CSR

[ISO 26000 Core Subject] Organizational Governance

The Fujikura Group was founded with a progressive spirit and has cherished and passed down its corporate DNA as a manufacturing company 130 years. Against this backdrop and from the viewpoint of our customers, we identify what we should do and what we should not do, and always act accordingly based on a corporate culture in which we put first priority on quality. On that basis, all corporate staff members abide by the Group's management rules and promote synergy between our production, sales, and R&D bases, driven by the Global Fujikura Production System (G-FPS) as well as by our commitment to CSR and to a better manufacturing culture. Through these measures, we aim to achieve our vision for the four business fields (Telecommunications,Eelectronics, Aautomotive components, and Metal cables & Systems) described in the Mid-Term Business Plan. In achieving this vision, we will implement our Corporate Philosophy MVCV and become a corporate group that pursues "Value Creation for the Customer" and is appreciated by customers and highly evaluated by society, while achieving further growth for the entire Group.

The history of the Fujikura Group's brand logo dates back more than 100 years ago to 1910, when Fujikura was reorganized from a partnership corporation to a joint-stock corporation. Subsequently in 1985, the Company established a new corporate mark in celebration of the 100th anniversary of its founding. Twenty-five years later in 2009, the present brand logo (registered trademark) was established and began to be used by Fujikura Ltd. first followed by its domestic consolidated subsidiaries in March 2011. Presently, the logo is also used outside Japan by the Company's wholly-owned subsidiaries.

The Fujikura Group's brand logo (registered trademark) is the most basic and essential tool used to communicate our brand image and is composed of the following three elements: the corporate symbol, the alphabetical letters "Fujikura" and the corporate color. The brand logo plays an important role as a symbol of the Fujikura Group and is designed to be regarded as proof of our reliability for customers and society at large and to attract more people to the Group.

The Fujikura Group is fostering its business in a number of countries around the world. In order to expand our business strategically in the global market, we are making a better use of our brand logo. At present, we have registered or are applying for registration of the logo in more than 150 countries.

The Fujikura Group has been proactively conducting activities to improve its brand value. We are using the brand logo set in 2012 as the Group's single logo at more than 70 manufacturing and sales bases of the Group located in Japan and abroad. To increase global recognition of the brand logo, we are fostering the labeling of the logo on our exports as well as on our products manufactured outside Japan. We have been making applications for the registration of the logo as our trademark for all the countries and regions in which we operate, and completed the process in ASEAN 10 countries last year. We have thus completed the process in more than 100 countries, including Western countries, BRICs, and other emerging economies such as VISTA.

We make use of the obtained trademark rights to prevent illegal use of the brand logo and malicious use of the Fujikura domain name. In fact, we executed these rights in the United States, Belgium, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Chile and South Africa by the end of last year. Internally we provide employees with education on branding, including holding e-learning seminars on trademark-related laws and briefings on our branding activities in the training held for new employees. Moreover, through the branding information website on the intranet, we introduce how the brand logo is used at exhibitions as well as at our overseas sites and on our products manufactured outside Japan. We are thus working to increase the value of our brand both internally and externally.

In March 2011, the Group set its policy on the brand logo with a view to expanding the use of the logo across both Japanese and overseas Group companies.

We conduct Global Fujikura Production System (G-FPS) activities to (1) clarify what we should do and what we should not do from the viewpoint of our customers based on our "quality first" policy, which forms the foundation for our manufacturing activities, and (2) reform our corporate culture to this end.

In the G-FPS activities, each and every employee acts based on the MVCV, which serves as their navigator, to enhance their craftsmanship in manufacturing and eliminate all waste without exception. The activities are conducted across both our manufacturing bases and indirect departments in Japan and overseas aimed at the sustainable growth of the Fujikura Group.

We conduct G-FPS activities under the slogan "half or double or zero," which means to halve or double the activity indicators or reduce them to zero on a case-by-case basis.
Moreover, we have added a new slogan: "team approach with the participation of all" to grasp every chance to enhance our craftsmanship in manufacturing and respond to changes in the times.

In fiscal 2009, we began to eliminate waste in our indirect departments with the participation of all. Four to five members of the departments form a team to conduct improvement activities. At present, there are about 590 such teams at Group companies in Japan, and they have achieved great results by conducting a range of activities, including the "5S" sorting/cleaning and self-discipline activity and activities to conserve energy and improve business operations.

Every May we hold the Global Fujikura "KAIZEN" Presentation meeting, and in the one held on the subtheme of "eliminating waste in indirect departments" many teams participated, including teams from outside Japan.

Employees of overseas Group companies are provided with an opportunity to undertake hands-on experience at the Group’s manufacturing facilities in Japan, where they learn about the Japanese-style teamwork-oriented manufacturing operations, improvement activities including small-group activities, and business management methods. The Group intends to develop leaders who can foster manufacturing that integrates the good points of Japanese- and overseas-style manufacturing methods, thereby further enhancing quality manufacturing across the Fujikura Group.