Cooperation from our suppliers is essential for SII to fulfill our social responsibilities. The SII Group Purchasing Policy stipulates "Enhancing our partnerships with suppliers," and we seek to improve the level of CSR together with our suppliers based on fair and honest transactions.

SII develops our purchasing activities based on the following Purchasing Policy.

SII uses the Supplier Certification Criteria to select fair business partners and build the CSR framework based on the purchasing supply chain.

Based on our Supplier Certification System that we established in FY 2004, we have certified approximately 1,500 suppliers in Japan as of the end of FY 2012. In FY 2012, we completed the certification for more than 70% of our suppliers with which our overseas sites deal directly. We continue to carry on with the procedures to achieve 100% certification.

SII has prepared a manual outlining purchasing rules and ethics as well as management guidelines regarding purchasing practices. The Purchasing Division now follows this manual as a set of basic rules, and we have issued English and Chinese versions for overseas sites.

The Subcontract Act has a major significance in purchasing activities in Japan. SII established the Subcontract Act Section in the Head Office to reinforce compliance with the Subcontract Act by cooperating with the SII Group’s purchasing staff through activities including appropriate guidance to routine work and education.

In our role as a manufacturer that provides products, it is important for us to minimize the risk of a disruption in our supply of parts. Our Purchasing Division not only searches for alternative suppliers or parts, but also considers their manufacturing bases so that we can promptly handle emergency situations in case of disasters like earthquakes.

Education programs have been provided to employees and managers in divisions that relate to purchasing practices including engineering, manufacturing, and production control to acquire basic knowledge of purchasing operations.

The Head Office Purchasing Division carries out audits for 20 purchasing divisions in Japan in accordance with the Purchasing Management Manual. In the audit, we point out issues that must be improved and give guidance for further enhancement.

SII recognizes conflict minerals as being a critical international issue that supports the financing of organizations engaged in human rights violations and/or injustices committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo and adjoining countries. As we believed that it was important to take the appropriate actions, the "SII Group Conflict Minerals Policy" was established in March 2012. We ask our suppliers for their cooperation in prohibiting the use of any conflict minerals.