Sysmex

Sustainability Report 2010

About this Report

Contents

Editorial policy

357

Sysmex publishes the annual “Sysmex Sustainability
Report” in the hopes of communicating ourapproaches and activities concerning corporatesocial responsibility (CSR) to our stakeholders andfacilitating dialogs with them.
In this fourth issue, we attempted to introduce
our readers to the entire range of CSR activities
promoted by our global operations. In the “Activity
Report” sections, we feature stories about key
activities pursued globally in this regard duringﬁscal 2009, along with words from stakeholders
from relevant regions.

Date of publication
July 2010

Inquiries about this report
CSR Promotion Division
Sysmex Corporation
1-5-1, Wakinohama-Kaigandori, Chuo-ku, Kobe,
Hyogo, 651-0073, Japan
Tel : +81-78-265-0500 Fax : +81-78-265-0524

Cautionary statements
This report contains both forward-looking statements
and facts regarding the past about Sysmex Corporationand its group companies (the Sysmex Group). These
forward-looking statements are based on the current
judgments and assumptions of the Sysmex Group inlight of the information currently available to it.
Uncertainties inherent in such judgments andassumptions, the future course of our business
operations, and future events may cause our actual
results, performance, or achievements to be materiallydiﬀerent from any future results, performance, or
achievements either expressed or implied within suchforward-looking statements.

Sysmex Sustainability Report 2010

Japan
Stepped up Supply of Inﬂuenza Test Kits inthe Wake of the Inﬂuenza Pandemic

13· The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)’s
Sustainability Reporting Guidelines 2006

1

9

Period reported
FY2009 (from April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010).
Some activities conducted outside of this period
are also included.

· The Japanese Ministry of the Environment’s
Environmental Reporting Guidelines (2007 ed.)Corporate Philosophy and Core Behaviors

To deliver good health and inspire trust andconﬁdence among people the world over

11

Guidelines referenced

Message from the President

Activity Report

Scope of this Report

Organizations covered
Sysmex Group (Sysmex Corporation and its
subsidiaries both in Japan and abroad). For the
purpose of this report, “Sysmex” refers to the“Sysmex Group.”

Sysmex at a Glance

Supporting Daily Health Maintenance –Self-check Your Condition with
Ease in Your Own Neighborhood

China
Contributing to More Rapid and Accurate
Diagnostics and Higher Levels of Technology/
Knowledge among Healthcare Professionals

15

Asia Paciﬁc
Supporting the Creation of a Quality
Management System for Laboratories
in the Philippines

17

Americas
Sysmex Employees Playing an Active Role ina Fund Raising Campaign by an American NPO
Dedicated to Funding Blood Cancer Research

19

EuropePromoting the Spread of Testing Systems for
Improved QOL of Breast Cancer Patients

21

Supporting Customers in the Acquisition of
Testing Technologies and Scientiﬁc Knowledge
at the Czech Republic Sysmex Education Center

23

Africa

25
27
29
31
32
33

Corporate GovernanceBehaviors and Commitment toward Our Customers
Behaviors and Commitment toward Our Employees
Behaviors and Commitment toward Our Business Partners
Behaviors and Commitment toward Our Shareholders
Behaviors and Commitment as a Good Corporate Citizen

35
35
37
38
39

Behaviors and Commitment toward the Global Environment
Environmental Management
Environmental Impact of Business Activities
FY2009 Environmental Actions : Plans and Achievements
Environmental Considerations at Manufacturing
Factories and Oﬃces

40

Independent Opinion

Donating Testing Instruments to an NPO Working
to Prevent the Spread of HIV Infection in Kenya

Sysmex Sustainability Report 20102

Sysmex at a Glance

Sysmex supports the lives and good health of people throughthe supply of products used for medical testing at hospitals
and testing centers the world over.
Sysmex provides laboratory testing instruments and reagents, as well as their after-sales support, to medical
institutions in more than 160 countries around the world. With our business scope growing to include life sciencesin such ﬁelds as cancer diagnosis and diabetes, the Sysmex R&D team is also attending to the development of highvalue-added testing and diagnostic technologies.

Flow of testing
Taking specimen

Diagnostics

Diagnosis, treatment

Collect blood, urine, cells, etc.

Analyze samples’ components to generate data, based on which
diagnosis is given.

Doctors decide on a course of treatment
based on test results.

Business Segments
Diagnostics

Life Sciences

Sysmex provides a broad range of products and after-sales support

By combining the technological skills that we have amassed in thein the diagnostics segment. Such products include testing

diagnostics business with state-of-the-art technology for testing

instruments, reagents, and laboratory information systems needed

genes and proteins, Sysmex is paving the way for the creation offor hematology tests (counting the number of red and white

breakthrough testing and diagnostic technologies. Our R&D focus

blood cells and analyzing their functions), coagulation tests

here is the deﬁnitive diagnosis and recurrence prevention of(testing the function of clotting and cessation of bleeding),

cancer, and we have begun worldwide marketing of technology

immunochemistry tests (testing for the presence of hepatitis

capable of rapidly detecting cancer lymph node metastasis.

viruses, etc.), and urinalysis testing (testing for the presence ofsugar, protein, or blood cells in urine).

Gene ampliﬁcation detector RD-100i

HS transport system HST Series

Gene ampliﬁcation reagent
LYNOAMP® BC

Other Businesses (Scientiﬁc measurement, healthcare)
In the scientiﬁc measurement sub-segment, Sysmex supplies
instruments that are capable of measuring and evaluating ﬁneparticles to a variety of industries, including ceramics, electronicmaterials, abrasives, and food processing. In the healthcare

Automated hematology
analyzer XE-5000

Immunochemistry analyzer
HISCL-2000i

sub-segment, on the other hand, we are taking on challenges
in the development of innovative products by tapping into our
proprietary technologies, including a device that is able to measurehemoglobin levels without blood sampling.

Coagulation analyzer CS-2000i

Urinalysis analyzer UF-1000i

Flow particle image analyzer FPIA-3000

3

Sysmex Sustainability Report 2010

External blood monitoring
analyzer ASTRIM SU

Global Network

Regional headquarters
Sales and after-sales support
Production
R&D
Distribution

Corporate Overview
Company name
Established
Paid-in capital
Representative
Head Oﬃce

Consolidated net sales
120,000
87,887101,041

110,724 111,842 116,174(¥ million)

15,03315,00015,134

Net sales by geographic region

15,70810,000 10,723
7,422
5,000

30,000

9,008

9,131

8,013

9,764

0

0

2005

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
(FY)

8,184

9,026

9.6

8.3
9,221

5,000
0
2005

2006

R&D expenditure

2007

2008

Net income

2009

Japan
31.7%

2007

9.7

10
8
10,771 11,238
6
4
202008 2009

Ratio to net sales

(FY)

China
10.2%

Consolidated
net sales FY 2009

116,174(¥ million)

Europe31.4%(FY)

Consolidated net assets
(%)

8.9

2006

Operating income

R&D expenditure(¥ million)

15,000 9.3

Asia-Paciﬁc
6.4%

12,71460,00010,000Development, manufacture, sales, andexport/import of laboratory testing
instruments, reagents, particle analyzers,
and related software
Main customers
National and other public hospitals, private
hospitals, universities, research laboratories,
other medical institutions, etc.
Export destinations
More than 160 countries
Consolidated subsidiaries 43 (6 in Japan, 37 abroad)

Consolidated operating income /Consolidated net income(¥ million)

90,000Line of business

Sysmex Corporation
February 20, 1968
¥8,824 million
Hisashi Ietsugu, President and CEO
1-5-1, Wakinohama-Kaigandori,Chuo-ku, Kobe 651-0073, Japan

Americas(U.S., Canada,
and Central andSouth America)
20.3%

Number of employees (Consolidated)(¥ million)

120,000
90,00087,446

101,225 109,027

118,521 120,702

4,000
3,000

60,0002,000

30,000

1,000

2,741

2,971

2005

2006

3,333

3,551

2007

2008

3,914

0

0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
(FY)

2009
(FY)

Sysmex Sustainability Report 20104

Message from the President

Building trust and conﬁdence among people
the world over – Driven by this founding mission,
we are devoting ourselves wholeheartedly tothe development of healthcare.
Contributing to the promotion of healthcare

reassurance in the spirit of the Sysmex Way and Core Behaviors.

Ever since its founding in 1968, Sysmex has given birth to a wide

In doing so, we believe that we can successfully fulﬁll our

spectrum of products and services that feature advanced

corporate social responsibility (CSR).

technology in the diagnostics ﬁeld. At present, Sysmex’s

In order to earn greater trust from our global society, we

products and services are being used at medical institutions incontinued to carry out such activities in ﬁscal 2009. The following

over 160 countries around the world.

is a brief account of our main CSR activities in ﬁscal 2009.

Faced with technological development and changing social
structures in recent years, the healthcare environment is currently
undergoing dramatic changes; and this trend is expected to

In pursuit of higher quality

accelerate even further in the second decade of the 21st century.

Our oﬀerings in the diagnostics business help to sustain people’s

Anticipating these fundamental changes, we here at Sysmex will

lives and health. We thus remain committed to improving the

fulﬁll our corporate responsibility by meeting the requirements

quality of our products.

and expectations of our customers and society as a whole in a

Fiscal 2009 saw the establishment of the Sysmex Corporation

timely manner. As we seek to expand our business, we wish to

Quality Compliance Policy for the entire Group, including

make even greater contributions to the healthcare front.

subsidiaries and aﬃliates outside of Japan, reminding all

Our products and services play a vital role in the early

employees of the applicable laws and internal rules with which

recovery of patients aﬄicted with illness and injury, and in thethey should comply. At the same time, we reinforced the quality

improvement of their quality of life (QOL). Doing what little

assurance system at the product development stage.

we can to grant the universal wishes to “live a long, healthy life”

For us to truly satisfy our customers, Sysmex believes it is

and “protect the lives of loved ones,” thus delivering reassurance

necessary to improve the quality of every aspect of our business,to people across the globe – this founding principle of Sysmex

not only product quality. By clearly stating this belief in ourhas remained intact. Guided by this principle, we will continue

Quality Policy, we aim to encourage behaviors that are based

our journey to develop testing technologies that are more rapid,

on customers’ viewpoints and oﬀer a level of satisfaction that

accurate, and patient-friendly, in an attempt to shape the future

more than meets their expectations.

of healthcare.

Building the trust and conﬁdence of
our stakeholders

Sysmex’s presence has expanded across the globe, but theTrue to our Group Corporate Philosophy, the “Sysmex Way,” andhealthcare environment diﬀers from one region to another,

our Core Behaviors, we here at Sysmex put value on deliveringwith a diverse range of customer needs.

reassurance to our customers, business partners, employees,

5

Responding to diverse customer needs
in diﬀerent countries and regions

In advanced countries, cancer and lifestyle-related diseases

shareholders, and other stakeholders through our everyday activities.

are running rampant. Because of the large burden that cancer

Each and every member of the company contributes to thepatients are forced to bear as a result of surgery and otherdevelopment of healthcare by making steady eﬀorts to deliver

kinds of treatments, something needs to be done to improve

Sysmex Sustainability Report 2010

ﬁscal year we focused on spreading our system for rapid

Long-term environmental objectives
for ﬁscal 2020detection of breast cancer lymph node metastasis. Capable of

Global environmental issues, such as global warming and resource

detecting metastasis of breast cancer to lymph nodes with

depletion, are becoming increasingly aggravated.

their QOL. In a bid to oﬀer solutions to such issues, this last

greater speed and accuracy, this system helps to alleviate theburden on breast cancer patients.

In April 2010 we established the Sysmex Group Environmental
Action Plan (Sysmex Eco-Vision 2020), thereby setting for

Emerging countries, on the other hand, are still on theourselves long-term environmental objectives for 2020 under

way toward developing their healthcare infrastructures amidsuch key topics as “global warming countermeasures” and theongoing economic growth. Sysmex is supporting initiatives to“eﬀective use of resources and waste reduction.”

improve the quality of healthcare in those countries by, forexample, holding academic seminars in China.

Now that these objectives have been set, we are ready to drive
global environmental conservation activities forward even further.

Developing countries are challenged by widespread
epidemics of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other serious diseases. In

With our corporate message, “We Believe the Possibilities,”order to help them improve this situation, Sysmex has donatedﬁrmly in our minds, we will continue making eﬀorts to achievesmall and easy-to-operate testing instruments to medical

sustainable development of the Group and the global community.

institutions in sub-Saharan Africa, where HIV carriers areconcentrated. As a part of this initiative, in May 2010 we

We would like to ask our stakeholders for their continued
support and generous understanding of all of our endeavors.

donated testing instruments to the Inada-Lange Foundation
for AIDS Research (ILFAR), an NPO oﬀering free medical
services in Kenya.

Hisashi Ietsugu
President and CEO

Sysmex Sustainability Report 20106

Corporate Philosophy and Core Behaviors

Corporate Philosophy

Sysmex Way
MissionShaping the advancement of healthcare.

Value
We continue to create unique and innovative values,
while building trust and conﬁdence.

Mind
With passion and ﬂexibility,
we demonstrate our individual competence and unsurpassed teamwork.

