Stories

Feb. 19, 2024

“Sysmex & ESG” as Explained by Top Management

- How Sustainability Management is Linked to Our Growth Strategy -

In our newly launched long-term corporate strategy aimed at realizing our long-term vision, “Together for a better healthcare journey”, we are promoting management with an emphasis on sustainability. In this article, President Asano and the executive officers responsible for each theme will elaborate on our commitment to deliver unwavering trust and value to all stakeholders.

“By realizing our long-term vision and enhancing corporate value, we will contribute to extending healthy lifespans of people around the world, realizing a circular-oriented society, and creating social value.”

- Kaoru Asano, President

Our spirit of ensuring anshin (peace of mind) has remained unchanged since our founding

Since its establishment, Sysmex has placed great importance on instilling anshin* among our customers, business partners, and employees. This commitment remains unchanged and, if anything, has become even more crucial today. In our Group corporate philosophies, the Sysmex Way and our Shared Values, we express our dedication to instilling anshin through management and business activities with an awareness of all stakeholders, including shareholders and society at large.

Anshin is a word at the core of the Sysmex corporate philosophy that embodies the essence of what we have been pursuing since our foundation, and has the following meanings;
・A state in which customers have no concerns about the safety and quality of our products and services.
・A state in which stakeholders can trust, be confident and reassured in our relationship, transactions, interaction, and all other matters.
・A state in which individuals in society can be in a calm state of mind with little or no anxiety about their own health, lives, or other matters.

Aiming for the implementation of sustainable management under our new long-term corporate strategy

In FY2023, we’ve initiated our new long-term vision, “Together for a better healthcare journey”, along with our corresponding Long-Term Corporate Strategy 2033 (“VA33” - Value Advance 33) aimed at realizing this vision. Under VA33, as part of our growth strategy, we are strengthening existing businesses, expanding new businesses, and progressing with the development and sale of products tailored to market needs in emerging countries.

From a sustainability management perspective, we will focus on addressing medical issues and enhancing access to healthcare through innovation, which we have identified as a priority issue (materiality), as well as developing human resources and strengthening governance to support these efforts.

In other words, sustainability has been seamlessly integrated into, and integral to, our growth strategy.

The story of how social and environmental value is created from management resources

In our value creation story, which was revamped in alignment with VA33, we utilize management resources, including intangible assets, to expand our business domains, while growing under a core strategy composed of five elements: businesses, technologies, human capital, corporate management, and eco-sociality. The core strategy involves evolving our traditional human resource strategy into a human capital strategy to maximize its value and enhance corporate value. Additionally, we will formulate a new eco-social strategy to create social and environmental value, thereby gaining a new competitive advantage.

By executing this core strategy, we aim to achieve our long-term vision, ultimately contributing to extending healthy lifespan of people around the world, realizing a circular-oriented society, and creating social value.

Initiatives for our materiality: “Creating New Value for a Healthy Society” and “Strengthening Governance”.

At Sysmex, we are dedicated to realizing a sustainable society and sustainable growth for our Company. To achieve this, we have identified five priority issues (materiality) and are actively promoting initiatives through action plans.

With regard to “Creating New Value for a Healthy Society,” Sysmex aims to address healthcare challenges through the development of new testing and diagnostic technologies. For example, we are working on a method of detecting Alzheimer’s disease in its early stages by analyzing blood. Additionally, as a contribution to combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR),* we provide a testing system for rapid detection of antimicrobial susceptibility that swiftly determines the presence of bacteria and assesses the effectiveness of antibiotics.

To “Strengthen Governance”, we appoint independent external directors as chairpersons of our Nomination and Compensation Committees, which are optional committees on the Board of Directors, and the majority of these committees are composed of independent external directors. Additionally, we prioritize diversity among executive officers to enhance the transparency and integrity of management. We also set sustainability goals, reporting progress and challenges to the Board of Directors every six months for discussion. Through these measures, we aim to promote sustainable management and enhance the quality of corporate governance.

AMR occurs when microorganisms develop mechanisms that protect themselves from the effects of drugs, making the drugs less effective or completely ineffective. Bacteria that have acquired such resistance are referred to as drug-resistant bacteria. The a testing system for rapid detection of antimicrobial susceptibility is used to determine the presence of bacteria and to rapidly assess the effectiveness of antibiotics.

Materiality

“We aim for high value-added productivity and personal self-fulfillment through the promotion and achievement of human capital strategy goals.”

