Initiatives for CSR
Corporate Philosophy and CSR System of the SUMINOE GROUP

Company Purpose

CSR Activity Policy

We contribute to the improvement of society through the production
and sales of good products, and a prosperous business.
Company Motto

To further enhance its corporate value and win a broader range of social trust, the SUMINOE GROUP aims to simultaneously advanceboth “CSR through Business Operations” and “CSR that Serves as a Management Foundation.”

Code of Conduct

We pride ourselves as a pioneer in

1. We comply with all laws and ethical business standards, and conduct
corporate activities in an impartial and ethically sound manner.
2. We contribute to the advancement of the community throughthe production and sale of high-quality products.
3. We treat all employees of the Company fairly, act with due
Company
respect for their individual personalities, and place highPurposeimportance on their health and safety.
4. We place high priority on maintaining good relationships with all our stakeholders.
5. We make proactive contributions to the community,
as expected of a good corporate citizen.
Company Motto
6. We take very seriously the impact of our business
Code of Conduct
activities on the global environment, and contributeto environmental preservation initiatives.

the interior design and furnishingindustry and persist in a spirit ofcooperation, sincerity
and determination.

CSR Plan
In order to continue to grow into the future, we have formulated the Medium- to Long-term Management Targets, focusing on our mediumto long-term “ideal corporate image” with ESG management in mind. Along with these targets, we have drawn up the 3rd Medium-Term CSR
Plan, in which our key CSR issues are identified. To address these issues, the Group is moving ahead with various initiatives.

3rd Medium-Term CSR Plan (Planned period: June 2021 – May 2024)
※

ESG
item

Priority issues

G

1

Corporate
governanceG

2 Compliance

Shareholders and investors

Customers
Suppliers

Employees
Local communities

Global environment

Specific management strategies

SUMINOE GROUP CSR
CSR throughBusiness Operations

3

Fair operating
practices4

Business
continuity plan
(BCP)

5

Human resource
development andworking styles

6

Occupational
health and safetyS

7Socialcontribution
activities

S

8

Omnidirectional
communication

E

9

Environmental
impact reductionG

CSR that Serves as aManagement Foundation

G
Offering products that contribute to the global
environment and society, and which enrich people’s lives
and minds, in line with our fundamental philosophy of“KKR+A (Kenko [Health], Kankyo [Environment], Recycling
and Amenity).”
Promoting global strategies, to ensure that our products
will be used by many more people, and to promote“KKR+A” around the world.

Establishing a fair and highly transparent governancesystem.
Ensuring thorough compliance* to conduct corporate
activities with a high sense of ethics.
Supporting employees to develop themselves throughworthwhile work, while giving consideration to thecreation of an employee-friendly environment and thediversity of employees.
* Compliance: A company’s process of making decisions andtaking action in observance of laws and corporate ethics so
as to live up to the expectations and trust of society.

Communication with Stakeholders

S

S

Based on our CSR activity policy, we work to provide value to our stakeholders as described below. In doing so, we will establish favorable relationships with our stakeholders,and contribute to the global environment, thereby fulfilling our responsibilities to the next generation.
Customers

Suppliers

Shareholders and investors

Local communities

Employees

Global environment

We will strive to sincerely
respond to ourcustomers, by earnestly
listening to their voices.
Taking great pleasure increating comfortable
spaces together with ourcustomers, we aim togain their trust. We also
push forward with ourquality-improvement
efforts.

We attach great
importance to ourrelationships with our
suppliers, and work
together with them toimprove our customer
service capabilities. We
strive to conduct fairtransactions on an equal
footing, by selecting
suppliers based on rational
criteria regarding price,
quality, delivery times, etc.

By securing appropriate
profits, we aim to giveback to our shareholders
and investors. We will also
work on proactive
information disclosure,through our investor
relations (IR) activities.

We will deepen
exchange with people invarious countries andlocal communities, so as
to better understandtheir cultures andhistories. At the sametime, we will carry out
social contribution
activities.

We will develop
comfortable working
environments, byrespecting the individual
personalities andcharacteristics of ouremployees. We will also
live up to our employees’
hopes to maximize theirown abilities to resolve
various issues andchallenges.

We will devote our energies
to developing attractive
environmental products andtechnologies that contributeto the preservation andimprovement of the global
environment. Moreover,through our business
operations, we will strive todecrease our impact on theenvironment (e.g., energy
saving, resource
conservation, and waste
reduction).