Core Behaviors
To our Customers
We deliver reassurance to our customers, through unmatched quality, advanced technologies, superior support, and actions thatconsistently reﬂect the viewpoint of our customers.
We constantly look out for our customers’ true needs, and seek to generate new solutions to satisfy those needs.

To our Employees
We honor diversity, respect the individuality of each employee, and provide them with a workplace where they can realize their fullpotential.
We value the spirit of independence and challenge, provide employees with opportunities for self-fulﬁllment and growth, and reward themfor their accomplishments.

To our Business Partners
We deliver commitment to our client companies through broad-ranging partnerships.
We strive to be a company that can grow in step with our trade partners, through respect and mutual trust.

To our Shareholders
Our shareholders can rest assured that we will continue to improve the soundness and transparency of our management policies, while
promoting information disclosure and close communications.
We commit ourselves to a consistent yet innovative style of management, in order to achieve sustainable growth and increased
shareholder value.

To Society
We carry out our business in strict compliance with laws and regulations, as well as in adherence to high ethical standards.
As a responsible member of society, we play an active role in resolving environmental issues and other problems that impact oursociety today.

7

Sysmex Sustainability Report 2010Collectively and Individually - Every Employee around
the World Putting the Sysmex Way into Practice

VQ (Value Quest) Activities - An opportunity
for employees to give serious thought to how
they can live up to the Sysmex Way

We will continue conducting these activities so that wecan put the Sysmex Way into action as we unite our individual
wisdom and deepen mutual communications.

In order to ensure the steady implementation of the “Sysmex
the VQ Activities, through which each employee is encouraged

Sysmex Group Environmental Action Plan
(Sysmex Eco-Vision 2020)

to think deeply and discuss with others about how they can put

With recent global environmental issues, including global warming,

the Sysmex Way into practice.

depletion of natural resources, and destruction of the ecosystem,

Way,” our Corporate Philosophy, in ﬁscal 2008 we kicked oﬀ

This companywide initiative continued on to ﬁscal 2009.

to name but a few, assuming serious proportions, environmental

In response to President Ietsugu’s question, a large number ofconservation has become one of the most important obligations

ideas were received from our employees around the world, andfor any business.

these ideas were then used to form theme-speciﬁc teams, which

It was against this backdrop that the Sysmex Group

held a series of discussions that lasted for several months. The

Environmental Action Plan (Sysmex Eco-Vision 2020) was

fruits of these intense discussions were presented at the VQ

established in April 2010, in accordance with the Sysmex Way

Session in December 2009. Attended by some 200 employees,

and Environmental Policy. The Action Plan sets forth our long-term

including some from our subsidiaries and aﬃliates outside ofenvironmental objectives under such key topics as “global

Japan, the event provided an opportunity for people from diﬀerent

warming countermeasures,” “eﬀective use of resources andregions and organizations to communicate with each other.

waste reduction,” and “eﬀective use of water resources” toward

Some of the ideas contributed by our employees in ﬁscal

the target year of 2020 (See P36).

2008 have already been implemented, including teaching aWith an eye toward realizing those objectives, we willclass at a junior high school in our host city of Kobe (See P34)

promote the development and spread of eco-friendly products

and the opening of a “portal site of good working conditions”

and services and energy/resource conservation through increasedon the company intranet (See P30).

eﬃciency in our business activities.

Fiscal 2009 VQ Session

Sysmex Sustainability Report 20108

Activity Report
To deliver good health and inspire trust andconﬁdence among people the world overJapan

Inﬂuenza Virus Detection Kit “POCTEM S Inﬂuenza”

Stepped up Supply ofInﬂuenza Test Kits inthe Wake of theInﬂuenza Pandemic

Research Reagent for Detecting Avian-derived Inﬂuenza Virus Nucleoproteins

In a move to combat pandemic inﬂuenza in 2009,
Sysmex bolstered its supply of inﬂuenza test kits.
Anticipating another pandemic caused by avian-derived
viruses, which are said to pose a threat even greaterthan that of last year’s swine-derived inﬂuenza, Sysmex
also worked to develop reagents capable of selectively
detecting avian inﬂuenza viruses (research reagents for
detecting avian-derived inﬂuenza virus nucleoproteins).

which had been predicted by the World Health Organization( WHO ). Since 2003, carriers of this inﬂuenza virus have beenfound in Asian countries, with the fatality rate reaching nearly
60%. We are thus required to prepare a healthcare system inanticipation of a possible pandemic of avian-derived inﬂuenza
viruses, while at the same time providing measures to countera possible resurgence of swine-derived inﬂuenza.

Preparing for a Resurgence of Pandemic Inﬂuenza

Bolstered Supply of Inﬂuenza Test Kits

First reported in April 2009, a new strain of inﬂuenza aﬀected

Since the new strain of inﬂuenza broke out in Japan, Sysmex

Japan’s ﬁrst carrier in the following month, and it subsequently

has doubled the production capacity of its inﬂuenza test kits in

hit its peak toward the end of November in this country. Following

response to ever increasing demands.

that outbreak, the number of patients began to decrease until the

In more concrete terms, we increased the workforce at thesituation had almost completely calmed down as of March 2010,

Seishin Factory in Hyogo, which is responsible for the production of

but it is necessary to remain cautious about a possible resurgence.

reagents used in the kits, while at the same time urgently procuring

The strain that had run rampant in this case was derived fromthe materials necessary for reagent production. During the twelve

swine, but it was an inﬂuenza strain of avian origin, a pandemic ofmonths from April 2009 to March 2010, we supplied about

Reported Cases of Inﬂuenza A (H1N1) Infection in Japan(persons)

1,600

1,392 1,292 1,490 1,492 1,419

1,200

1,066

800

752
520

400
75

121

176

150

154

240

221 300

791

756
510

517

464

418

270

20
09
/7
/2
7-8
8/ /2
38/ 8/9
10
-8
/
8/ 16
17
-8
8/ /23
24
-8
/3
8/ 0
31
-9
/
9/ 6
79
9/ /13
14
-9
/
9/ 20
21
-9
9/ /27
28
-10
/4
10
/5
-10
10
/1 /1121
10 0/18/1910
10 /25/2611
11/ /1
2-11
11/ /891
11/ 1/15
16-1
11/ 1/22
23-11
11/ /29
30
-12
/
12
/7 6
-12
12
/1 /13
412
/2
12
0
/2
1-1
12
/2
2/
820 27
10
/1
1/ /3
4
-1/
10
1/
111/
1/ 17
18
-1/
24
1/
26
-1/
31

0

48

186

1,142 1,098

Number of cases reported each week, surveillance of patients hospitalized from the H1N1 virusby the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) of Japan (as of March 31, 2010)
Source : Inﬂuenza Fixed Point Report, MHLW (April 2, 2010)

9

Sysmex Sustainability Report 2010

Reagent production equipment at the Seishin Factory

Japan in May 2009

Reagent R&D

187,000 packages of our kits. Going forward, we are planninginﬂuenza virus nucleoproteins that does not react to humanto quintuple our capacity (vs. FY2008) by introducing automatedinﬂuenza viruses*1. By simply applying a drop of a sample to a

production equipment so that we can promptly meet any sudden

test paper, avian-derived inﬂuenza viruses*2 can be selectively

rise in demands.

detected in just around ten minutes.

No matter how high our capacity becomes, however, the supply

We released this reagent in November 2009 for research

could be hindered if inﬂuenza were to spread among our employees.

institutions ﬁrst, but we aim to develop clinical products forOn the assumption of a pandemic inﬂuenza virus infection, in June

diagnosis applications in the future.

2009 Sysmex drew up an action plan to ensure that the “supply*1 Conﬁrmed with a total of 19 strains of cultured inﬂuenza viruses, including typeof products and equipment repair are continued to avoid
any confusion at testing laboratories” and that “employee

A viruses (H1N1, H2N2, H3N2) and type B viruses isolated from humans*2 Conﬁrmed with a total of 18 strains of cultured type A inﬂuenza viruses(from H3 to H15) isolated from birds

safety is secured.” In order to take necessary action promptly
and accurately, this action plan sets forth clear principles thatconcern preventing infection, saving emergency stocks, andestablishing an emergency countermeasures headquarters.

Developed New Reagent for Avian Flu ResearchFiscal 2009 also saw our R&D team work on the development of
products for researching the new avian-originated strain of inﬂuenza.
In the past, special analyzers using gene ampliﬁcation andother techniques were necessary to diﬀerentiate avian inﬂuenza
viruses from human viruses. The drawback of such techniques
is that there are only a few specialized institutions that possess
such analyzers, and that the testing process takes several hours.
In order to oﬀer solutions to such problems, Sysmex teamed
up with the Osaka Prefectural Institute of Public Health to develop
a technique that enables the identiﬁcation of slight diﬀerences
existing between avian and human inﬂuenza strains in terms of
the structure of nucleoproteins inside the virus. This technique
led to the birth of a research reagent for detecting avian-derived

Words from a Stakeholder

More speed for testing andstable product supply
Dr. Yoshihiko Hamamoto
Director, Hamamoto Children’s Clinic

Last year, the inﬂuenza virus was running rampant throughout
the world, but Japan was able to limit its spread to a relatively
small scale. This is because the national government acted
both promptly and pertinently—although some criticized its“excessive” reaction—and because medical professionals andthe general public dared to face this menace single-mindedly.
When the infection is spreading like wildﬁre, doctors andclinical technologists are urgently making diagnoses, andevery second counts. I expect to see a test kit that gives
results in a shorter time. Also, I would like the manufacturer
to fulﬁll its important mission of generating stable supply byensuring that test kits are made available throughout thecountry, should there be a recurrence of pandemic inﬂuenza.

Sysmex Sustainability Report 201010

Activity Report
To deliver good health and inspire trust andconﬁdence among people the world overSysmex developed “Touch de Tsuzukeru Kenko Nisshi(Health Journal on a Touch Screen),” a service modelthat allows people to use a health examination system
to check their own condition. We are introducing thesystem in places that people have easy access to, suchas drug stores and dispensing pharmacies, thusJapan
Supporting Daily
Health Maintenance –Self-check Your
Condition with
Ease in Your Own
Neighborhood

supporting the general public in maintaining theirhealth on a daily basis.

Dropping in at a neighborhood drug store for aquick and easy health check
The top three causes of death among Japanese are (in descendingorder) cancer, heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease, and theseaccount for sixty percent of the total. All of these diseases areclosely related to our lifestyles, and daily health checks are essential
for their prevention. If people can casually check on their healthcondition at a familiar place, it will make things easier for membersof the general public to constantly manage their conditions.
This idea prompted Sysmex to develop its health maintenancesupport service “Touch de Tsuzukeru Kenko Nisshi ” in ﬁscal
2006. Combining a touch panel terminal, including our healthmaintenance support software package PROWELL, with a bloodpressure gauge and other testing instruments, the service allows

System conﬁguration(example)
Somatic fat meter
Hemoglobin
concentration estimator

Steps
Input basic information• Gender • Age • Body weight• Waist measurement, etc.

Blood pressure gauge
Terminal with a touch panel
Printer
Pulse wave meter

Taking measurements
Just by inserting an arm
or ﬁnger• Blood pressure (systolic, diastolic)• Hemoglobin concentration estimation(estimated hemoglobin concentration)• Somatic fat (somatic fat rate, visceralfat area index, basal metabolic rate)• Pulse waves (relative vascular age)

Answering questions
Simply touch the choice• About the health condition that
one is worried about• Previous comments by others• About lifestyle• About daily diet (nutritional intake)

Health support results are printed• Overall comments • Nutrients that are lacking• Tips on lifestyles• Measured data
Health maintenance support service, “Touch de Tsuzukeru Kenko Nisshi (Health Journal on a Touch Screen)”

11

Sysmex Sustainability Report 2010

any person to use the system and perform simple checks on
the state of their health.

of the questions so that people can understand them better.
To make this happen, our qualiﬁed senior nutritionists

Coined from the words “Professional” and “Wellness,” PROWELL

periodically visit outlets that oﬀer this service to meet withwas developed under the supervision of professionals in medical

users, hear what they have to say, and improve the service

science, nutrition, and exercise nutrition, and thus provides

accordingly. During such visits, they also check the utilization

well-grounded health support information.

of the service and provide support for the training of store staﬀ

Users are ﬁrst asked to provide basic information, such as
gender and body weight, and then measure their blood pressure

members.
Going forward, we will promote the spread of this service

and estimated hemoglobin concentration. After answering

to schools and ﬁtness clubs in order to make daily healthquestions on their lifestyle and nutritional intake via the touch

maintenance even more accessible.

panel, the input information and measured data is automaticallyanalyzed to produce health support information that may be
used to improve lifestyle. The results are given approximately
ﬁve minutes after the user begins to input data.
Should a measured value be found abnormal, e.g., bloodpressure exceeding the diagnostic criteria for hypertension, amessage is displayed that encourages the user to see a doctor.
Installation of the system in drug stores and dispensing

Words from a Stakeholder

More customers havebecome interested
in health management
Kiyoshi Noguchi
Manager, Takiya Taishibashi Storepharmacies across Japan is well underway. An increasing numberof outlets are oﬀering health counseling by pharmacists andnutritionists based on measured data and health support information.

