DRIVEN BASE

Stakeholder Dialogue Fiscal 2014

Date: January 23, 2014

Place: DENSO Daian Plant (Inabe, Mie)

Participants
Chubu Companies CSR Liaison Committee*

Members

(Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc., Nagoya Railroad Co., Ltd., IBIDEN Co., Ltd., Brother Industries, Ltd., NGK Insulators, Ltd., NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd., Toho Gas Co., Ltd., Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Toyota Industries Corporation, Tokai Rubber Industries, Ltd.)

DENSO

Daian Plant, Safety & Environment Promotion Div., Corporate Planning Div.

*Organized in January 2008 as a workshop to exchange CSR-related information among member companies that are headquartered in the Chubu region

Details of the dialogue

  1. DENSO’s Long-term Policy and future vision of CSR activities

  2. Commitment to “the environment” and “security & safety” at the Daian Plant

  3. Plant and facility tour (wastewater treatment facility, cogeneration facility, EV-based in-house people mover system, etc.)

  4. Discussion

Opinions etc. expressed in the dialogue

Main opinions, expectations, etc. from external and DENSO participants are as follows

Long-term Policy and Policy-based CSR Activities (“the environment” and “security & safety”)

(●: Experts, ♦: DENSO)

● In general, management and CSR are separately discussed in a long-term policy. However, DENSO’s Long-term Policy keeps CSR management in mind. The next issue is how to instill the policy in employees’ minds. I am looking forward to see how DENSO’s corporate culture will change by 2020.

● The key to fulfilling CSR will be how to deliver messages of value creation and communicate with stakeholders. I was impressed by the Long-term Policy because it defines the values created by DENSO and presents a vision for respective stakeholders. Has DENSO defined specific activities in the plans for respective stakeholders?

♦ We have defined the “Ideal status of the DENSO Group” for respective stakeholders in the Long-term Policy, but we are yet to define the specific activities. We will clearly present specific CSR activities to respective stakeholders, when they have been defined.

Regarding CSR activities

(●: Experts, ♦: DENSO)

● The slogan, “Monozukuri is hitozukuri” (Manufacturing is human development) was put up in the plant. During the plant tour, I saw that the slogan was being practiced. The plant’s emphasis on health management is well known by employees, and represents the management’s commitment to taking care of its employees.

● The use of renewable energy etc. will make the plant more eco-efficient. It occurs to me, though, that this eco-friendly plant has been successfully operated partly because DENSO is a large company. Nevertheless, given cost restraints, I wonder how DENSO managed to continue the activities.

♦ We gradually introduced equipment based on a strategy to increase efficiency, reduce CO2 emissions, and thereby attain industrial targets. Private power generation has reached 40% across the company. We will have to examine the companywide policy about the use of renewable energy because, to date, respective workplaces have taken the initiative.

♦ We have been working on “DANTOTSU (outstanding) factories & production lines” and “1/n production lines” to enhance our global competitiveness. The activities aim to reduce the installation area to 1/n and increase speed n-fold in order to increase productivity n-fold. These efforts have eventually led to energy conservation. The combination of energy JIT, idle-stop systems for equipment, and other activities has produced results.

● DENSO should preserve the culture where projects are initiated based on employees’ proposals.

● The Long-term Policy has been embodied by specific CSR activities such as “energy conservation in mobility” and “green plant operations.” They are easily conveyed to employees. The question is how to involve employees in the implementation phase. Some employees would not be engaged even if they were told to participate. Arrangements should be made to involve more employees.

● To instill the policy in employees’ minds, different approaches must be taken for the production workplaces and offices. It seems that DENSO makes unique arrangements to secure time for bottom-up activities, increase efficiency, etc. How does DENSO promote the bottom-up activities?

♦ No magic bullet is available to instill the policy. Practical activities must be implemented in small groups. We have promoted kaizen activities by utilizing existing bottom-up activities: “Active QC” for production workplaces, and “Active Meetings” for offices. We were able to produce results by steadily implementing activities.

● How will DENSO globally expand the activities on “the environment” and “security & safety,” the two keywords in the Long-term Policy? How will DENSO raise employees’ awareness?

♦ We have been implementing both top-down and bottom-up approaches to share the Long-term Policy. In the bottom-up approach, we will provide employees with opportunities to present specific activities and share information globally.

● Activities must be repeated with a solid vision formulated in a top-down approach. As discussed above, practical activities are essential to instill the policy in employees’ minds. The CSR staff must think of a “solid vision”.

A message from the secretariat

In April 2013, we announced the Long-term Policy and declared our commitment to building better relationships with stakeholders. The significance of dialogues with stakeholders has been increasing.

In this fiscal year, we held dialogues with residents around the head office and CSR staff members who work for companies in the Chubu region. We found through the dialogues that the perspective of local residents is totally different from that of CSR staff members. This reminded us of the importance of dialogues with various stakeholders. It is reassuring to find that we have good “advisors” around us.

Our CSR-related departments hold dialogues with respective stakeholders. We will review the company’s overall activities and carefully examine the plan after FY2014. We will use this feedback (e.g. opinions) as an important reference to take a step forward toward 2020.

Last but not least, we would like to thank Keizai Koho Center and members of the Chubu Companies CSR Liaison Committee for creating such a valuable opportunity.

(Corporate Planning Div., DENSO Corporation)