Measures (initiatives)

Related SDG(s)●Promote fair business activities ●Internal control●Strengthen global risk management●Top management’s frequent visits to workplaces●Restructure the core systems●Strengthen the managerial decision making by outside directors●Implement compliance training●Implement harassment prevention training●Operate the Corporate Ethics Hotline●Risk management●Provide work-related legal education●Promote procurement based on the Green Procurement Guidelines●BCP measures to be taken in the event of a disaster or pandemic●Improve education and training programs●Respect diversity●Work-life balance●Promote health management●Correct the issue of long working hours and increase the use of paid
leave
●Prevent occupational accidents●Social contribution activities for the local community●Social contribution activities relating to environmental protection●Share the Company’s policy between management and employees●Timely disclosure of information●Prevent global warming (reduce CO2 emissions)●Prevent environmental pollution●Develop environmentally friendly products●Eco Challenge

After specifying the issues that the SUMINOE GROUP should address, we have identified “priority issues.” Then we have formulated the measures (initiatives) to grapple withthese issues. In the above process, we have also clarified the relationship between these issues and ESG items as well as the SDGs.
* ESG stands for Environment, Social, and Governance.
Recently, the idea that these three aspects are necessary to achieve long-term growth has become widespread in the world.

Initiatives for CSR
Fiscal 2023 Results of CSR Activities
Referencing the ISO 26000 guidelines, we have classified CSR activities into seven categories, for each of which we have set medium-term targets.
The results for fiscal 2023 are shown in the table below.
CSR
Relatedcategory page Priority item

Reduction ofenvironment
Prevent global warming.
al impactfrom businessactivitiesーRespect fordiversity

Implement activities tocreate a comfortableworking environmentthat respects thediversity of employees.

p. 52

Implement grouptraining to help
employees improve theirskills and abilities.

p. 48

Human
Develop global humanresource
resources.
development

pp. 48,50

Revitalize humanresources.

p. 52

p. 48

p. 52

p. 51

Published Sustainability News: three times.
“Definition and outline of sustainability-related terms”“What are the differences between CSR, ESG and the SDGs?”“CSR and compliance”
Issued a subcommittee activity report (from Third Human Resources Subcommittee).

A

Continue to provide foreign language training programs.

Provided employees with opportunities to receive foreign language training
programs, to encourage their self-development (30 participants).

A

Interviews with employees to promote communication: Conducted interviews(with 24 applicable employees).
Interviews for fostering next-generation: Conducted interviews (with 12 applicable
employees).
Held the “Tsunagu-wa-cation”: three times.
Instituted the “career self-declaration system” (in June 2023).

A

Establish numerical targets related to work-life balance.
Manage and grasp employees’ overtime work hours.
Implement measures for operational improvement with theaim of reducing working hours.
Disclose the use rate of paid leave.
Implement initiatives set forth under the Health Management
Declaration.
Implement measures against lifestyle-related diseases.
Periodically communicate information regarding health.

The Central Health and Safety Subcommittee shared information related tooccupational accidents.
The Central Health and Safety Subcommittee conducted safety checks (at the Nara
Factory of Suminoe Textile Co., Ltd. in this FY).
Implemented safety education as part of training for new employees andlevel-based training.
Result of the rate of lost-worktime injuries: 1.39
Strengthened risk assessment (Suminoe Techno Co., Ltd).
Disaster drills were implemented on the web (in the Head Office building) toprevent the spread of COVID-19 infections. [Rate of plans implemented: 100%
Provided moral harassment prevention training at 5 Group companies in Japan(questionnaire response rate: 68.1%).
Announced the contact points for harassment consultation as part of training for
new employees and level-based training.

Disclose IR information related to our corporate activities in atimely manner.
Disclose in a timely manner the quarterly summary offinancial results to the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and publish thesummary on the Company’s website.
Promote communication with individual investors andinstitutional investors.

Held the financial results briefings twice a year in Tokyo (through face-to-face andonline) and in Osaka.
Disclosed in a timely manner the quarterly summary of financial results to theTokyo Stock Exchange, and publish the summary on the Company’s website (inJapanese and English).
Participated in a seminar for individual investors.
Increased the number of one-on-one meetings with institutional investors.
Newly published analyst reports created by Shared Research Inc. from athird-party viewpoint.
Disclosed information on the financial results briefings by transcribing the briefings.
Disclosed information by responding to coverage of various media.

Information
disclosure

Properly disclose investor
relations information.

