Relations with Suppliers

　The Alps Alpine Group maintains fairness in its dealings with suppliers and builds relationships of cooperation and mutual trust based on underlying sincerity.
　Our procurement policy is to help bring about sustainable development with attention to safety and environmental concerns.

Promoting Green Procurement

　The Alps Alpine Group engages in “green” procurement to ensure that products supplied to customers are safe and environmentally friendly. It involves procuring materials and parts containing no hazardous substances from suppliers with established management systems. Suppliers are asked to follow our Green Procurement Standards and are assessed through “environmental corporate evaluations” looking at their environmental efforts, as well as “material evaluations” checking that substances specifically prohibited by the Alps Alpine Group are not present in materials or parts.
　The Green Procurement Standards are reviewed annually based on applicable legislative, regulatory or other changes. Annual reviews of materials and parts manufacturing bases are also carried out as part of ongoing improvements.

Green Procurement Standards	Appendix 1: Environmental Evaluation Standard on Companies
	Appendix 2: List of Substances
	Appendix 3: Prohibited Substances from Use in Production Process
	Appendix 4: Four Heavy Metal Thresholds and Management Classifications
	Appendix 5: Investigation Procedures on Product-containing Substances

Responsible Minerals Sourcing

　In view of our corporate social responsibility, Alps Alpine maintains a basic policy of not engaging in procurement activities that encourage the use of child labor or other human rights violations, environmental destruction, unlawful or unethical conduct, or antisocial or inhumane behavior.
　We identify the following as minerals produced in conflict-affected areas or areas where there is suspected antisocial or inhumane behavior (high-risk minerals): tin, tantalum, tungsten, gold and cobalt.
　To ensure strict compliance with the above policy, Alps Alpine performs due diligence for sourcing of high-risk minerals and requests the following of suppliers.

Suppliers are requested to
・Provide information on smelters and refineries that supply high-risk minerals
・Source high-risk minerals from smelters and refineries certified as not aiding conflict or committing human rights violations

　Due diligence is performed in conformance with the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas.

Response to Procurement Risk

The Alps Alpine Group has set up international procurement offices (IPOs) to carry out procurement activities at production bases in 29 locations in 12 countries: Japan, China, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Ireland, Germany, the Czech Republic, India, Thailand, and Hungary as well as in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Procurement entails obtaining at the right time the required volume of materials and parts that are superior in quality, cost, delivery, and environmental performance. It is therefore essential that the Group procures from suppliers it can trust. For that reason, the Group makes efforts to build trust-based relationships.
The supply chain is also affected by natural disasters, accidents, labor disputes, bankruptcies, and other occurrences, with extensive repercussions for procurement activities as well as for such operations as logistics. The Group regularly updates its supply chain database and is currently establishing structures for globally centralizing information and responding in a timely manner when procurement risks do eventuate. The Alps Alpine Group continuously holds policy briefings and financial results briefings with its suppliers. At these briefings, it requests supplier cooperation with its approach to addressing procurement risks.
The Group believes that responding to such risks is not possible without the support of suppliers and it will continue efforts to strengthen that cooperation going forward.

CSR Procurement

　As part of the global community, the Alps Alpine Group views taking action on issues such as environmental protection and human rights through the supply chain as an important approach. Basic business agreements are entered with suppliers as we aim to bring about a sustainable society.