Listening to users to constantly improve the service
To make the service easier to use, we frequently modify the phrasing

Recently, more and more customers at our store have become
very conscious of health management and disease prevention.
The number of customers who purchase supplements is also
on the rise. I believe that drug stores are charged with themission of providing products and services that meet suchcustomer demands and, in so doing, helping people in theneighborhood to maintain their health.
Expressing the user’s condition in numerical values,“Touch de Tsuzukeru Kenko Nisshi ” is highly useful in that itallows us to answer customers’ questions by referring to
objective data. I hope for a supply of both hardware andsoftware that is capable of taking measurements even more
simply and promptly.

Words from a Stakeholder

Our goal is to become a“health support station”
Shinichi Yamamura, Pharmacist
Representative Director, Primary Pharmacy
Drug Store Takiya Taishibashi StoreI found that many of the customers who use “Touch deTsuzukeru Kenko Nisshi ” are surprised to discover the extent
to which the system allows them to check their condition while
waiting for their drugs to be prescribed at a health insurance
pharmacy. Based on the check results, our senior nutritionist
provides advice to the customers, who often give us a positive
response with words of gratitude.
We hope to continue oﬀering our support for the good
health of people in the community by providing tips on lifestyles,
as well as drugs. I can say with assurance that this service isan eﬀective tool for health insurance pharmacies to be recognized
as “health support stations.”

Primary Pharmacy (dispensing pharmacy)

Sysmex Sustainability Report 201012

Activity Report
To deliver good health and inspire trust andconﬁdence among people the world over

China
Contributing to More
Rapid and Accurate
Diagnostics and Higher
Levels of Technology/
Knowledge among
Healthcare Professionals

establishment of Jinan Dongya Medical Electronics Co., Ltd. (nowSysmex Shanghai Ltd.), a sales company of laboratory testing
instruments and reagents. Since then, we have expanded our sales
network to market our instruments and reagents in an eﬀort to help
China to increase the speed and accuracy of its testing practices.
We are also oﬀering well-thought-out after-sales services
so that our products will continue to generate highly reliable
testing data long after they are purchased.

Ensuring Fair Trade through Employee Training
As the volume of China sales increases, Sysmex is expending
much eﬀort to ensure compliance in its marketing by, forexample, preparing a handbook on fair trade for distribution
to its employees.
In October 2009, we held a training seminar at Sysmex
Shanghai. With some 60 marketing and sales people from the

In China, Sysmex markets its laboratory testing
instruments and, by promoting the spread of such
instruments, makes it possible to conduct testingwith greater speed and accuracy. We also holdscientiﬁc seminars there every year to provide
updates on the latest news on the healthcare
front, in the hopes that we can assist local
healthcare professionals in raising their levels oftechnology and knowledge.

subsidiary in attendance, we took the opportunity to brief themonce again on the Law for Countering Unfair Competition and
the Anti-Monopoly Law of China.

Disseminating the Latest Healthcare Info at
Large Scientiﬁc Seminars
In addition to the spread of reliable testing through the supply of
its products, Sysmex also wishes to contribute to raising the levelsof technology and knowledge among healthcare professionals
in China by disseminating scientiﬁc information in that country.

Faster and More Precise Laboratory Testing
amid Rapidly Developing Healthcare
Infrastructures in China

Held for doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians, and other

While its economy has been achieving rapid growth in recent

to share updates on the latest trends on the healthcare front,

years, China is also witnessing a rapid increase in healthcare

including the state of healthcare system reform within the country.

demands, with the number of Chinese suﬀering from diabetes

At the 12th seminar of this kind held in November 2009 inhealthcare professionals, this annual seminar is an opportunity

soaring to some 24 million, making it second only to India

Kunming, Yunnan Province, we organized panel discussions(approx. 36 million) for its number of patients. Thus there is aand lectures on the topic of “Dialogue between Clinicians andgreat need to develop healthcare infrastructures.

Laboratory Technicians.” Drawing some 700 participants, theThis also brings with it a need for greater speed and accuracy inseminar was the largest medical seminar in China ever sponsoredlaboratory tests, the data of which provides the basis for determining

by a single private enterprise. It was not only well received bya diagnosis and course of treatment. Many medical institutions in

the participants, but also attracted much attention from local

China still conduct such testing manually. Introducing automatedsociety, receiving coverage in the local science paper Science Times.

testing instruments will make it possible to conduct such testing

We will continue to sponsor these seminars while working torapidly and accurately, thus enabling swift diagnosis and treatment.

make them even more informative, thereby providing healthcare

Sysmex began business in China in 1995 with the13

The Sysmex Scientiﬁc Seminar in China is one such initiative.

Sysmex Sustainability Report 2010

professionals in China with useful scientiﬁc information.

The 12th Sysmex Scientiﬁc Seminar in China

Participants of Sysmex Scientiﬁc Seminars
in China (8th – 12th)(persons)

800
691
600

400

550

570

570

9th
2006

10th
2007

11th
2008

410

200

0
President Ietsugu speaking to the audience

Words from a Stakeholder

Expecting Sysmex to “Bridge”
Diagnosis/Treatment and Testing
Dr. Cong Yulong
Chief Physician, People’s Liberation Army General Hospital

As Director of the China Laboratory Physician Association, I have beenpromoting the standardization of laboratory testing so that identical
testing data may be obtained regardless of where the testing was
conducted in the country, and so that accurate diagnosis might be made.
Because of my specialty in clinical testing through hematology,
coagulation, and urinalysis, which happen to be the ﬁelds that Sysmex’s

8th
2005

12th
2009

products cover, I have often had the pleasure of meeting people from
Sysmex at academic conferences and during joint research projects,
which naturally led me to cooperate with the company in theirinitiatives for the standardization and education of testing. Throughthis good fortune, I have been involved in the planning of Sysmex
Scientiﬁc Seminars in China from the very beginning all the way tothe latest event.
Over the past 12 years, Sysmex Scientiﬁc Seminars in China haveprovided healthcare professionals with the information that they seek,
and I hope that the company will continue its sponsorship and contributeto the advancement of healthcare in China. I sincerely wish that
Sysmex will play a part in the “bridging” of diagnosis/treatment andlaboratory testing by disseminating cutting-edge scientiﬁc information.

Sysmex Sustainability Report 201014

Activity Report
To deliver good health and inspire trust andconﬁdence among people the world over* Oﬃcially known as ISO 15189:2003 “Medical laboratories – Particular requirementsfor quality and competence.” Established in February 2003 by the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO).

For Maintaining and Improving the Quality ofLaboratories
In order to improve the quality of lab tests, it is necessary to

Asia Pacificcreate a framework for internal auditing, in addition to establishing

Supporting theCreation of a Quality
Management System
for Laboratories in thePhilippines

deal of attention as a specialized quality management standard

In the Philippines and Indonesia, many hospitals are
eager to improve the quality of their laboratories in abid to earn greater trust from their patients. Sysmex ismeeting such demands by assisting customer laboratories
in receiving certiﬁcation for ISO 15189*, an international
quality management standard for lab tests.

an adequate testing procedure. It is also important to have such
systems assessed objectively by independent organizations.
It is against this background that ISO 15189 is drawing a great
for lab tests. Compiled on the basis of ISO 9001, a general standard
for quality management systems, ISO 15189 also includes
technological capability requirements that are particular to eachtype of clinical testing performed at laboratories. A laboratory thathas created an accredited management system in compliance withthe standard is certiﬁed as being capable of providing internationally
viable, valid testing data. Since its establishment, ISO 15189 has
found broad acceptance in advanced countries and elsewhere.

In a Bid to Meet the Growing Demand for ISO 15189
in Southeast Asia
Due to the absence of national regulations on laboratory testing,many public and private large-scale hospitals in the Philippines,
Indonesia, and Vietnam are starting to become keen on certiﬁcation
for the ISO 15189 international standard. However, its requirements
are known to be somewhat obtuse, and the certiﬁcation process

NKTI Laboratory Quality Manager (left) and Medical Laboratory Chairman (right) in front of the ISO 15189 certiﬁcate

15

Sysmex Sustainability Report 2010

involves a great deal of diﬃculty.

there. Under the lead of our Singaporean subsidiary, Sysmex Asia

Since 2003, Sysmex has oﬀered an ISO certiﬁcation

Paciﬁc Pte Ltd., we provided consulting and support to the

support service in Japan. Among the long list of customers of

National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) in the Philippines,

this service are the Hokkaido University Hospital and thewhich successfully received ISO 15189 certiﬁcation.

University of Tokyo Hospital.

Because NKTI had already achieved ISO 9001 certiﬁcation,
the focus of our support was on assisting them in meeting therequirements unique to ISO 15189.

Supported Certiﬁcation of a Hospitalin the Philippines

the current situation of their laboratory and their work ﬂow.

In ﬁscal 2009, Sysmex brought its expertise gained in Japan to

We then identiﬁed their issues and indicated matters that neededSoutheast Asian countries to begin certiﬁcation support services

improvement, such as advising them that “it should be madeBefore we began the process, we visited NKTI ﬁrst to grasp

possible to identify faulty equipment.” Also, to avoid confusion

ISO 15189 certiﬁcation support model ﬂow

with ISO 9001 manuals, we suggested that separate manuals
for ISO 15189 be compiled and provided templates for them.

Preliminary preparations• Support establishment of a project• Support job analysis

We are planning to begin this ISO certiﬁcation support• Brieﬁng on ISO standards

service in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries andBrazil in ﬁscal 2010, in the hopes that we can contribute to thequality improvement of laboratories around the world.

Documentation, preparation for application• Support documentation • Support system operations• Internal auditor training seminar• Support internal auditing / management review• Support preparation of application forms

Certiﬁcation• Support screening process

Maintenance• Support internal auditor training /honing skills of internal auditors

Words from Stakeholders

Great Help in Quality Improvement of
the Laboratory

Dr. Januario Veloso

Dr. Ivy Rosales

Chairman, Medical
Laboratory, NKTI

Laboratory Quality
Manager, NKTIThe use of the templates provided by Sysmex enabled us tosmoothly prepare our manuals for ISO 15189. Their commentson the improvement of work procedures, which were made asa result of their on-site survey, were instrumental in improving
the quality of our laboratory.
Allowing us to access their customer support center via
the Sysmex Network Communication Systems (SNCS) is also
a great help in maintaining the reliability of our testing.
As users of Sysmex testing instruments, we expect themto help us maintain our instruments under good operating
conditions and supply reliable reagents in a stable manner.
National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), the Philippines

NKTI’s lab tests

Sysmex Sustainability Report 201016

Activity Report
To deliver good health and inspire trust andconﬁdence among people the world over

Americas
Sysmex Employees
Playing an Active Rolein a Fund RaisingCampaign by an
American NPO
Dedicated to Funding
Blood Cancer Research
The number of cases of blood cancer, such as leukemia
and malignant lymphoma, is on the rise across the globe.
In 2010, members of our U.S. subsidiary Sysmex America,
Inc. volunteered for a fund raising campaign organizedby the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), a voluntary
health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer
research and patient services.

Ms. Peggy Barranco, leader of the volunteer team(in front of the articles put up for sale at the charity auction)

Luncheon buﬀet

1949, LLS has donated over $600 million to blood cancer research,
thereby underpinning advances in treatment and providing
support to patients.

Employees Volunteering in Various Charities
Between March and May of 2010, a Sysmex America volunteer
group led by Ms. Peggy Barranco participated in an LLS fundraising

Progress in Therapy Research Led to a Higher
Blood Cancer Cure Rate

In this unique campaign, “candidates” raise money in theirown ways, and then donate that money to LLS. The candidates

It is estimated that blood cancer patients, such as those

who raise the most “votes” are then named “Man of the Year”

suﬀering from leukemia and malignant lymphoma, numberand “Woman of the Year.”more than 900,000 worldwide. In fact, every four minutes

The group at Sysmex America called for donations fromsomeone in the world is diagnosed with blood cancer. In Illinois,

people both within and outside of the company on the campaign

the home of Sysmex America, some 6,000 persons were foundwebsite. They then organized a series of events for the company,

to be suﬀering from such diseases during 2009, and their

including a luncheon buﬀet, selling pizza, ice cream, and used

incidence is increasing.

books, a charity auction, and Denim Day tickets (allowing an

Meanwhile, the cure rate is improving thanks to advancesin treatment and the dedication of NPOs supporting blood cancer
research through donations.
One of the largest such NPOs, LLS has 64 chapter oﬃces
across the United States and Canada. Since its foundation in

17

campaign, “Illinois Man & Woman of the Year.”

Sysmex Sustainability Report 2010

employee to wear jeans at the oﬃce).
These events proved to be a major success, raising a total
of $41,907 (donations and event sales combined) during the
campaign period from March 11 to May 21, 2010.

Peggy and her peers at Sysmex America who supported her candidacy

Sysmex America Earned the Companies
That Care Award for its Community Service
In addition to this LLS fundraising campaign, Sysmex America

Words from a Stakeholder

Our Fundraising Campaign was a
Resounding Success!

is also very active in a variety of fundraising events.
In ﬁscal 2009, our American subsidiary was ranked for thesecond consecutive year on the Companies That Care Honor Roll,
which is sponsored by the Center for Companies That Care, an
American NPO. This annual award honors companies with thecharacteristics of a “Company That Cares,” including social
contributions and sustaining a good work environment.