AーContribute to the local
communities.
Carry out social
contribution activities
relating to environmental
protection.

Implement social contribution activities.

Implemented activities at six operation sites in Japan and four overseas sites.
In Japan: Job training for students, cleaning, donations, etc.
Overseas: Job training for students, factory tours, donations for needy families andorphanages, blood donations, etc.

B

Hold discussions at
meetings of the Board of
Directors, the Board of
Corporate Auditors andother committees, topromote fair corporate
activities.

Hold meetings of the Board of Directors and the Board of
Corporate Auditors.
Review activity plans at CSR Promotion Committee meetings.
Strengthen management decision-making through theparticipation of Outside Directors.
Clarify the roles of Outside Directors and Outside Corporate
Auditors.
Respond to the revised Corporate Governance Code.

Held meetings of the Board of Directors nine times and meetings of the Board of
Corporate Auditors nine times.
Held meetings of the CSR Promotion Committee meetings three times to review
activity plans.
Held discussions at meetings of the Board of Directors about strengthening
management decision-making through the participation of Outside Directors andclarifying the roles of Outside Directors and Outside Corporate Auditors.
Submitted the Company’s corporate governance report in compliance with therevised Corporate Governance Code.

A

Evaluate the effectivenessof internal control overfinancial reporting of Group
companies that fall within
the scope of assessment.

Reduce the number of material weaknesses requiring
disclosure in the internal control evaluation to zero.

Implemented activities with the Financial Control Committee playing a central role.
[Result: Number of material weaknesses requiring disclosure: 0]APromote the Code of
Conduct and the Code ofCorporate Behavior of
the SUMINOE GROUP.

Distribute the Compliance Guidance to new employees andhold seminars to provide them with basic complianceknowledge.
Provide compliance education at training for new employees
and at level-based training.
Timely publish compliance information through the in-house
intranet. [Rate of plans implemented: 100%]
Provide compliance education for officers and executive
employees.
Revise the Compliance Guidance.

Distributed the Compliance Guidance to new employees and provided compliancetraining for them. [Rate of plans implemented: 100%]
Provided compliance education at level-based training offered at every promotion(training for managers, supervisors, and leaders).
Timely published compliance information through the in-house intranet. [Rate ofplans implemented: 100%]
1) Examples of themes: “CSR and Compliance” and “Report on Activities ofCompliance & Risk Management Subcommittee in the 134 Term.”2) Disseminated the Legal News on such themes as “Activities to Reduce Contract
Risks (Review a Written Contract)” to employees.
Provided training for officers (on such themes as “Business and Human Rights”).
Provided training for executive employees (on such themes as “How to read afinancial statement”).
Revised the Compliance Guidance (in December 2022) and distributed its English
and Chinese versions.

A

Ensure transparency andestablish reliability.

Announce the management policy and information to beshared by SUMINOE GROUP employees.
Formulate the corporate philosophy, such as the purpose.
Provide opportunities for dialogue between management andemployees.
Implement “Management by walking around,” under which
executives in person visit workplaces.

Formulated the Group Philosophy of the SUMINOE GROUP (on June 1, 2023).
Implemented “Tsunagu meetings,” which promote interactive communication
between the Company’s President and the General Manager of the
Administration Headquarters and employees of respective age groups. (Started in
October 2022.)
Implemented “Management by walking around”: nine times.

A

p. 38

Confirm international humanrights standards andchallenges regarding
corporate social responsibility.

Formulate the human rights policy.

Formulated the SUMINOE GROUP Human Rights Policy (on June 1, 2023).

AーContinue compliancerelated monitoring.

Conduct compliance audits in rotation. [Rate of plans
implemented: 100%]

Conducted compliance audits at Nara Factory and Shiga Factory of Suminoe
Techno Co., Ltd. (in October 2022). [Rate of plans implemented: 100%]

A

p. 59

Announce the Hotline toall employees.

Announce the revised regulations on the Corporate Ethics
Hotline operation to all employees.
Announce the Hotline to all new employees.
Announce the Hotline to all employees on the occasion oflevel-based training, harassment prevention training orworkshops. [Target: 100%]

Held meetings to explain about the revision of the regulations on the Corporate
Ethics Hotline operation.
Announced the Hotline to all employees on the occasion of training for new
employees and level-based training.

A

p. 59

Fair
transactions

Visualize the status ofcontracts and implement
legal education andmonitoring concerningbusiness transactions.

