk assessments in each location to identify disaster risks, deploying technical and organizational measures to reduce the risks and managing any residual risks, and conducting various drills (e.g. general disaster prevention drills, first-response drills for fires).
| Target | |
|---|---|
| Number of disaster response incidents | 0 |
Product Quality
The Group promotes activities to improve quality with the aim of providing products and services that satisfy customers under our Basic Quality Policy.
Basic Policy
- Comply with laws and regulations
- Consistently provide products and services satisfying each customers’ requirements
- Reduce risks of improper cases regarding quality assurance
- Continuously improve quality management systems
Quality Management
The Group has established a quality management system based on ISO 9001, and all employees involved in manufacturing and services work together to promote its implementation. By utilizing this system and appropriately managing the entire process of providing products and services to our customers, we aim to continuously deliver high-quality value.
Quality management activities are led by the product quality assurance departments at each plant, which promotes autonomous operations. When issues arise, we work closely with our head-office divisions to ensure a swift and appropriate response. We also implement a continuous training program to ensure that all employees are familiar with the importance of complying with quality standards and basic rules. Furthermore, we identify and correct quality risks through internal quality audits and quality patrols, thereby raising employee’s awareness of quality and working to prevent quality issues before they occur.
In addition, we are actively addressing issues such as standardization, systematization, and automation. This allows us to improve the reliability of testing and inspection related to product shipment and strengthen our system for providing peace of mind and trust to our customers.
