The Ricoh Group's environmental management system (EMS) is an important tool in facilitating sustainable environmental management on a global scale.
We established a system to reflect the environmental action plan set by management in the goals of respective divisions and provide feedback on the results of their actions to management. Under the system, the group as a whole, and each of its business sites and divisions, promotes the plan-do-check-action (PDCA) cycle. Furthermore,
based upon the Group-wide Strategic Management by Objectives (SMO), which takes an environmental conservation perspective,
the Ricoh Group continually evaluates the performance of respective divisions.
Sustainable environmental management will be further promoted by incorporating EMS into the processes of respective businesses.
Organizational Chart for the Ricoh Group's Sustainable Environmental Management System
Upgrading the Level of
the Environmental Management System
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To realize sustainable environmental management, it is essential to incorporate environmental perspectives into business operations instead of separating environmental preservation activities from business operations. The Ricoh Group has traditionally promoted the acquisition of ISO 14001 certification by each business site and division to fortify its environmental management system.
Starting with Ricoh Gotemba Plant, which received ISO/DIS 14001 certification in 1995, all major Ricoh production sites worldwide were ISO 14001 certified as of March 2000.
In 2001, the sales group in Japan as a whole was ISO 14001 certified. Sales subsidiaries other than those in Japan are also making every effort to acquire ISO 14001 certification.
Thus, the Group has promoted the creation of a climate for sustainable environmental management by all employees through the acquisition of ISO 14001 certification. In this climate, the Group carries out various business activities that
incorporate environmental viewpoints, as shown by further unification of management systems in fiscal 2006 to better harmonize business and the environment. Also, Ricoh and its sales subsidiaries in Japan acquired integrated ISO 14001 certification in February 2007.
 For the status of the Ricoh Group's ISO 14001 acquisition
EMS of the Ricoh Group
Improvement in the EMS Activity Level
Participatory Approach by All Employees |
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The Ricoh Group is making an effort to improve sustainable environmental management based on an "all-employee participatory approach." This "all-employee participatory approach" means that all employees in all divisions - such as R&D, product design, materials procurement, manufacturing, transportation, sales, maintenance/services and collection and recycling - participate in environmental activities. These activities are regarded as just as important as "QCD activities," * which involve pursuing profitability. To improve environmental activities, internal benchmarks and know-how are provided to all employees from time to time to make them more environmentally aware.
* QCD means activities to improve the management of Quality, Cost, and Delivery.
Sustainable Environmental Management Activities Participated in by All Employees
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Setting of high environmental goals
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Developing such environmentally-friendly technologies as energy conservation, recycling, and new energy |
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Practical application of environmental assessment of products and environmentally-friendly technologies
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Reducing the number of parts, sharing parts, and increasing the life cycle of parts |
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Limiting the use of environmentally-sensitive substances |
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Creating energy conservation/recyclable designs and improving productivity through duplex copying |
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Green procurement and green partnership
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Procuring materials and parts with less environmental impact |
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Supporting suppliers in building EMS and CMS (chemical substance management system) |
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Increased environmental efficiency through improved manufacturing processes
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Downsizing manufacturing facilities |
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Improving yields and operation rates |
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Implementing resource conservation and recycling activities |
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Reducing environmentally sensitive chemical substances |
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Promotion of recycling-based logistics
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Providing direct delivery, from the plant to the customer |
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Developing and organizing recyclable eco-packaging |
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Reducing the environmental impact of transportation through modal shifts |
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Green marketing and environmental communication
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Proposing products and systems that have less environmental impact |
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Implementing environmental conservation activities at Ricoh offices |
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Disseminating environmental information to customers |
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Improved office environment through maintenance and services
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Contributing to the improvement of the customer's environment |
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Recycling used replacement parts |
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Recycling business
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Implementing a recycling information system |
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Increasing the number and quality of collected items |
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Improving the resource recovery rate |
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Getting feedback on recyclable designs |
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Strategic Management by Objectives (SMO) |
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Ricoh introduced SMO in 1999 to clarify evaluation standards for environmental conservation activities that are used in divisional performance evaluations.
This system is based on the Balanced Scorecard system, a performance management system developed in the 1990s in the United States and characterized by the use of four perspectives.
Ricoh has added a specific environmental conservation perspective to the system and is promoting SMO for global sustainable environmental management.
The Ricoh Group's SMO
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