Implement legal education programs and study meetings on
work-related legal matters, and raise employee awareness ofthese matters through the in-house intranet (on such themes
as the Subcontract Act, etc.).

Implemented legal education programs and study meetings on work-related legal matters.
June 2022: Basic course on the Subcontract Act (61 participants)
July 2022: Applied course on the Subcontract Act (79 participants)
February 2023: Act Against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading
Representations (167 participants) (Total number of participants: 307)
Raised employee awareness of work-related legal matters through the in-house intranet.
September 2022: Distributed e-mail newsletters regarding the Act Against
Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations three times.

A

ー

Green
Promote the Greenprocurement Procurement Guidelines.

Distribute the guidelines to suppliers and collect Green
Procurement questionnaires. [Target: Once a year]
Formulate the CSR Procurement Policy.

Distributed the Green Procurement Guidelines, and distributed and collected theGreen Procurement questionnaires (company evaluation).

Aー

Identification of risks
and establishment of Promote risk
the risk management management activities.
system

Revise the risk management manual (4th edition).

Revised 4 items of the 8 items in need of revision.

A

p. 59

pp. 49,50, 58A

Risk management

Consumer issues / Social contribution management activities

Aー

Published the Integrated Report 2022.
Promoted initiatives to increase the recognition of the Group by making active andeffective use of publicity and placing advertisements.
Issued a notice regarding the Group’s support for the recommendations from theTask Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD).
Disclosed information on the progress in our efforts based on the plan to meet thecriteria for remaining listed.

ComplianceA

Regularly held Quality Assurance Joint Meetings, four times a year.
Implemented quality improvement activities (activities to reduce the percentage of
defective products and losses due to defective quality).
Continued to implement activities to share the initiatives regarding chemical
substances regulations.
In FY 2023, the Customer Service Center received 2,708 inquiries/complaints.
Among them, inquiries about products, standards, prices and functionality
accounted for 19% (523 cases), and complaints accounted for 2% (47 cases).
Regarding complaints, after classifying their contents and analyzing their causes,
we will utilize the results for the next time we develop products.

Promote stakeholders’ understanding of the Group’s financial
and non-financial information through the publication of theIntegrated Report.
Provide institutional investors with explanations about the
progress in our efforts toward the Medium- to Long-termManagement Targets though IR activities.
Make preparations for disseminating our corporate brandthrough purpose branding.

Socialcontribution
activities

A

A

Report the content of inquiries/complaints received by the
Customer Service Center to the CSR Promotion Committee.
Analyze the contents of complaints and results of the
responses to these complaints.
Develop products incorporating customer opinions.

Self
assessment

External
communications

Corporate
governanceB

Held health seminars taught by Company doctors: four times.
Held meetings to provide health consultations by Company doctors: Once a month(Head Office and Tokyo Branch).
Distributed video content on health and wellness: twice.

Appropriately respond to
customers and share
Customersatisfaction customer service
improvement experience
company-wide.

FY2023 results

A

A

Promote quality
Quality
improvement improvement efforts.

FY2023 targetsーー

Grasped actual conditions of working hours at 9 Group companies in Japan (First
Human Resources Subcommittee).
Established the “Concept regarding overtime work hours.”
Use rate of paid leave (Group companies in Japan): 59.9%

ー

Major theme

Promote communication
with stakeholders(publicize the strength of
the Company).

p. 53

B

Provided level-based and theme-based training sessions and improved thecontent of these sessions.
Provided skill improvement training (for IT literacy education) (145 participants).

At each operation site, hold interviews with employees topromote communication with them.
Hold interviews for fostering next-generation leaders.
Implement activities to mutually present respective
departments’ jobs, etc.
Implement initiatives to promote communicationtranscending the boundaries of departments.
Hold discussions as to a “career self-declaration system.”
Have the Central Health and Safety Subcommittee consolidate
opinions and promote information sharing.
Make the Health and Safety Policy and the Safety Code of
Conduct known to all employees.
Target for the rate of lost-worktime injuries: 1.0 or lower
Strengthen the implementation of safety education as part oftraining for new employees and level-based training.
Promote risk assessments.

