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In a time when the surrounding business environment changes from day to day, leading to increased complications and uncertainty, we are facing a multitude of risks. By maintaining its production system, ensuring suitable access to raw materials and strengthening disaster prevention measures in order to secure business continuity, the Nippon Kayaku Group prevents various business-related risks from materializing and minimizes their impact.
In order to “restore business operations within a specified timeframe” in times of disaster or emergency, we are not only promoting the establishment of a BCP Manuals for our head office and all business units, but also the preparation of BCP Manuals for every overseas workplace.
In order to take preventative measures against risks before they appear, thereby minimizing their effects, we have set up a Crisis Management Committee to serve as an advisory body to the Sustainable Management Meeting. This committee convenes twice a year, and on an ad hoc basis when required.
The committee, chaired by an Executive Director with an official post nominated by the President, consists of representatives from each business unit’s planning department and every section of our General Administration Department, which is unattached to any particular business unit. It is tasked with constructing and administering a crisis management system designed to take preventative measures against the most damaging risks to corporate management and business activities, and to respond to emergencies and conduct damage recovery activities once normal service has been resumed. The most important matters discussed by this committee are reported to the Sustainable Management Meeting and the Board of Directors, who then provide relevant feedback.
| Indicator | FY2028 Target | FY2035 Target | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Risk Assessment Completion Rate | 100% | 100% | Consolidated |
| Risk Response Plan Development Rate | 100% | 100% | Consolidated |
| Number of Cases with a Risk Response Implementation Rate Below 80% | Fewer than 10 | 0 | Consolidated |
| Corrective Action Completion Rate for Internal Audit Findings | 100% | 100% | Consolidated |
| Risk Management Process Compliance Rate | 100% | 100% | Consolidated |
| Risk Management Training take-up rate | 100% | 100% | Consolidated |
In order to identify significant risks and enact the requisite controls, the Nippon Kayaku Group undertakes the following “Business Unit Risk Control Activities” and “Top Five Risk Control Activities” on an annual basis.
Business Unit Risk Control Activities cover our three business units, our R&D Department, and our Head Office Administration Department. They involve extracting the risks most impactful to each business unit and department from a managerial perspective, and examining ways to deal with them.
Our “Top Five Risk Control Activities” cover all plants, research labs and business sites inside Japan, as well as domestic and overseas group companies. Each business site extracts its five key risks from its own perspective and explores possible response measures.
Risks and response measures identified for each business unit and site are reported to the Internal Control Management Division, which serves as the office for the Crisis Management Committee. The Internal Control Management Division comprehensively grasps and analyzes risk trends, passes on its findings to the Crisis Management Committee for discussion and final decision on the major risks and responses, then makes twice-yearly reports on initiatives and progress updates to the Sustainable Management Meeting and Board of Directors.
The principal risks identified by management as having a potentially major impact on the consolidated group financial situation, management results and cash flow are listed below. Each risk has been evaluated against an effect and frequency scale of three sizes (large, medium, small). The risks noted here do not serve as a comprehensive list; there remains the possibility for risks not noted below to have future impact upon Group business, business results and financial situation. We have established a Crisis Management Committee to respond to emergencies, and are constructing a system which enables a rapid and appropriate Group response. (For more on our emergency situation responses and the composition and administration of our Crisis Management System, please see here).