Ms. Kayla Kovarna(middle)Campaign Manager, LLS

While supporting employees’ voluntary initiatives, Sysmex
will continue contributing to its host communities in a manner
appropriate for the circumstances and realities of each individual
community.

Thanks to the dedications of all of the participants, LLS’s
fundraising campaign raised approximately $640,000 in 2010.
The money will be used to support blood cancer research andpatient services.
This triumph would not have been possible without thehard work of Peggy and the other candidates, as well as theirfellow collaborators. My highest praise goes to the candidates,
their supporters, and the sponsors who lent us a helping handin the cause of creating a world without cancer.

Sysmex Sustainability Report 201018

Activity Report
To deliver good health and inspire trust andconﬁdence among people the world overnodes with greater speed and accuracy than conventional
histopathological diagnosis based on microscopic
observation, our system has the capability to greatly
improve patients’ QOL.

For Detecting Lymph Node Metastasis Quickly
and Accurately

EuropePromoting the Spreadof Testing Systems for
Improved QOL of
Breast Cancer Patients

Breast cancer is the most frequent type of cancer among women.
Every year, some one million women around the world are diagnosed
with breast cancer, and it claims up to 400,000 lives annually.
It was previously a common practice to surgically excise theentire lymph node in the axilla, where metastasis is most likely
to occur. Because a large section of tissue had to be removed,
however, this practice was a substantial burden to the patients.
In order to minimize the extent of the dissection, in recent
years doctors have begun sampling the part of lymph nodethat cancer cells reach ﬁrst from the focus, so that they cantest whether the cancer has spread and excise only the aﬀected
lymph node during the same operation. The most frequently chosentesting technique is to have pathologists observe by a microscope

Sysmex is working to spread its system that automaticallydetects breast cancer lymph node metastasis. By
determining whether cancer has spread to the lymph

a part of the lymph node that has been sampled.
However, it is very diﬃcult to precisely determine the presenceor absence of metastasis in the limited timeframe during theSysmex system for rapid detection ofbreast cancer lymph node metastasis
Advantage

Advantage

Advantage

1
2
3

Using most of the excised lymph node, thishighly sensitive system accurately determines
the presence or absence of cancer metastasis.

Testing results are obtained in a short time,with testing being completed during surgery.

The automated process leaves no room forindividual discrepancies.

Gene ampliﬁcation detector RD-100i

Simply set the sample, and the results are provided within thirty minutes.

19

Sysmex Sustainability Report 2010

Gene ampliﬁcation reagent LYNOAMP® BC

Sample solubilizing reagent LYNORHAG®

operation, and pathologists are required to have high levels of

expected that there will be fewer cases in which metastasis isskills and experiences. In some cases, metastasis is detected in thedetected after the operation, the burden on patients associateddetailed post-operative testing, which then necessitates anotherwith a second operation will also be eased.

operation. This truly places an enormous burden on the patient.

After acquiring approval from the Ministry of Health, Labourand Welfare of Japan in June 2008, the system was covered under

Improving Patients’ QOL

the national health insurance in November of the same year, and
it is currently being introduced to hospitals across the country.

To help ease the burden of patients, Sysmex applied the One-step

In Europe, where we released the system in ﬁscal 2006, the system

Nucleic Acid Ampliﬁcation (OSNA®) method to develop a system

is ﬁnding broad acceptance at hospitals in countries like Spain,

for rapid detection of breast cancer lymph node metastasis, which

Italy, France, and the United Kingdom.

comprises the gene ampliﬁcation detector RD-100i used inconjunction with the gene ampliﬁcation reagent LYNOAMP®
are prepared by using the solubilizing reagent to dissolve most

To Oﬀer After-sales Service and Support that is
Quick and to the Pointof the excised lymph node. Simply by setting the sample andIn January 2010, Sysmex España S.L. was established in Barcelona,

reagent into the detector, the results are given within approximately

where diﬀusion of the system is particularly high among European

thirty minutes, allowing the doctors to determine the presence

cities. The rationale behind this move is to step closer to users of theor absence of metastasis during the operation.

breast cancer lymph node metastasis rapid detection system so that

BC and the sample solubilizing reagent LYNORHAG®. Samples

Because the entire process is performed automatically from

we can oﬀer quick and adequate after-sales service and support.

gene sampling and ampliﬁcation to determination of metastasis,

In Spain, we are planning to develop our own online database

the burden on pathologists is alleviated signiﬁcantly. In addition,and make it available to our users. We expect that this databasemost of the tissues that have been excised are used for gene-level

will allow medical institutions and commercial laboratories who

measurement, thus assuring highly accurate judgment, which inuse our system to cross-reference their knowledge of the OSNA®

turn helps to reduce the risk of recurrence. Also, because it ismethod and other technological information. If we can stimulate
the exchange of information in this way, the level of healthcare
for breast cancer should improve throughout the country. We

Flow of testing

are also considering the transplantation of this breast cancer
database to other countries in the region.

Remove the lymph node during surgery.

Sysmex will remain committed to the diﬀusion of this system
in its bid to help improve the QOL of breast cancer patients

Dissolve most of the removed lymph node in
LYNORHAG® to prepare a sample.

around the world.

Words from a Stakeholder

Set the sample and LYNOAMP® BC
in the designated place of RD-100i.

Genes are automatically extracted and ampliﬁed
to determine the presence or absence of metastasis.

OSNA® Method
Generates Highly
Satisfactory Testing Results
Dr. Di Filippo
Rome Cancer Institute

In European countries, the number of deaths from breast cancer
is decreasing. This is primarily because the accuracy of healthscreening for breast cancer using mammography is improving,
and a greater number of treatment options are available, including
surgical operations, radiotherapy, and single-agent chemotherapy.
However, the rate of incidence continues to increase.
At our institute, we use Sysmex’s system for rapid detectionof breast cancer lymph node metastasis to make diagnoses
during operations. So far, we have used this system on morethan 400 breast cancer patients, and the results have beenhighly satisfactory. I hope that, while also furthering its research
into the OSNA® method, Sysmex will develop a system for

Injecting the excised lymph node into the tube with LYNORHAG®.

the testing of melanoma, a form of skin cancer also known as“malignant melanoma.”

Sysmex Sustainability Report 201020

Activity Report
To deliver good health and inspire trust andconﬁdence among people the world over

EuropeSupporting Customers
in the Acquisition of
Testing Technologies
and Scientiﬁc
Knowledge at theCzech Republic Sysmex
Education Center
Sysmex supports customers in their attempts to improve
testing technologies and scientiﬁc knowledge at thetraining and educational facilities that it has establishedin various countries. At the Czech Education Center that
opened in ﬁscal 2009, we are providing an abundance of
training and educational opportunities through collaboration
with local scientiﬁc societies and medical institutions.

Training at the Czech Education Center

Czech Education Centerto sales and service.
Because of the broad territory encompassed by Sysmex
Europe, which covers Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, somecustomers ﬁnd it physically diﬃcult to visit the Sysmex Academyin Germany. To cater to such customers, we provide training
and educational opportunities at our education centers, whichhave been opened in the United Kingdom, France, Russia,
Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates,
Benin, and South Africa.

“Sysmex Academy” Coordinating Training and
Educational Programs in Europe, the Middle East,
and Africa

the levels of training and education oﬀered in Europe, theTo conduct laboratory testing with accuracy, facilities andemphasis on training employees who can serve as instructors

instruments alone will not suﬃce. Those who utilize them mustand educators at the education centers in those countries.

The Sysmex Academy is also responsible for standardizing
Middle East, and Africa. Accordingly, the Academy also puts

have a high level of techniques and scientiﬁc knowledge.
Our German subsidiary Sysmex Europe GmbH has established

Customers may choose from a variety of educational

Establishing an Education Center in the Czech
Republic to Raise the Level of Testing inEastern Europe

opportunities, such as obtaining an array of scientiﬁc knowledge

In July 2009, Sysmex CZ s.r.o. opened an education center withand acquiring the skills to manipulate a variety of testingsupport from the Sysmex Academy.

the Sysmex Academy, a vehicle for training and educational
programs aimed at customers and employees.

instruments through training using actual instruments, to create

21

With the aim of providing customers with comprehensive

a customized program that matches their needs and levels.

training opportunities on diagnostics, the education center has

Employees also take training courses so that they can satisfy

the latest testing instruments available and oﬀers explanations

customers at every process of our business, from manufacturingon their performance and operational procedures. Expert staﬀ

Sysmex Sustainability Report 2010

A variety of testing instruments lined up in the training room (Czech Education Center)members with a great deal of knowledge on hematology arealso available to teach trainees how to read testing data. Their

Words from a Stakeholder

reputation is such that these programs have been oﬃcially

Wonderful to Have
Specialists Share theirExperiences

accredited as Continuing Medical Education (CME) programsby the national government.
The training curriculum is constantly upgraded with thecooperation of the Czech Society of Hematology and other

Dr. Filip Vrbacky
University Hospital Hradec Králové

academic societies. To keep our customers interested in our
activities, we are planning to develop a training program undera new topic for inclusion in the training menu every six months.
Sysmex CZ oﬀers the Sysmex Network Communication
Systems (SNCS), which control the quality of testing by connecting
customers’ instruments with the company’s server via theInternet. Under this framework, the education center in the
Czech Republic is responsible for analyzing testing data received
from customers and delivering specialized advice and explanations.
By perpetuating these activities, we wish to contribute to
the enhancement of the laboratory testing level as we deepen

To ensure that we have accurate testing results, it is necessarythat we have experienced staﬀ, as well as highly accurate
testing instruments. In this sense, it is highly signiﬁcant that
Sysmex has established an education center in this country.
This center is a great help to us, since Sysmex can
immediately answer any kinds of questions that we may ask
about its products. It is also wonderful to hear the opinions ofstaﬀ hematology specialists.
In addition, the level of after-sales support has rapidly
improved since Sysmex CZ was established. I hope that thecompany will continue to improve its instruments andafter-sales support.

the relationship of trust with customers in the Czech Republic
and other countries in Eastern Europe.

Sysmex Sustainability Report 201022

Activity Report
To deliver good health and inspire trust andconﬁdence among people the world overAfricaDonating Testing
Instruments to an NPO
Working to Prevent the
Spread of HIV Infectionin Kenya
Sysmex has committed itself to ﬁghting against the
spread of HIV infection by donating testing instrumentsin Africa, where this universal problem is particularly
serious. In ﬁscal 2010, we launched another initiativein support of an NPO that is involved in medical activities
in Kenya.

Two Thirds of the World’s HIV Carriers
Concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa

healthcare infrastructure that allows them to undergo examinationsin their own neighborhoods, see results instantly, and receive
appropriate instructions and treatment on the spot.

The Inada-Lange Foundation for AIDS Research —an NPO Oﬀering Free Medical Care in Kenya
Headquartered in the United States, the Inada-Lange Foundation
for AIDS Research (ILFAR), Inc. is working to prevent the spreadof HIV infection in Kenya, one of the African countries that sharesuch problems.
Since 2000, they have organized a volunteer medical camp
twice a year in Pumwani near Nairobi, which oﬀers medical care
free of charge. By November 2009, the total number of people
who had received care at the camp reached 27,000. ILFAR is also
providing education and training for local NGOs and lectures
for healthcare professionals in Kenya.

The number of HIV carriers has topped 30 million worldwide,

Preventing the Spread of HIV Infection throughSupport for the Foundationand the spread of the disease shows no signs of slowing in the

In April 2006, Sysmex announced its development of a techniquenear future. Many of these carriers live in developing countries,

to measure CD4-positive T-lymphocytes by using its pocH-100i, a

and about two thirds of the total — over 20 million — can be foundcompact, easy-to-operate automated hematology analyzer thatin Sub-Saharan Africa.

may be used at a small clinics and mobile vehicle clinics. By 2009,

HIV carriers must undergo medical examinations every few

we had donated this analyzer via NPOs to clinics, hospitals, andmonths to have their condition checked and to monitor the

research institutions in nine African countries, including Southstatus of the HIV virus in the blood. Speciﬁcally, it is necessary

Africa, Botswana, and Benin.

to determine the count of CD4-positive T-lymphocytes, which

In the spring of 2009, ILFAR opened a permanent oﬃce in theare a type of leukocyte that regulate the entire immune system.

suburbs of Nairobi to kick oﬀ a new project that is designed toWhen viruses multiply, these lymphocytes are destroyed andprevent the emergence of drug-resistant HIV/AIDS. Having been

decrease in number, resulting in a loss of immune strength.

informed that ILFAR was in need of instruments that are capable ofWhen the measurement is below the standard value, the carrier

easily determining CD4-positive T-lymphocyte counts while taking

must begin taking medication, and similar testing is then conducted

up little space, we decided to donate pocH-100i to this project.

to determine the eﬀect of such medication.

23

creates a very inconvenient situation. What is needed is a

Then, under the arrangement of our German subsidiary

In Sub-Saharan Africa, however, such testing instruments

Sysmex Europe, the analyzer was installed at the ILFAR oﬃce

are not readily available. To get tested, many HIV carriers are

in May 2010. ILFAR is planning to construct a clinic in Kenya atforced to travel all the way to hospitals that are far from their

the earliest possible date as a part of their eﬀorts to develop

homes, and then return at a later date to check the results, which

healthcare infrastructure there.

