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6XSSOLHU,QWHUYLHZ This supplier manufactures N Cool and N Warm bedding products, which are
NITORI Group’s mainstay products, other bedding products, bedding accessories,
and interior products and has had a business relationship for over 20 years. They
actively participate in Nitori World Circle (NWC) activities held by NITORI Group
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industry that continues to improve and reform.

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seating, and has had a business relationship since 2004. NITORI Groupestablished a specialized technical support team for this supplier in 2016
and provided monthly on-site guidance (compensated technical support)
until 2019.

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underpinned by production, and management systems. With NITORI as a source of knowledge and a role model for us, we havelearned much—everything from turning crises into opportunities, business models, and human resources development to social
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for more than 20 years.

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We share this vision with NITORI, with the aim of further increasing sales and shipments. NITORI is a very important partner for us.

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It is crucially important to anticipate and prepare in advance for the various problems that may arise in manufacturing. Weemphasize stable quality through improved manufacturing technology and on-time delivery through overall personnel and equipmentmanagement. And we constantly review, improve, and reform manufacturing processes to reduce costs. In addition, as part of ourinitiatives to address environmental and social issues, we propose products made from organic materials and recycled materials
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area are already an integrated part of our corporate culture.

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as an important element of corporate responsibility, and we communicate its importance in our training programs for employees.

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As the company grew, the number of factories increased, but the experience and abilities of managers were not standardized,
resulting in uneven management methods and quality levels among factories. In order to achieve our creed of “improvingmanufacturing capabilities and providing value-added products to our customers,” we had to establish standardized management
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in total), becoming one of the few companies in the industry that continue improvements and reforms, such as “module production
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employees’ awareness of safety and security has been raised, leading to fewer accidents and injuries on site. Moreover, changes inproduction and management systems directly lead to a reduction in production costs. A portion of the cost savings achieved throughHI¿FLHQF\LPSURYHPHQWVLVXVHGWRLQFUHDVHHPSOR\HHVDODULHV7KLVFRQWULEXWHVWRIXUWKHUHQKDQFHPHQWRIPRWLYDWLRQ:KDWZHUHWKHEHQHÀWVRISDUWLFLSDWLQJLQ1:&"+RZGLG\RXUFRPSDQ\JURZRUFKDQJH"

As well as utilizing what we learned through NITORI’s compensated technical support in terms of technology and quality, we would
also like to utilize the “work ethic,” “responsibility as a manufacturer,” and “importance of innovation” that we learned in the course oftechnical support in our human resources development. We very much agree with what Chairperson Nitori stated in his book Five
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comfortable lifestyles. Our mission shares values with NITORI Group’s mission. I sincerely hope that our company and NITORI will
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pervasive. Now, I feel that the involvement of all employees in identifying issues and making improvements and reforms has takenroot in our corporate culture, leading to human resources development and corporate growth. NWC not only contributed to theimprovement of factories but led to the reform of the entire corporate culture. We will continue making improvements and doing ourXWPRVWDVDVXSSOLHUWRDFKLHYH1,725, V9LVLRQWRJHWKHUZLWK1,725,

Compensated technical support
NITORI Group provides compensated technical support at suppliers’ manufacturing sites
in order to create better products together with suppliers. In addition to guidance on
establishing a traceability system through visualization of in-process jig and tool
management and modular production (zero intermediate inventory), training and lectures
are provided by instructors with practical experience in world-class methods andtechnologies. We will work together with our suppliers to improve quality and develop
human resources. Through tours that NITORI Group organizes in which representativesof suppliers visit the factories of outstanding suppliers, we create a learning environment
and foster improvement in manufacturing technology throughout the supply chain.

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NWC activities are long-standing initiatives where like-minded employees form ateam, identify issues from day-to-day tasks, and promote improvements andreforms. This year marked the 16th year since the launch. The activities take place
at NITORI Group sites across the world and play an important role as a platform
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30 teams were from overseas suppliers. Many examples of supplier-led
improvements and reforms were presented.

Overseas NWC (held in 2019)

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