- Kenji Tachibana, Senior Managing Director

Realizing our long-term vision by ensuring anshin among our employees and strengthening human capital

Since our founding, anshin has consistently been at the core of our values. In our corporate philosophy, we declare the specific values that we provide to stakeholders, and the word anshin is included in all of them. For our employees, “Ensure anshin by honoring a diversity of employees, respecting their personality, and providing a workplace where they can fulfill their potential. We value independence and a challenging spirit, provide employees with opportunities for self-fulfillment, growth, and reward for their accomplishments”.

To realize our long-term vision of “Together for a better healthcare journey”, our strategic direction in business and technology involves pursuing new domains on the two axes of market and organizational capabilities. New domains require fresh expertise, a different mindset from the past, and a challenging spirit. Furthermore, considering the ongoing global expansion of the market, strengthening human capital has become a necessity. For sustainable growth, it is imperative to recognize human resources as human capital and consistently invest in its development.

Appropriate allocation of human resources, high engagement, and optimal teamwork will contribute to increased value-added productivity and personal fulfillment for each individual

In our human capital strategy, our goals are optimization of our human resources portfolio, high engagement, and demonstration of teamwork at its best.

Optimization of our human resources portfolio refers to defining necessary skills and expertise, and ensuring the proper allocation of human resources to carry out our strategy to achieve sustainable value enhancement. We are working on building an organization from a multifaceted perspective, taking into account the business domains and functions specified in VA33, as well as the required skills, expertise, and diversity elements.

Additionally, we strive for a state in which each employee is fulfilled both mentally and physically, aiming for individual job satisfaction. To achieve this, we focus on creating a workplace environment and provides growth opportunities for employees that enhances individual wellbeing. In addition, we provide fair and equitable opportunities, promote Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) initiatives, and build a system that allows a diverse workforce to flourish regardless of time, place, or employment type, with the aim of increasing employee engagement.

Furthermore, to demonstrate teamwork at its best, it is crucial to improve a corporate culture that respects autonomy and promote challenges, along with securing and fostering of an abundant leadership cadre. By enhancing the visibility and development opportunities for potential successors in key global positions, we will consistently secure and nurture leaders to drive both existing and new business initiatives.

“The implementation of eco-social strategies creates a cycle of anshin for our stakeholders.”

- Takashi Ono, Managing Director

Working with stakeholders to achieve a circular society through green innovation

In VA33, an eco-social (ES) initiative has been newly incorporated into our core strategy. Companies are expected to align their business activities with social challenges and promote reforms to achieve a more sophisticated resource-circulating value chain and address social issues. This includes Green Innovation based on our 4Rs* addressing healthcare challenges, improving quality, and strengthening our response to environmental considerations.

Our sustainability goals leading up to FY2033 include achieving zero waste in our manufactured products by eliminating product loss and replacing all containers and packaging with recycled and environmentally friendly materials. Each and every Group member must reduce their environmental impact, and our products and services must provide environmental and social value. It is essential that we make progress on both fronts.

Sysmex’s “4Rs” are Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Replace.

Environmental Management

Originality and anshin born from eco-social strategies

Incorporating an eco-social perspective into our products and services gives rise to the fundamental values of originality and anshin, which is the essence of the Sysmex Way.

As a specific example, our in-house developed concentrated reagents not only reduce CO₂ emissions during transportation and waste compared to conventional products, but also reduce the workload of clinical laboratory technologists involved in reagent exchange. Additionally, by transporting reagents for genetic testing without using dry ice—an industry first—we decrease CO₂ emissions and protect medical personnel from frostbite due to ultra-low temperatures and carbon gas poisoning.

Our sustainability initiatives have earned high praise from various stakeholders, as evidenced by our inclusion in globally recognized sustainability indices such as the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index.

Products and services that contribute to eco-sociality also lead to sustainable growth for our Company

Reducing environmental impact at every stage, including development, production, logistics, and sales, and ensuring a low environmental footprint by our products, can be one of the reasons why customers choose us. From this perspective, we are promoting green innovation in our products. We are confident that our green innovation efforts will contribute to business growth by providing eco-social value, such as reduction of environmental impact, as well as a sustainable competitive advantage and cost reduction.

Sysmex is undertaking the challenge of implementing an eco-social strategy, wherein the entire Group collaborates to realize a circular resource society. By offering products and services that contribute to environmental and social value, we aim to become the first choice for customers, leading to business growth and increased corporate value.

Sysmex will continue making every effort to create a cycle of anshin for our stakeholders.

Related Information

This article is a re-compilation of the information from IR Day in fiscal year ending march 31, 2023.

Information contained in the stories is current as of the date of the announcement,
but may be subject to change without prior notice.

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