Sysmex Sustainability Report 2010

Automated hematology analyzer pocH-100i donated to ILFAR

Dr. Inada in his oﬃce

Nairobi, Kenya

HIV Carriers in the World (Estimate)(million people)

(%)

40

4.0

30

3.0

20

2.0

10

1.0

0

0
1990
Carriers

1995

2000

2005

2007

Infection rate among adults

Source : 2008 Report on the Global Aids Epidemic, UNAIDS

Queuing for medical care

Words from a Stakeholder

Support from Healthcare
Businesses is Vital
Dr. Yoritaro Inada
President, Inada-Lange Foundation
for AIDS Research, Inc.

A testing instrument like pocH-100i that provides results instantly
and thus allows diagnosis on the spot makes it possible for doctors
to provide appropriate guidance to patients. As such, these instruments
serve to deﬁnitely improve the quality of healthcare.

To prevent HIV infection from spreading further, it is imperativethat medical staﬀ members are always readily available when they
are needed by patients and people running a high risk of infection.
At present, volunteers are mainly serving this function. Suchbeing the case, I expect that healthcare companies will support
us by oﬀering job opportunities to those volunteers, particularly
local volunteers.
I would also like to see healthcare companies provide as many
opportunities as possible for those who truly require such instruments
to apply for donations, and then decide to whom the instruments
should be donated.

Sysmex Sustainability Report 201024

Corporate Governance

To Become a Trustworthy Company withHigh Expectations from Society
Sysmex seeks to maximize the corporate value of the Group through enhanced management robustness, bettertransparency, and improved management speed and eﬃciency. We also strive to earn greater trust from our global
society by ensuring that all of our business activities are conducted openly and aboveboard.

Corporate Governance StructureInternal Control

To Improve Management Eﬃciency throughEnhanced Management Robustness and Better
Transparency

To Ensure the Appropriatenessof Financial Statements

Sysmex considers reinforcing corporate governance to be one

system for the entire Group. To expedite this ongoing eﬀort, inof its most important management priorities. We believe that

November 2008 we laid down Internal Control Regulations

enhanced management robustness, better transparency, andconcerning Financial Statements and established an Internal

improved management speed and eﬃciency will help us toControl Committee concerning Financial Statements, a consultative

maximize the overall corporate value of the Group.

body to the President.

Sysmex is working on the establishment of an internal control

The Company’s Board of Directors consists of 8 directors,

As a part of the project to standardize operations concerning

who deliberate on important management issues. The Company

ﬁnancial reporting within the entire Group, in ﬁscal 2009 we began

has adopted the corporate auditor system, and the Board of Auditors

rebuilding an ERP* system. Going forward, we will further increase

consists of 4 corporate auditors, 2 of whom are external auditors.

the eﬀectiveness of our internal control system by constantly

The corporate auditors supervise the directors’ business conduct

reviewing our current status and making necessary improvements.

both independently and objectively.

* Enterprise Resource Planning. A method / concept for enhancing management
eﬃciency through an integrated approach toward managing an entire
enterprise for eﬃcient use of management resources

In April 2005, we adopted the executive oﬃcer system in order
to increase the speed of decision making in the conduct of businessand respond quickly to changes in the business environment.
A consultative body to the President, the Steering Committee
deliberates on important matters concerning the Group’s business.

Risk Management

The Company has also established the Nominating Committee

Promoting Risk Management by
Establishing a Dedicated Committee

and the Compensation Committee, which have responsibilities

To control Group-wide risk management activities, Sysmex

in accordance with the “Companies with Committees” system.

established a Risk Management Committee, which is chaired

In order to protect stakeholders’ interests, we have establishedby a Risk Management Oﬃcer (Senior Managing Oﬃcer), theSeven out of the 14 executive oﬃcers are concurrently directors.

a series of regulations that cover a broad range of topics, including
insider trading, personal information protection, compliance,

In ﬁscal 2009, this Committee took the initiative in coordinating
our response to a highly virulent strain of pandemic inﬂuenza,

and ethics for clinical research and development.

drawing up standards for countermeasures against an inﬂuenza

Corporate Governance Structure

pandemic. These countermeasures provide an action plan, explain

Shareholders’ Meeting
Election / Dismissal

Group’s chief executive in charge of risk management.

Election / Dismissal Election / Dismissal

what to do with regard to labor, and give instructions on thestocking of goods for prevention of infection.

Board of Directors (Directors)

Risk Management Structure

Nominating Committee
Compensation Committee

Accounting
Auditors

President & CEO
Global Strategic
Committee Meeting
Auditing

Steering Committee

Internal Audit Oﬃce
Risk Management
Committee

Executive Oﬃcers
Divisions, Subsidiaries, and Aﬃliates

25

Sysmex Sustainability Report 2010

Board ofAuditors(Corporate
Auditors)

Risk Management Oﬃcer (Senior Managing Director)
Risk Management Committee
Chaired by: Risk Management Oﬃcer Members: Relevant executive oﬃcers
Risk Management Div.

Auditing

Compliance Sub-committees
Leader: Director, Risk Management Div.
Members: Director of a division in charge of legal aﬀairs
Divisions, Subsidiaries, and Aﬃliatesinformation received is handled anonymously to protect theCompliance

personal information of those providing the information.

Pursuing “Open and Aboveboard Business
Activities”
Sysmex has deﬁned its view of compliance as “respecting laws
and regulations and going about our business boldly with a strong
sense of ethics.” In accordance with this deﬁnition, we haveestablished a Compliance Code, in which particularly important

We are expediting the introduction of an internal reporting
system at our subsidiaries and aﬃliates outside of Japan. As of
May 2010, the system had been introduced to 35 of the 39 overseas
Group companies.

R&D Ethics Complianceconformance rules for all executives and employees to abide by

Being involved in clinical research and human genome and genetic

are compiled. The Compliance Code has been translated to English,

analysis research, Sysmex Corporation adopted the “Ethics

Chinese, and German for use by our subsidiaries and aﬃliates

Regulations on Clinical Research and Development and Humanoutside of Japan. All employees within

Genome and Genetic Analysis Research,” whose basic policies

the Sysmex Group are required toinclude “respect of human dignity” and “thorough protection ofsubmit a written pledge to comply

personal information.” The Company also established a “Researchwith this Code.

Ethics Examination Committee,” which includes outside members

To ensure that employees are

such as legal and science experts, in order to review research content.

properly informed, we oﬀer training

The list of committee members and committee meetingon compliance at all Group companies,

minutes are disclosed on our website, thus ensuring transparency.

including those outside of Japan. We
also deliver “Compliance Handbooks”
to all Group employees in Japan.

Compliance Handbook

Educational Campaign for the Preventionof Corruption
In ﬁscal 2008, Sysmex Corporation established a Sysmex
Promotion Code (SPC), which stipulates the core behaviors forpreventing bribery and other inappropriate acts and maintaining
fair trade. At the same time, the Company established a Fair Trade
Promotion Committee, under which three Sub-committees are placedin charge of “training and guidance,” “investigation,” and “auditing.”
In ﬁscal 2009, a total of 21 seminars were organized for
employees from Sales and Support, including those from Group

Compliance training

companies in Japan, and those from R&D who deal with publicagencies, with 339 people in attendance. We also distributed
educational booklets, displayed posters, and set up an inquiry

Compliance Code (Excerpts)
1. To Ensure Safety of Our Products and Services to Customers
2. To Promote Fair Dealing and Free Competition
3. To Make Fair and Proper Information Disclosure and to
Exercise Complete Information Control
4. To Respect Intellectual Property
5. To Maintain International Peace and Safety
6. To Conduct Proper Accounting and Appropriate Tax Payment
7. To Respect Human Rights and to Improve Occupational
Health and Safety
8. To Make Distinction between Public and Private Mattersand Not to Do Any Act Involving Conﬂict of Interest
9. To Maintain Sound Relationship with Society
10. To Preserve the Global Environment

page on the intranet, so as to make this campaign known andunderstood throughout the Group.

Aiming to Acquire SA8000* Certiﬁcation
In ﬁscal 2008, our aﬃliate Sysmex do Brasil Indústria e Comércio
Ltda. began their initiative to acquire certiﬁcation for Social
Accountability 8000 (SA8000)*, an international standard forthe protection of workers’ fundamental human rights, and hassince briefed their employees on this standard.
In August 2009, they held a brieﬁng session for key business
partners to ensure their compliance with relevant standards andregulations.

* SA8000: Created by an American CSR assessment body based on the International

Introducing the Internal Reporting System to
Subsidiaries and Aﬃliates outside of Japan

Labor Organization (ILO) conventions, Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

An internal reporting system originally developed for Group
companies in Japan, the “Campanula Lines” allow our staﬀ members
to seek consultations and ﬁle a report via telephone and e-mailor in writing through two lines (in-house and external). Any
Sysmex Sustainability Report 201026

Behaviors and Commitment toward Our Customers

In Pursuit of Superior Quality and Satisfaction
That Go Beyond Customers’ Expectations
While attending to constant improvement of the quality of our products and services, Sysmex is working hard to create asystem that allows us to ensure that customers can conﬁdently use such products with safety and ease. We sincerely wish
to oﬀer satisfaction that more than meets their expectations by deepening our understanding of “what customers truly want.”

Quality Assurance

Forging a Global Quality Assurance System
Used for clinical testing, Sysmex’s products play a vital role inprotecting people’s lives and good health. Being fully aware of

Quality Policy
By shaping the advancement of healthcare, our global businessactivities contribute to the creation of a fulﬁlling and healthysociety.

Core behavior

this responsibility, Sysmex is making constant eﬀorts to maintainand improve product quality by building various systems, notto mention complying with safety standards around the worldin the design and development stages. In the product development
stage, we verify product quality by setting ﬁve “quality gates”

1. We understand our customer’s needs, and provide products
and solutions that meet or exceed their expectations.

in the process leading up to market launch.

2. We act based on our customer’s viewpoints by realizing that
“Quality is customer satisfaction”.

verify their quality by conducting periodic audits. We also meet

3. We seek to reassure our customers by establishing thehighest quality assurance standards and using them toenhance the quality of all aspects of our business.
4. We continually create innovative value for our stakeholders
by developing and applying new and unique technologies
and knowledge.
5. We comply with all relevant national or regional regulations
and standards to provide safe products.
6. We maintain and continually improve the eﬀectiveness of ourquality management system.
7. We establish quality objectives consistent with this quality
policy, and measure our performance against them.

When we distribute products manufactured by others, wewith the manufacturers regularly to share information, so that
we can adequately respond to inquiries and complaints from ourcustomers. For products not manufactured by Sysmex that ouroverseas subsidiaries and aﬃliates independently purchase andretail, relevant subsidiaries and aﬃliates perform quality veriﬁcation
testing before introducing such products to the market. In ﬁscal 2009,
we globally standardized the speciﬁcations of this veriﬁcation test.

After - sales Support
For Responding to Inquiries both Rapidly
and Responsibly

Creating a Global Quality Management System

In Japan, Sysmex Corporation maintains a Customer Support

As of March 31, 2010, a total of 23 of the 40 Group companies

Center, where experienced staﬀ members with expert knowledge

were qualiﬁed for the ISO 9001 international standard for quality

cater to customers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (separate

management systems, with all of the companies involved incontact necessary).

development and production being certiﬁed.
In ﬁscal 2009, we planned internal quality auditing with afocus on Design, Development, and Production, which comprisethe essential part of the product realization process, and implemented
the plan as scheduled. Under the consideration that quality

Inquiries to the Customer Support Center
Consultations on data

Complaints

3%

0.1%

Inquiries on operatingprocedures

Others1.9%

4%

assurance will not be neglected as our business becomes increasingly
global, we have established a “Sysmex Corporation Quality
Compliance Policy” for all of the Group companies around the4%world. In this Policy, we reaﬃrmed the laws, regulations, andInquiries on
products

in-house rules that we must comply with in order to maintain12%

product quality and achieve customer satisfaction, and clearlydeﬁned systems and activities designed for conformance withthem. At the same time, we developed procedures for global
internal auditing, which is conducted to ensure the steady
implementation of such systems and activities.

27

Inquiries on quality
control

Sysmex Sustainability Report 2010

FY2009Total :

107,400

Requests forrepairs /maintenance75%

By creating a database containing maintenance histories andthe details of past inquiries from customers to ensure quick reference,scientiﬁc information by sponsoring seminars and study sessions
for doctors, nurses, and clinical technologists.

the Center responds to inquiries and requests both quickly and

In June 2009, we held the 32nd Sysmex Scientiﬁc Seminar.

carefully. In ﬁscal 2009, operators at the Center were given

Meeting annually in Japan, this open seminar is an opportunity

training on telephone manners and technological knowledge

to catch up with the latest in medical research closely related

regarding our products to improve the quality of customer

to clinical testing. Held on the subject of “Autoimmune Diseases –contacts. We also maintain customer service contacts at our

The Forefront of Research and Progress in Clinical Testing,”

regional headquarters in the four regions outside of Japan (thethe latest seminar was attended by 832 people.

Americas, Europe, China, and the Asia-Paciﬁc region).

We also sponsor similar seminars in China and other countries(See P13-14).