CSR
Relatedcategory page Priority item

B

Provide level-based and theme-based training sessions andimprove the content of these sessions.
Provide skill improvement training (for IT literacy education)
Next-generation leader training

Regularly hold Quality Assurance Joint Meetings.
Implement quality improvement activities (activities to reduce thepercentage of defective products and losses due to defective quality).
Continue to implement activities to share the initiatives
regarding chemical substances regulations.
Formulate the Basic Policy on Product Safety and Quality.

p. 14

B

Promote the use of the systems for supporting employees incaring for children, the elderly and other family members.
Encourage male employees to take childcare leave.
Institute systems for working from home and staggered
working hours. (Promote the application of these systems
among Group companies.)
Set KPI targets related to work-life balance.

Continue to provide anti-harassment training.
Announce the contact points for harassment consultation.

Provide care to maintainthe health of employees.

Prepared a questionnaire survey for applicable senior employees.

A

Revised the manual for supporting a work-childcare balance (childcare edition).
Certified by Osaka City as a “leading company in promoting women’s active
participation (with 3-star rating)” and a “company promoting Ikumen (men whoplay an active role in child rearing).”
Held a life design seminar (seminar on basics of caregiving).
Developed a work environment that encourages male employees to take childcare
leave by issuing a company notice and revising related rules, etc.
Instituted systems for working from home and staggered working hours (Suminoe Textile
Co., Ltd., Suminoe Teijin Techno Co., Ltd. and SUMINOE Co., Ltd.).
Formulated the Working Style Reform Action Plan 2023 (on June 1, 2023) forGroup companies in Japan.

Carry out disaster drills. [Rate of plans implemented:100%]

Occupational
health andsafetyAchievement status of targets set under Eco Challenge 2024 action plan (ascompared with FY2021)
Significantly reduced CO2 emissions from the Company’s energy consumption,achieving the improvement target.
Achieved the improvement target for the utilization rate of recycled resources.
Did not achieve the targets for the recycling rate and the rate of waste disposed of in landfills.
Prepared for calculating Scope 3 GHG (CO2) emissions.
Percentage of female new graduates hired: 48.8% (Group companies in Japan)
Dispatched 4 female employees to participate in the support forums of the Japan
Institute for Women’s Empowerment & Diversity Management (Female manager
training program: 2 employees, 21st Century School: 2 employees).
Percentage of female managers and supervisors whose positions correspond tosection head or higher: 10.4% (10.4% in FY2022)

Self
assessment

Operating practices

Safety, disaster prevention, and health

Promote activity plans toprotect the safety of
employees.

Promote the effective use of work experience that senior
employees have accumulated.
Promote the employment of diverse human resources.
Employment of new graduates, mid-career workers, foreign
nationals, and people with disabilities
Implement awareness-raising activities regarding diversity
promotion (implement sustainability-related
awareness-raising activities.
Promote the application of the Job Return System among
Group companies.

FY2023 results

Governance and compliance

Human rights, employment, treatment of employees, and human resource development

ーー

Targets were set under the Eco Challenge 2024 action plan.
Develop an in-house system to respond to the TCFD
recommendations.

Continue active recruitment of female employees.
Dispatch female employees to cross-industry seminars andstudy meetings held outside the Group.
Increase the percentage of female employees whose
positions correspond to section chief or higher.

p. 51

p. 48

FY2023 targets

Consumer issues / Social contribution
management activities

Environment

pp.
41-46

Major theme

A: Accomplished B: Almost accomplished C: Not accomplished

p. 60

BCP

Promote a business
continuity plan (BCP) to be
implemented in the eventof a disaster or pandemic.

Conduct a BCP drill at the Head Office.
Conduct a safety confirmation drill at other offices/factories.

Conducted a BCP drill at the Head Office of Suminoe Textile Co., Ltd.
Conducted a safety confirmation drill at the head office of SUMINOE Co., Ltd.

A

p. 60

Intellectual
property

Promote understandingof intellectual property.

Implement awareness-raising activities regarding intellectual
property rights (through the in-house intranet and training
sessions). [Rate of plans implemented: 100%]

Implemented awareness-raising activities regarding intellectual property rights(through the in-house intranet, three times a year). [Rate of plans implemented:
100%]

A

Provide information
security education(security of information
terminals and personal
information protection).

Announce the trade secret management rules to Group companies.
Check the implementation status of the trade secretmanagement rules.
Provide trade secret management education at level-based
training.

Provided information security education at level-based training. Added training
themes regarding personal information.
Held meetings to explain about the Act on the Protection of Personal Information(452 participants).
Conducted interviews about the status of personal information management.

A

Carry out awareness-raising
activities to prevent insider
trading.

Disseminate information on insider trading prevention.

p. 59
A
ー

Information
security

Not implemented.

C