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| Principal Risk | Nature of Risk | Response Policy | Impact | Likelihood |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supply Chain Risk | Creation of supply uncertainties due to delays in procurement of raw materials, disruption to distribution, over-dependence on specific suppliers. | Guarantee stable supplies through diversification of suppliers, inventory optimization, and strengthened supplier risk assessments. | High | High |
| Competition Risk | Decreased profits due to price competition with domestic and overseas competitors, as well as intensification of technology races. | Establish competitive advantage through development of differentiated products, strengthened cost competitiveness, and better business selection and focus. | High | High |
| R&D Risk | R&D investments do not deliver hoped-for returns, perhaps causing delays in market entry. | Heighten development efficiency through better selection and focus on development themes, thorough stage-gate management, and promotion of external linkages. | High | High |
| Changes in Market Demand | Reduced competitiveness of existing products and consequent reduced demand through technological innovation and changing customer needs. | Maintain and improve product competitiveness through boosting development based on latent customer needs, with priority investments in environmental and high-functional material fields. | High | Medium |
| Foreign Exchange Risk | Business results influenced by exchange rate market changes which affect yen conversion rates for overseas sales and imported raw material costs. | Limit such effects through price and cost management, and the natural hedge that comes with currency diversification and promotion of overseas site production. | Medium | High |
| Economic Downturn Risk | Possibility of decreased sales and worsening profits stemming from reduced demand due to changes in the world economy and specific markets (automobiles, semiconductors etc.) | Improved resilience in the face of economic changes through business portfolio diversification, resource allocation to growth areas and optimization of cost structure. | Medium | High |
| Natural Disaster Risk | Possible effects on customer supply and profits stemming from supply cut-offs and suspension of production site operations due to earthquakes, fires, accidents etc. | Map out a minimization of effects through more advanced BCP, construction of a multi-production site system, enhanced safety equipment and periodical drills. | Medium | High |
| Geopolitical Risk | Restrictions on product imports and exports, and raw material purchases, due to international conflicts, trade regulations and economic sanctions. | Limit risks through greater dispersion of suppliers and customers, reassessment of inventory strategies, and better monitoring of each country's regulations. | Medium | High |
| Intellectual Property Risk | Possibility of decreased competitive advantage through patent infringements, lawsuits, and technological leakage. | Reduce risks through enhanced portfolio diversification, thorough investigation of other companies' patents, and more sophisticated management of confidential information. | Medium | High |
In addition to the financial effect perspective, our Group also identifies risks and opportunities from the standpoints of significance to the environment and society. Significant risks in non-financial fields have been organized systematically as part of our materiality reassessment, with their contents and related policy responses “Key Sustainability Issues(Materiality)”.
The Nippon Kayaku Group believes in the necessity of appropriately grasping the risks and opportunities associated with sustainable management, and linking the acts of reducing those risks and gaining new business opportunities to further business growth.
Having recognized the above, we have disclosed information based on the risks and opportunities surrounding our Key Sustainability Issues, and TCFD and TNFD proposals. By working towards resolving environmental and social issues through our business activities we are aiming to achieve a sustainable society and additional corporate value.
In order to continue our appropriate responses to the diversification of business activities and changing social and environmental issues, we will periodically review these risks and opportunities, and work towards disclosing information of substantial quantity and quality.
As part of our continuous PDCA cycle activities aimed at enhancing risk awareness and minimizing risks, we provide risk management training to all our executives, employees (including contracted and part-time employees), and temp staff. We also implement separate risk management education and training for new hires, new managers, and employees transferring overseas.
In anticipation of the most critical risks posed to our business activities, we have fixed our Crisis Management Regulations and are currently preparing our Crisis Management System. We are also using our Detailed Crisis Management Regulations to work on building an emergency response structure which allows for more accurate responses based on the preventative measures outlined in various response manuals.
By way of preparing for natural disasters and outbreaks of infectious disease, our Group is drawing up its own BCP Basic Manual. This serves as the base for each domestic and overseas business site, plant and group company to fix its own individual BCP Manuals and periodically revise the contents to boost effectiveness.
As part of our efforts to confirm the effectiveness and workability of its BCP Manuals, as well as heighten employee awareness, the Nippon Kayaku Group stages BCP drills both domestically and overseas to ensure that damage is minimized, business can continue, and operations can be promptly restored when emergency situations occur. Inside Japan, the director in charge of the business unit serves as the Crisis Management Chief and conducts an annual BCP drill.
FY2025 saw our BCP drill focus on a Life Science Business Unit scenario in the presence of our president and Crisis Management Committee. The drill, based on the premise of an earthquake in the Kanto region, was conducted along the lines of our manual, and saw employees associated with head office, plants and external warehouses coordinate to collate and share various information on the disaster itself and damage situations. The drill enabled us to verify the effectiveness of our BCP by observing the speedy and appropriate decision-making of the Task Force Chief and the implementation of his instructions.
Among our overseas business sites, Kayaku Safety Systems (Huzhou) Co. and Kayaku Safety Systems Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. were able to reconfirm their communication systems via workshops themed upon crisis scenarios such as initial disaster response systems, storm and flood damage, and equipment damage. Going forward, we will continue to hold BCP seminars and drills based on various scenarios as we work towards improving our crisis response capacity.