Supporting Customers’ Quality Control on a
Daily Basis
At hospitals and other medical institutions, the accuracy of
instruments is controlled to consistently maintain the reliabilityof testing data. The condition of their instruments is checked bycomparing the measurement results of special reagents known
as “control samples” with results from the previous day or with“standard values” (measurements of control samples made by
The 32nd Sysmex Scientiﬁc Seminar

appropriately controlled instruments).
Sysmex Corporation supports customers’ quality control by
oﬀering such control samples and standard values. Customers’

Picture Books Explaining Diseases and Testing

testing instruments are connected to the Customer Support

Sysmex compiles picture books to educate children on diseases

Center via our on-line Sysmex Network Communication Systems

and testing. These books are distributed free of charge to(SNCS). Measured values of control samples sent via the SNCS

clinics and other establishments that keep them in their waitingfrom customers’ testing instruments are received by the Customer

rooms. To keep children and readers without medical knowledge

Support Center, which checks to see if anything is wrong and theninterested as they read, the picture books narrate the characteristics

sends its analysis back to the customers. The SNCS also helpsof diseases and the signiﬁcance of testing and treatment in acustomers to prevent instrument failure, as it detects signs ofsimple way. We have received favorable feedback from readers

problems even before customers have become aware of them.

of these books.

Going forward, we will further advance this support service

The books are madeavailable in English, Chinese,with a focus on “prediction” and “prevention.”
In ﬁscal 2009, we replaced the SNCS communication lines

and Vietnamese, and arewith high-speed versions. Our next plan is to add to the menu of

distributed free of charge insupport content that has been made possible by the high-speed

many other countries as well.

lines, such as videos describing how to maintain our instruments.

Distributed at health consultations
sponsored by medical associations

Testing instruments registered withthe on-line quality control service (worldwide)(units)

15,000
7,500
4,973

6,595

10,65911,70020082009 (FY)

8,532

0
2005

2006

2007

Academic Activities
Holding Scientiﬁc Seminars for Healthcare
Professionals

Picture books published in ﬁscal 2009
“The Story of Diabetic Nephropathy,” “The Story of Thrombosis,” “The Story ofIron Deﬁciency Anemia,” “The Story of Acute Leukemia,” “The Story of
Hemophilia,” and “The Human Body (Lift-the-ﬂap Book)”

Sysmex keeps healthcare professionals updated on cutting-edge

Sysmex Sustainability Report 201028

Behaviors and Commitment toward Our Employees

Supporting Self-realization and Growth
Aspiring to be a “company where each and every employee works on his or her own initiative, without any fear of taking
up challenges,” Sysmex provides employees with opportunities for self-fulﬁllment by equitably evaluating and rewarding
them for their accomplishments and oﬀering a diverse range of human resources development programs. We also strive
to improve the workplace environment so that diverse individuals can concentrate on their work with conﬁdence.

Employee Evaluation / Treatment

evaluation results with their superiors. Part-timers, too, aresubject to such merit rating, so that talented individuals may
be recommended by their respective function head to interview

Equitably Evaluating Personnel based on
Merits and Accomplishmentsfor positions as regular employees. In ﬁscal 2009, 8 part-time

At Sysmex, we value the spirit of independence and challenge,
provide employees with opportunities for self-fulﬁllment andgrowth, and reward them for their accomplishments.
Endorsing the merit system and performance-based wage
system, we have also introduced the “Management By Objective

employees were placed on the regular payroll.
At present, we are working on personnel system reform in abid to live up to our Group Corporate Philosophy, the “Sysmex
Way.” Our plan is to review systems for personnel evaluation,
treatment, development, and the like over the next several years.

(MBO)” system, by which the progress and process of achieving
objectives is evaluated, thus grading employee performance
equitably regardless of seniority, academic background, or gender.

Human Resources Development

To maintain fairness, we disclose to our employees the expected

Focusing on HR Development on a Global Basislevels of skills and achievements for each hierarchical layer andSysmex Corporation oﬀers a wide variety of training programs

function, as well as the entire process from setting objectives

that are designed to help employees to develop their skills andto evaluation. The MBO system helps ensure the acceptability

increase their job satisfaction.

of evaluation as objectives are set after extensive discussions

To train candidates for global assignments, the Company

by employees and their superiors and, after their rating has been

sends its employees to overseas subsidiaries for practical work

given, employees are then given the opportunity to discuss

experience (Assignment at Overseas Subsidiary Training), andto universities and other specialized institutions for research

Employees by Gender (Sysmex Corporation)

activities (Professional Development Training). The Company also
invites transferees from subsidiaries and aﬃliates outside ofJapan as a way of promoting personnel exchange across the globe.

Women

Total :

Men

32%

1,949

68%

As of March
31, 2010

Shigeki Iwanaga
Central ResearchLaboratories
Involved in the developmentof ﬂuorescence molecularimaging technology at
Stanford University during
Professional Development
Training

The above numbers include both regular and part-time employees of the Company.

Number of Employees(persons)

1,200

600

1,179

1,146

1,220

1,294

Yoichi Sumida
Product Planning Div.

1,321

503

524

595

628

486

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Dispatched to Sysmex
America for Assignment at
Overseas Subsidiary Training
to acquire marketing andlinguistic skills

0
Men

(FY)

Women

The above numbers include both regular and part-time employees of the Company.

29

Sysmex Sustainability Report 2010

Supporting Employees in Striking a
Balance between Work and Family

Health and Safety Considerations

Oﬀering Various Systems for Childcare Support

Maintaining and Improving Both Physicaland Mental Health

Sysmex Corporation oﬀers childcare leave and shorter work hour

Sysmex Corporation encourages its employees to undergosystems to ensure that parents can spend as much time together

thorough physical examinations and cancer tests for women,with their children as possible during their most critical period.

in addition to more basic tests, for the early discovery of illness.

Employees whose children have yet to complete their third year

To improve employees’ mental health, the Company established

at elementary school are eligible for the shorter work hour system,a health consultation contact throughout the company, where

while those whose children have not yet ﬁnished their second

employees can have face-to-face visits with industrial psychiatrists,

year qualify for the childcare leave system. In ﬁscal 2009, 18

public health nurses, and counselors. We also oﬀer an annual

employees applied for the former, and 32 for the latter.

“Mental health Checkup” service via the intranet. After the checkup,

To further support employees’ childrearing, in ﬁscal 2009 it
was made possible for employees to take up to ten reserve paid

employees may seek consultation on their health via telephoneor through an interview.
We also invite doctors to give lectures for employees. In

leave days per year when necessary to attend to any sick children
who have yet to begin junior high school. In addition, in order toﬁscal 2009, two such lectures were given.

provide employees who were forced to suspend their career paths
due to child raising with opportunities to resume their work, aEnsuring Safety and Health at Each Oﬃce

“reemployment system” was introduced at the Company. As of

For the enhanced security of its workers, Sysmex Corporation

March 2010, a total of 5 employees qualiﬁed for the system.

laid down guidelines for ensuring the safety and health of

The Company also launched the intranet-based “portalsite of good working conditions,” which provides information

employees in its “Safety and Health Regulations,” and establisheda Safety and Health Committee at each of its oﬃces.

in plain language about how to apply for these systems. Employees

Employees are given training on emergency measures, how

can also download guidebooks on childrearing and nursing careto evacuate when an accident occurs, and how to handle machineryon this website.

and raw materials that are potentially dangerous, as well as
how to use an automated external deﬁbrillator (AED). We arealso developing citizen emergency medical technicians.
Furthermore, the Company organizes evacuation drills andﬁre drills in cooperation with local ﬁre stations as a precaution
against earthquakes, ﬁres, and other disasters.
Portal Site of Good
Working Conditions

Maintaining an In-house Daycare Center
As Japan’s society grays rapidly and its population continues
to decline, businesses are more than ever required to support

Frequency of Work-related Injuries*1 /Severity of Work-related Injuries*2 (Sysmex Corporation)
(%)

2.5
2.0

1.95

1.90

the development of future generations. It is also important tocreate an environment where employees can conﬁdently pursue
their jobs on a continuous basis, without having to suspend theiran in-house daycare center within the Company’s Technopark R&D
core. Employees with children who have yet to enter elementary

1.75

1.5
1.0

0.91

career paths due to childbirth and childrearing.
In April 2009, Sysmex Corporation opened “Sysmex Kids Park,”

1.83

1.26

0.85
0.53

0.59

0.5
0
0.02

0.02

0.01

0.01

0.02

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

school may take advantage of this service. In April 2010, the center
extended the scope of its service to include short-term daycare,in addition to full-time daycare, so that employees whose spouses(FY)

Average among all industrial sectors in Japan (Frequency)
Sysmex Corporation (Frequency)

Sysmex Corporation (Severity)

work on a part-time basis or who ﬁnd it diﬃcult to take care of
their children due to caretakers’ illness, bereavement, or other*1 The ratio of the number of employee deaths or injuries resulting fromcircumstances may also temporarily utilize the service.

*2 The ratio of the number of days absent from work due to work-related injuries
per every thousand hours worked

As of May 2010, the center looks after 10 infants andwork-related accidents per million work hours

young children.

Sysmex Sustainability Report 201030

Behaviors and Commitment toward Our Business Partners

Enduring Relationships of Mutual Trust
Sysmex hopes to grow and develop along with its suppliers, distributors, and alliance partners. By building partnershipsthat are based on mutual trust, while maintaining fair and transparent trading, we strive to supply superior productsthat contribute to healthcare.

Sponsoring a Sysmex Suppliers Conference

Relationships with Suppliers

The annual Sysmex Suppliers Conference is an opportunity for
us to meet with suppliers and brief them on the course of ourbusiness and our purchasing policy, thereby forging relationships

Procurement Policies
To contribute to healthcare through the supply of superior
products
To achieve mutual growth and development based on mutual
trust with business partners• Better partnerships• Fair, transparent procurement• Compliance with applicable laws, conﬁdentiality• Environmental considerations

with them. At the latest conference in February 2010, 323 people
from 216 suppliers attended brieﬁngs on our business activities
and purchasing policy and heard special lectures given by outside
speakers. On that occasion, 10 suppliers were commended fortheir contributions to Sysmex’s business development throughtheir solutions to technical issues.

Joining Forces to Improve the Quality ofSupplied Parts and Raw Materials
In order to supply top quality products to customers in a stablemanner, it is essential to maintain and improve the quality ofsupplied parts and raw materials. Toward this end, Sysmex supports
quality assurance of its suppliers in various ways, such as providingthem with checklists by which they can self-examine their own
quality management systems, and sending Procurement andQuality Management members to suppliers’ manufacturing plants

FY2009 Sysmex Suppliers Conference

to assist them in improving quality on the shop ﬂoor.
In ﬁscal 2009, we drew up a Quality Agreement that deﬁnes
the quality requirements for suppliers, and began encouraging
suppliers to sign it.

Relationships with Distributors
Thorough Compliance Campaign

Number of Suppliers* by Region

Sysmex rigorously ensures compliance in order to build sustainableAsia-Paciﬁc
5%

China
11%
South America
4%North America
7%

and fruitful partnerships with its distributors. We oblige
employees to not abuse any dominant bargaining position, oﬀer
excessive entertainments or presents, or the like when dealing

FY2009Total:

448

Europe
8%

Japan
66%

with distributors.
At the same time, we take advantage of the opportunities
presented by product brieﬁngs, which are held on occasions suchas new launches, in order to share our policies and activities with
our distributors so that we may help them to deepen their* Suppliers of parts and raw materials

understanding of the importance of compliance. In ﬁscal 2008,
we bolstered our drive to prevent corruption by establishing a
Sysmex Promotion Code (SPC) in an attempt to involve distributors
in the initiative to maintain fair business (See P26).

31

Sysmex Sustainability Report 2010

Behaviors and Commitment toward Our Shareholders

Interaction through Frequent and Varied Communications
Sysmex aims to sustain its growth by striking a balance between returns to shareholders and investment in growth
opportunities. In order to achieve a greater understanding of our management and business operations among
our shareholders and other investors, we work proactively to ensure external information disclosure and takeadvantage of every opportunity to interact with such parties directly.

General Meeting of Shareholders

Information Disclosure

Organizing an R&D Tour after the Meeting
Sysmex encourages as many shareholders as possible to attend

Proactively Disclosing Information
According to Self-set Standards

the General Meeting of Shareholders, which is an opportunity

Sysmex makes it a rule to disclose any information that we believe

for us to interact directly with our valued shareholders.

will aﬀect investment decisions in light of our own standards,

In ﬁscal 2009, we invited shareholders to visit Technopark,

as well as to observe applicable laws and regulations concerning

an R&D core of the Sysmex Group. Through oral explanations,securities trading and the Rules on Timely Disclosure of Corporate

product exhibits, and panels, they took this opportunity to

Information by the Issuer of Listed Security and the Like establishedincrease their comprehension of our new R&D activities, whichby the Stock Exchange.

are summed up as the “Creation of ‘Knowledge’ and Its Inheritance.”

In the case of any serious problem, the Information Disclosure

Shareholders who ﬁnd it diﬃcult to attend a shareholders’Committee deliberates on whether such information should be
disclosed and, if so, how to go about such disclosure.

meeting may exercise their voting rights by mail or via theInternet. We also issue an English version of the notice ofconvocation and notice of resolutions.

