EMS construction (China)
Nikkei Ecology, May 2002 |
We support EMS construction of suppliers. I will talk about Ricoh's green procurement in China. |
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Ricoh asks major suppliers in Shenzhen and Shanghai to acquire ISO 14001 certification by the end of March 2003 or to clear the guidelines of the Ricoh Group. And in order to support suppliers' activities, the expert team that can instruct environmental conservation activity is placed in the local production sites and the support system toward EMS construction is arranged. In order to realize product cost reduction, production in, for example, China is a necessity and such a tendency has accelerated recently. For Ricoh that is shipping products to the markets all over the world, to clear environmental regulations of each country and to produce/sell internationally competitive products, green procurement activity must be globally developed.
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| Shanghai Ricoh |
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Shenzhen Ricoh |
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Support for EMS construction in major Chinese suppliers is fully developed. |
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Production line of Ricoh Groups' facilities
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In order to effectively reduce environmental impact of products, measures must be taken not only in the design/production division within Ricoh, but also in the stage of parts procurement positioned in the upstream of production. Thus, Ricoh called for cooperation from major suppliers in both sites of Shenzhen and Shanghai that have a high production rate in aiming for the completion of EMS construction by the end of March 2003.
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Green Procurement at RAI 12 Aug. 2001.
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At the same time, an explanation meeting was held to explain market trends to regard environmental correspondence as indispensable for the future business and to explain that energy saving and other efforts for environmental impact reduction simultaneously give cost reduction effects and lead to reinforcement of the management constitution of the company. It also encouraged awareness reform to publicize the meaning of EMS construction and to actively strive for environmental activity. Further, internal auditors were fostered in the material division of the site that was a direct contact window with suppliers. And detailed instruction was given in cooperation with the environment expert division. As of February 2002, 22 companies in Shenzhen and 26 in Shanghai had already acquired ISO 14001 certification. The plan is steadily progressing toward accomplishment of the target. Investigation of the use situation of the chemical substances subject to use prohibition/reduction as designated by Ricoh that is already implemented in Japan has also started in full swing. Within 2003, the environmental impact information system in use of networks will be constructed to enable real-time grasp of information concerning overall material procurement including use of chemical substances.
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| Domestic tackling is more or less completed. Support activity will globally be promoted. |
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In Japan, Ricoh acknowledged 260 suppliers as main players that work to improve environmental technology in 1998 and has been strengthening partnerships with them. As a result, by March 2002, EMS construction was almost completed in all the companies. In the future, with the aim of phaseout of "lead", "hexavalent chromium", "cadmium" and "PVC", Ricoh will target a higher level environmental impact reduction and further strengthen relationships with suppliers. Currently, other than in China, Ricoh is conducting EMS construction support in France, UK and America and developing global activities with the aim of reducing environmental impact of overall society.
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| We will have environmental activity turned to business opportunity, to have higher quality environmental business management. |
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Based on the idea that EMS construction has a large effect not only on environmental impact reduction but also in the aspect of business management, such as cost reduction and management constitution reinforcement, Ricoh has been promoting activities in cooperation with domestic and suppliers. Success stories related to environmental activities are mounting, such as suppliers who realized large improvement of profit ratio or suppliers who created new business opportunity with unique technology fostered through tackling the environment. Also for the future, Ricoh aims at compatibility of environmental impact reduction of overall society and business activity with high economic efficiency and strives for high quality environmental business management.
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