Investor Relations
A Key Tool for Direct Interaction

Dividends

Sysmex creates as many opportunities as possible to directly

Working toward Stable Dividend Payment

interact with its investors and share management policies,

Our basic policy on returning proﬁts to shareholders is to ensurebusiness strategies, and the like with them.

a regular level of stable dividends, with such distributions being

In ﬁscal 2009, we held a total of 290 one-on-one meetingsbacked up by successful business performance, while also taking

with institutional investors and analysts around the world. As

into account our consolidated earnings results and payout ratio.

a new initiative, we invited the participants to tour our Chinese

In order to sustain high growth into the future, we ensure thatGroup company Sysmex Shanghai Ltd.

our internal reserves are put to eﬃcient use for R&D and capital

In order to help private investors to get to know the Company
better, we held a joint informational meeting with Kirindo Co.,

expenditures.

Ltd. and Omron Corporation in order to appeal to an even broader

Payout Ratio / Dividend per Share (Consolidated)
31.9

(JPY)

100

17.9

30
24

20.0
48

40
20

29.4

26.8

80
60

investor base.

36

50

18

56

12

36

28

6

0

0
2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

(FY)

Payout ratio
Cash dividends
Cash dividends adjusted for a stock split
A two-for-one stock split took place on November 18, 2005.
Conference on FY2009 Results

Sysmex Sustainability Report 201032

Behaviors and Commitment as a Good Corporate Citizen

Contributing to a Global SocietyWith a full awareness of its responsibility as a corporate citizen, Sysmex is actively involved in a range of vibrantcorporate philanthropic activities in such areas as science, culture, and the environment, as well as healthcare.
Founded in Kobe, Japan, Sysmex has been expanding globally and joining hands with host communities to resolve
any issues that they may have.

In Europe…

In Asia…
Supporting developmentally delayed athletes in Germany

Sponsoring the 2nd International Scientiﬁc Seminarin Vietnam
Donating a testing instrument for a Croatian boy
battling leukemia

Supporting areas aﬀected by atyphoon in the Philippines

In Europea focal point among healthcare industries in Kobe throughSupporting Developmentally Delayed Athletes in Germany

industry-government-academia cooperation. Sysmex establishedThrough donations, we supported 48 developmentally delayed

the Sysmex-Asano Laboratory at the Translational Researchathletes who competed for a German Special Olympics held in

Informatics Center (TRI), one of the core facilities of this project.

June 2010.

Under the direction of Dr. Shigetaka Asano (Professor Emeritus,
The University of Tokyo, and Professor of the Faculty of Science

Donating a Testing Instrument for a Croatian Boy Battling Leukemia

and Engineering, Waseda University), a leading expert on

As a Christmas gift, we presented our hematology analyzer tohematology, we are working on research that will improve thea boy ﬁghting leukemia who lives on an isolated island with noeﬃcacy and safety of cell therapies such as bone marrowdoctors, so that he can undergo testing at home.

transplantation (BMT).

In Asia
Sponsoring the 2nd International Scientiﬁc Seminar in Vietnam

Funding a Course at the Kobe University Graduate Schoolof Medicine

In December 2009, we sponsored the second round of theSince ﬁscal 2004, Sysmex Corporation has contributed funds

International Scientiﬁc Seminar to update healthcare professionals

to a course at the Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine.

on cutting-edge scientiﬁc information.

The course, entitled “Assessment of Clinical Testing,” aims toestablish methods of diagnostic testing that are based on scientiﬁc

Supporting Typhoon Victims in the Philippines

evidence in the area of autoimmune diseases.

In September 2009, a major typhoon hit Manila in the Philippines,
Asia Paciﬁc Pte Ltd. passed the hat around to employees andProviding Research Grants through the Nakatani Foundationof Electronic Measuring Technology Advancement

donated the money to the victims.

We provide assistance for research into electronic measuring

causing serious damage. Our Singaporean subsidiary, Sysmex

technology through this foundation, which was established in

In Japan1984 using funds contributed by our late founder Taro Nakatani

Participating in the Kobe Medical Industry Development Projectand others.

The Kobe Medical Industry Development Project aims to create

33

Sysmex Sustainability Report 2010

In the Americas…
In Japan…

Participating in an event for eliminating cancer in the
United States
Teaching a class at a junior high school

Supporting the Pink Ribbon charity
organization for breast cancer patients

Launching the “Research Society on
the Building of Children’s Sound
Development Systems”

Organizing a workplace tour for children of
employees in the United States

Participating in a high school science fair
Accepting trainees via JICA

Accepting JICA Trainees

Sysmex products in high demand at the
Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games

Every year, Sysmex Corporation provides training on the use

Launching the “Research Society on the Building ofChildren’s Sound Development Systems”

of testing instruments to researchers from developing countries

In October 2009, several private enterprises, including Sysmex

who visit Japan on a program oﬀered by the Japan International

Corporation, governments, and sports instructors worked together

Corporation Agency (JICA). In ﬁscal 2009, we accepted 48

to set up the “Research Society on the Building of Children’s

trainees from 27 countries.

Sound Development Systems.” In February 2010, the Societysponsored a “Symposium on Raising Children who Grow up inEndorsing “Pink Ribbon” to Support Breast Cancer Patients

Good Health While Enjoying Sports.”

Since ﬁscal 2004, we have been endorsing activities organizedin the name of Pink Ribbon. At the Pink Ribbon Symposium held

In the Americas

in October 2009, we presented our technology for detection

Participating in an Event for the Elimination of Cancer in
the United Statesof breast cancer lymph node metastasis.

November 2009 saw 20 employees from Sysmex America and their
Participating in a High School Science Fairfamily members participate in the Making Strides Against Breast

At the 2nd Science Fair in Hyogo* held in January 2010, weCancer ﬁve-mile walk, sponsored by the American Cancer Society.

held an exhibition of our products, complete with spoken
explanations.

* An event designed to promote exchange among high school students within
Hyogo Prefecture who have an interest in science and mathematics and tohelp them decide on a career course

Inviting Children to Visit their Parents’ Workplace in the
United States
In August 2009, Sysmex America invited the children of its
employees to take the opportunity to tour their parents’ company.

Teaching a Class at a Junior High School
Beginning in ﬁscal 2008, we began teaching a class on hematology
for junior high school students in the host city of Kobe. Inviting

Sysmex Products Underpinning the Vancouver 2010 WinterOlympic Games, Canada

the students to measure the hemoglobin levels of their own blood,

Sysmex testing instruments were installed at the speed skating

the 2nd round of this event took place in February 2010, withvenue and neighboring hospitals for doping inspection and

87 students in attendance.

maintaining the physical condition of athletes.

Sysmex Sustainability Report 201034

Behaviors and Commitment toward the Global Environment

Protecting a Sound Global Environment
Moving ahead to become an “environmentally-advanced company” in the healthcare sector,
Sysmex makes eﬀorts to reduce the environmental impact which may result from each stage of our business activities,
from product design, development, procurement, and production, to logistics, sales, support, and product usage,
in the pursuit of harmony with the global environment.

Environmental Management

Factory in 2000, Sysmex has encouraged all of its key operations
to be certiﬁed for ISO 14001 international environmental
management standards.

Environmental Policy
By shaping the advancement of healthcare, our global environmental
conservation activities contribute to the creation of a fulﬁllingand healthy society.

Core behavior
1. We deliver reassurance to all people by carrying out businessactivities in an environmentally conscious manner.
2. We strive to provide eco-friendly products and services while
giving careful thought of environmental issues throughout theirlife cycles.
3. We strive to conserve energy and resources, reduce wastes,
promote recycle and properly control chemical substances in all
business activities.
4. We comply with all applicable national or regional environmental
regulations, standards and agreements.

In Japan, each of our nine key operations for development,
manufacturing, and logistics, including those of aﬃliates, haveobtained this certiﬁcation.
Overseas, we are promoting ISO 14001 certiﬁcation at the
manufacturing factories of our subsidiaries. In December 2009,
two of our subsidiaries, Sysmex America, Inc. and Sysmex Reagents
America, Inc., both gained this certiﬁcation.

Suppliers in Building an Environmental
Management System
Sysmex encourages its suppliers to develop an environmental
management system at Sysmex Suppliers Conferences (See P31)
and on other occasions. In order to help more suppliers to

5. We continually improve our environmental conservation activities
and work diligently prevent pollution and minimize the impact
our products have on the environment.

develop such a system, we distribute a self-checklist and6. We contribute to society through environmental conservation
activities as a member of the community, while educating andraising the environmental consciousness.

the necessity of building an environmental management system.

7. We establish environmental objectives and targets consistent
with this environmental policy, and measure our performanceagainst them.
May 7, 2009
Hisashi Ietsugu
President & CEO
The Sysmex Environmental Policy was established in March 2000, and amended
in May 2009.

questionnaire to them, in the hopes that they will appreciate
In ﬁscal 2009, ﬁve of our key suppliers were certiﬁed for
ISO 14001, raising the percentage of our key suppliers withsuch a system to 69%.

Environmental Auditing
At Sysmex, all of our ISO 14001 certiﬁed sites are subject every
year to auditing by external authentication authorities.
They are also subject to internal auditing by a subordinate
organization of the Environmental Management Committee.

Environmental Policy

Fiscal 2009 audits found eight nonconformities, all of which were

Revised in Fiscal 2009, the new Environmental Policy clearlyadequately dealt with. We have striven to improve the skills ofstates that, as a responsible company in the medical/healthcare

our internal auditors on a continuous basis, and in ﬁscal 2009

domain, we will contribute to the realization of a society where

guest lecturers were invited to give a training seminar for internal

people the world over can lead healthy lives through environmental

environmental auditor candidates.

conservation activities.
Under this Environmental Policy, we are focusing on the
reduction of environmental impact throughout the entire productlife cycle, thus introducing a series of programs designed toreduce such impact at each stage of our business activities,
from product design, development, procurement, and production,
to logistics and product usage.

Encouraging ISO 14001 Certiﬁcations
Following certiﬁcation at Sysmex Corporation’s Kakogawa

35

Sysmex Sustainability Report 2010

Internal Environmental Auditor Training SeminarEstablishing Long-term Environmental Objectives Leading up to 2020
In April 2010, Sysmex established the Sysmex Group Environmental

development and spread of eco-friendly products and services

Action Plan (Sysmex Eco-Vision 2020), which sets forth its long-termand energy/resource conservation through increased eﬃciency

environmental objectives toward the target year of 2020.

in our business activities.

In an eﬀort to realize those objectives, we will promote theLong-term Environmental Objectives (toward ﬁscal 2020)
Global warming
countermeasures

Reduce the power consumption of diagnostics instruments by 25%(in comparison with conventional models)
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions at business oﬃces by 50% (per unit of consolidated sales)
Reduce domestic carbon dioxide emissions for logistics by 11%(per unit of parent-only sales)
Set a target of reducing global carbon dioxide emissions for logistics
Reduce carbon dioxide emissions from domestic company cars by 50% (per unit of domestic sales)

Eﬀective use of resources
and waste reduction

Reduce domestic materials for containers and packaging for products and packing fortransportation by 15% (per unit of parent-only sales)
Set a global target of reducing materials for containers and packaging for products andpacking for transportation
Reduce waste etc. emissions at business oﬃces by 15% (per unit of consolidated sales)
Domestic : Achieve a recycle rate of 99% or higher at all business oﬃces covered
Overseas : Achieve a recycle rate of 95% or higher at all business oﬃces covered

Eﬀective use of water resources

Reduce water usage at business oﬃces by 30% (per unit of consolidated sales)

OthersDevelop products with no animal-derived ingredients
Develop paper containers for reagents
Establish and operate guidelines for eco-friendly designing
Achieve a 100% environmental management system development rate among major suppliers
Obtain the ISO 14001 certiﬁcation at business oﬃces covered
Promote eco-friendly service models
Promote life cycle assessment

Environmental Management Structure
At Sysmex Corporation, a Director and Executive Oﬃcer in charge

the Environmental Management Committee.

of the CSR Promotion Div. has been appointed concurrently as

Since ﬁscal 2009, the heads of each functional division area Chief Environmental Management Oﬃcer and an Environmental

included in the Environmental Management Committee, soManagement Oﬃcer, who then formulates policies and plans,that they can eﬃciently incorporate environmental activities

monitors progress in plans, and evaluates results as a part ofinto their business undertakings.

Environmental Management Committee
Chief Environmental Management Oﬃcer
Environmental Management Oﬃcer
Environmental Management Committee

R&D

Procurement,
production,and logistics

Sales and support

Back-oﬃce
operations

Instrument
production

Sysmex International
Reagents Co., Ltd.

Technopark
Solution Center
Head Oﬃce

Kakogawa Factory

Seishin Factory
Ono Factory

Sysmex Sustainability Report 201036

Behaviors and Commitment toward the Global Environment

Environmental Impact of Business Activities

Period reported : April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010

INPUT
Unit

Total energy input

Total materials input
Water

FY2008FY2009

Electricity

1,000 kWh

16,79917,498

Fuel (city gas)

1,000 Nm3

222.8

214.1

Fuel (LPG)

t

48.1

47.9

Fuel (gasoline for company cars)

kl

42.8

58.5*1

Fuel (kerosene)

kl

41.6

45.2

Printing paper (for use at oﬃces)

t

41.5

41.6

Volume of PRTR*2 chemicals handled

t

38.4

38.2

Water supply

m3

124,206

143,339

Head oﬃce

Technopark (R&D core)

Solution Center (customer support hub)Kakogawa Factory (instruments factory)

Seishin Factory (reagent production)

Ono Factory (reagent production)

Organizations covered : Data on environmental impact is collected from the above six business units of Sysmex Corporation and Sysmex International Reagents Co., Ltd.

OUTPUT
Unit

FY2008FY2009*3

Volume of greenhouse gas emissions

t-CO2

6,727

6,947*3

Volume of greenhouse gas emissions from company cars

t-CO2

99

136

Volume of chemicals released (PRTR*2 chemicals)

t

1.8

1.6

Volume of waste

t

96

43

524 [84.5]

573 [93.0]

Volume recycled [recycling rate]t [%]Gross discharge of waste, etc.*4

t

620

616

Waste waterm3

98,182

81,039*1 The volume of gasoline used for company cars was previously calculated by fuel eﬃciency and distance traveled. From ﬁscal 2009, however, the quantity of gasoline
consumed is used as the basis for calculation.

*2 PRTR : Pollutant Release and Transfer Register. A system used to collect, aggregate, and disseminate data on the quantity of toxic chemicals that have been released

into the environment and their sources including those which have been transferred outside of facilities in the form of waste. In Japan, the system is applicable to 354
Class 1 designated chemical substances that are stipulated in the Act on Conﬁrmation, etc. of Release Amounts of Speciﬁc Chemical Substances into the Environment
and Promotion of Improvements to the Management Thereof.
*3 In establishing long-term environmental objectives, the method used to calculate the volume of greenhouse gas emissions was revised. Two of the key revisions
included a change of the CO2 emission coeﬃcient of purchased electricity from 0.555 kg/kWh to a coeﬃcient issued by a relevant electric power company, and analteration which speciﬁes that the volume of greenhouse gas emissions from company cars is now reported separately. If calculated using the previous method, thevolume of greenhouse gas emissions would have been 10,134 t-CO2 in ﬁscal 2008 and 10,549 t-CO2 in ﬁscal 2009.
*4 Gross discharge of waste, etc. : Total volume of infectious waste, ordinary waste, and recycled waste. Tonnage when being transferred outside of facilities.

37

Sysmex Sustainability Report 2010

FY2009 Environmental Actions : Plans and Achievements
Function

Projects

Achievements in FY2009

Environmental
management

Strengthening of management• Established long-term environmental objectives in order to promote the Group’s environmental activities (April 2010)• Expanded the scope of data collection to ensure compliance with the Act on Rational Use of Energy
and the Act on Promotion of Global Warming Countermeasures• Established a subordinate organization of the Environmental Management Committee to improve
internal environmental auditing and evaluation of compliance

Eco-campaign by theenvironmental team

• Continued planning/promotion of all-hands activities on the intranet. Planned and conductedcleaning activities in the surrounding neighborhoods of our oﬃces/factories, setting up of a booth atrecycling markets, an eco-friendly campaign at home, etc.

Compliance with the RoHS Directive• Continued eﬀorts made to have products comply with the RoHS Directive in anticipation of theenforcement of regulations on diagnostic instruments• Veriﬁed compliance of our scientiﬁc measuring instruments (FPIA-3000)

Reduction of chemical substances• Completed the introduction of a chemical substances management system in order to keep track ofsuch substances more closely• Developed and implemented a system for checking restricted substances at research and productdevelopment stages

Recycling• Developed rules on making instrument packaging design more eco-friendly

Development of no animal-derived ingredients• Continued design and development in order to expand reagents using no animal-derived ingredients

Energy/resource conservation• Conducted design and development of instruments by setting reduction targets for power
consumption, weight, and eﬄuent• Developed and implemented a system for eco-friendly design in the reagent development process• Continued reducing the amount of metallic, non-metallic, and resin materials used by improving thedesign of instruments

Promotion of “zero” emissions at factories• Promoted “zero” emissions at the three factories in Japan. The recycling rate decreased by 2.4
percentage points to 96.1% (Kakogawa : 100.0%, Seishin : 92.9%, Ono : 98.7%)

Tighter control of chemical substances• Promoted reduced use of PRTR-restricted substances by replacing solder and abrasives• Reduced reagent consumption by reviewing testing methods

Saving resources on procured goods• Promoted use of returnable boxes to increase the reuse ratio at factories

Promotion of environmental activities with
suppliers• Continued to support suppliers in introducing an environmental management system (suppliers’
awareness raised through self-check)

Monitoring and reduction of CO2 emissions• Despite the campaign to switch oﬀ the engine while parked at factories, eﬃciency declined over theprevious year

Reduction of packing material weight• Reduced weight of CA-8000 coagulation analyzer’s packing materials by 29%

Promotion of eco-logistics• Downsized shipping containers and reviewed modes of transportation, etc.

Product planning,
design,development

Production

Procurement

Logistics

Testing durability of downsizedshipping containers
Sales and support

Oﬃces

Environmental
Communications

Proper disposal of waste• Strictly followed laws/ordinances by making on-site inspections to contract waste disposal services

Reduction of environmental impact byincreasing eﬃciency of services• Promoted an increase in the number of facilities in Asia participating in our service network

Reduction of paper, garbage, and electric
power consumption• Reduced gross discharge of waste, etc. by introducing a garbage disposer(Kakogawa Factory)• Continuously promoting “paperless meetings,” recycling of paper, etc. to reduce
printing paper consumption• In order to reduce electric power consumption at oﬃces, we ensured thatlights are oﬀ when not in use and room temperature is controlled properly,
and promoted the “cool biz” summer dress code. Replaced the air conditioning
system at the Ono Factory.

Publication of environmental reports, etc.

Garbage disposer• Published CSR Report in Japanese and English• Promoted environmental activities by concluding an agreement on environmental conservation withthe government of the host community (Solution Center)

Sysmex Sustainability Report 201038

Behaviors and Commitment toward the Global Environment

Environmental Considerations at
Manufacturing Factories and Oﬃces
Controlling CO2 emissions
More than 80% of CO2 emissions from manufacturing factories
and oﬃces are due to power consumption.
In ﬁscal 2009, we continued with the campaign to reduce
power consumption by shortening the amount of work time per

Hyogo Biomass eco Model : Certiﬁcate and recognition ceremony

product and replacing electrical equipment at each factory withenergy conserving models, such as spot air conditioners. Primarily
We also continued with the initiative that we commenced

owing to increased reagent production, however, CO2 emissions
from the six key operations in Japan have increased by approximately

Gakuen in Himeji, Hyogo, which is a relief and rehabilitation

4.1% from the previous year.

facility for people with mental retardation. We provide waste

CO2 Emissions (6 sites combined*)

oil collected from the cafeteria of the Kakogawa Factory and(t-CO2)

employees’ homes to the facility for use as materials for biodiesel,

8,000
6,000

in ﬁscal 2008 to support the social welfare corporation Himeji

5,703

6,178

6,241

6,727

6,947

thus providing them with employment both within and outside of
the facility and supporting their independence.
On-site inspection of contract waste disposal services,

4,000

which began on a trial basis in ﬁscal 2008 in the Head Oﬃce

2,000

area only, was expanded to cover branches and sales oﬃces

0across the country. We conducted on-site inspection at a total
2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

(FY)
* Sysmex Corporation : Head Oﬃce, Technopark, Solution Center, Kakogawa
Factory, Sysmex International Reagents Co., Ltd. : Seishin Factory, Ono Factory
Note : From ﬁscal 2009, a revised method is used to calculate the volume ofgreenhouse gas emissions. Numerical values in the above graph were all calculatedusing the new method. Please see *3 on P37 for more details.

of 22 sites in accordance with the regulations of relevant
municipalities.

Volume of waste, recycling rate (6 sites combined*)
(t)

(%)

1,500

Waste Reduction

79.5

Since ﬁscal 2006, the Kakogawa, Seishin, and Ono Factories have

1,000

been promoting the recycling of waste toward the ultimate goal
500

of zero emissions.

60.2
596

84.5

93.0

100
80

67.2

60
626

591

620

616

40
20

In ﬁscal 2009, we introduced a garbage disposer to the
Kakogawa Factory, thereby establishing a “food recycling loop,”
where garbage from the factory cafeteria is turned into compost,
which is then provided to contract farmers who use it to growthe organic farm produce consumed at the cafeteria. This initiative

0

0
2005
Volume of waste

2006

2007

2008

2009

(FY)

Recycling rate

* Sysmex Corporation : Head Oﬃce, Technopark, Solution Center, Kakogawa

Factory, Sysmex International Reagents Co., Ltd.: Seishin Factory, Ono Factory

was registered as a “Hyogo Biomass eco Model,” which recognizes
and publicizes pioneering initiatives in the eﬃcient utilization of
biomass (organic resources derived from living biological organisms)

External Evaluationin concert with the local community, with a view toward

Our R&D core Technopark is complete with environmental

promoting greater biomass utilization in Hyogo Prefecture.

considerations. For example, more than half of its area is dedicated

Recycling food waste (garbage)to green space and a pond, and its buildings are designed in such a

Organically grownfarm product (rice)
Began in February
4, 2010

way that the sun’s rays are collected inside of the buildings themselves.
GarbageCafeteria at
the Kakogawa Factory

7.9 t / year

In ﬁscal 2009, Technopark received the Encouragement Awardof the 29th Urban Green Space Award of the Urban Green Space
Development Foundation for its superior design concept that

39

Organically grownfarm product

Food
Recycling

Secondaryfermentation(organic fertilizer)

Contract farmer
Omi Tanpopo Village(Shiga Prefecture)

Sysmex Sustainability Report 2010

Garbage disposer

Primary fermentation(soil conditioners,
fertilizer materials)

1.3 t/year

blends into the surrounding environment and ecosystem. This R&D
core also received the Promotion Award of the 22nd Best of New
Oﬃces award sponsored by the New Oﬃce Promotion Association.

Independent Opinion
On Reading the Sysmex Sustainability Report 2010
1. CSR founded on “trust and conﬁdence”

toward the ﬁve stakeholder groups identiﬁed in the Core

Sysmex’s pledge to society is epitomized in its top management’s

Behaviors, complete with detailed accounts of concrete

sincere aspiration to build “trust and conﬁdence” among people

activities. Each story is well focused, easy to read, andthe world over. In his message, the President shares Sysmex’s

comprehensible. One that merits particular mention here isapproaches to CSR activities, which are in accord with theconcerned with how the company promotes temporary andcompany’s Corporate Philosophy and Core Behaviors. He also

part-time workers to its regular payroll based on their meritgoes over its CSR activities during ﬁscal 2009, which included therating, and its past records are also shown here. On the pages

establishment of long-term environmental objectives and of thedescribing Behaviors and Commitment toward the Global

Quality Compliance Policy based on a strong recognition of theEnvironment, the revision to the Environmental Policy andimportance of diagnostics-related product quality. Thesesetting of the Environmental Objectives leading to ﬁscal 2020

initiatives to fulﬁll Sysmex’s responsibility for the society that it

are described, thus facilitating an understanding of Sysmex’s

serves are deserving of the highest recognition.

ambitious initiatives to reduce the impact on the environment.

2. Global CSR activities

4. Creation of CSR management expected

Building trust and conﬁdence through the supply of its products

Reading this Sustainability Report, one cannot help but beand services to medical institutions in more than 150 countries

impressed by Sysmex’s commitment to its CSR activities. I believe

around the world, Sysmex’s undertakings are introduced inthat the company needs to strengthen mutual communications

the eight global Activity Reports, all of which are highlywith its stakeholders to form a clearer picture of what they need.

rewarding. It may be understood that preparing action plans

The next step that the company should take is to establish awith a focus on continuing product supply and instrument

PDCA management cycle by way of, for example, setting goals

repairs amid the inﬂuenza pandemic constitutes businessfor CSR activities (qualitative goals

continuity planning and, as such, an attempt to discharge social

may suﬃce) and verifying the

responsibility. I expect that information on such activities

eﬀectiveness of its activities. I lookwill be disclosed in this report on a continuous basis.

forward to watching Sysmex advanceits CSR activities even further.

3. Reports of concrete activities that are in linewith the Core Behaviors
This Sustainability Report also details behaviors and commitment

Katsuhiko Kokubu
Professor, Graduate School of Business
Administration, Kobe University

In Reply
First of all, I would like to express my most heartfelt appreciation

environment and business continuity. We will continue toto Dr. Kokubu for his sincere and scrupulous opinions.

make steady eﬀorts toward this end.

We recognize that working to build “trust and conﬁdence”

For better CSR management, we will maintain close

among those at medical institutions and other stakeholders

communications with our stakeholders and feed any input

constitutes an extremely crucial social responsibility of theback to our CSR activities. We will

Sysmex Group and, as such, we will remain ﬁrmly committed togive the most serious consideration

this eﬀort. Concerning our long-term environmental objectives,

to Dr. Kokubu’s valuable input, sowhich he placed a high value on, we have renewed ourthat we can steadily advance ourdetermination to closely monitor the environmental impact

CSR activities even further.

produced in the course of our business and the eﬀects of ourenvironmental conservation activities, while at the same time
striving to strike a balance between conservation of the global

Kenichi Yukimoto
Member of the Managing Board and Executive Oﬃcer
Senior Managing Director
CSR Promotion Div.

Sysmex Sustainability Report 201040

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