Supply Chain Management Sustainability

Prior to beginning transactions between the GOLDWIN Group and new suppliers, we ensure that they meet all of our standards, including the Code of Conduct for GOLDWIN Suppliers and the GOLDWIN Restricted Substance Management Regulations. We only begin transactions after confirming that all documents have been received and that the supplier is found to be conforming through a desktop audit. In FY 2022, we started dealing with 98 new suppliers.

To build a healthy supply chain, improve product quality, and strengthen initiatives for human rights, the environment, and safety, we ask suppliers to cooperate with audits, both desktop and on-site, and make continuous improvements. We request that the necessary paperwork is updated each year.

We have established an internal operational flow for the Code of Conduct for GOLDWIN Suppliers, and conduct management with clearly defined roles and responsibilities among the Business Department, Sourcing Department and Quality Assurance Department. We aim to increase corporate value for both GOLDWIN and suppliers through CSR-based procurement incorporating sustainability criteria.

Since FY 2021, our Group has been conducting desktop audits (self-assessment questionnaire) and on-site audits by third-party auditors at all manufacturing factories with which we do business to monitor their compliance with the legal, social, and ethical requirements defined in the GOLDWIN Group Supplier Code of Conduct.

Desktop audits are conducted simultaneously once a year. In FY 2022, suppliers shared their answers with us on a total of 107 questions in 11 categories. In addition, any suppliers whose responses indicate a risk are asked to make improvements on a case-by-case basis. In FY 2022, 348 companies were subject to desktop audits, and responses were collected from all companies.

FY 2022 desktop audits (348 companies)

Desktop audits in FY 2022 produced a 437% increase in findings of non-compliance compared to FY 2021. Reasons for this increase include a partial revision and addition to the questions in FY 2022 as well as a revision of some of the criteria in accordance with the GOLDWIN Group Policy on Human Rights which was established in December 2021. We will continue to ask suppliers for whom findings have been identified to make improvements on a case-by-case basis, and we will strengthen our efforts.

As of FY 2022, we had also conducted on-site audits at 158 companies, primarily at our main manufacturing factories. In FY 2022, we conducted initial audits at 101 companies and follow-up audits at 40 companies. We continue to build our monitoring system, conducting on-site audits at manufacturing factories that have not yet been audited and gradually conducting periodic follow-up audits at manufacturing factories that have.

The main issues identified from on-site audits related to workplace health and safety (55%, including inadequate safety devices such as finger guards on sewing machines, inadequate safety and protective equipment such as masks, gloves and goggles, and inadequate documentation for buildings and structures) and labor and human rights (33%, including excessive overtime hours and partially inadequate social insurance). Audit results are provided to suppliers as feedback, and factories requiring corrective measures are asked to implement such measures and submit corrective action reports. In FY 2023, we are expanding the scope of monitoring by asking trading companies, management companies, main materials-related companies, and other suppliers, in addition to manufacturing factories, to complete the desktop audit. We are also taking steps to request that some of our business partners provide us with environmental data. As well as asking our suppliers for their understanding that the number of checked items is expanding each year, we are carefully explaining our efforts to build further relationships of co-creation with them.

Our business would not be possible without the cooperation of suppliers that produce products and deliver products and materials to us. We broadly share our principles for promoting sustainability through business activities with our supply chain, and focus on communication with suppliers on an individual basis to build a cooperative framework based on mutual trust.

GOLDWIN Supplier Summit

Once every two years, GOLDWIN hosts a two-day supplier summit—a meeting that brings together its major suppliers (trading companies, materials manufacturers) under the one roof. Our representative directors and general managers of each business division also participate, and on the first day, they present our management and business policies. On the second day, we venture out into nature in an effort to build partnerships through communication, such as by actually using GOLDWIN products while trekking or trying marine sports.

In FY 2022, 38 representatives from 29 suppliers participated in the summit. First, they visited the “PLAY EARTH PARK” event being held at Fugan Unga Kansui Park, Toyama Prefecture, before attending a meeting at our Toyama Office. On the next day, the summit moved to Tateyama, where participants experienced hiking and other activities.

Briefings for Business Partners

GOLDWIN holds briefing sessions for its suppliers on its CSR framework for the supply chain. In the briefing, suppliers are asked for their understanding and compliance with the Code of Conduct for GOLDWIN Suppliers, and we explain the background and specific revisions to the Code, as well as practical aspects of the paperwork that needs to be submitted.

In FY 2023, we formulated a Procurement Policy, updated the Code of Conduct for GOLDWIN Suppliers, and revised the desktop audit questions accordingly, so at the briefing session, we explained the key points of the update and reiterated our Group’s approach to building a sustainable supply chain. The briefing was conducted in the form of a video distributed to 453 companies from among manufacturing factories, trading companies, production management companies, and materials-related companies. As of the end of July 2023, 134 companies had viewed the video. In addition, efforts are being made for some factories to improve their understanding with the cooperation of trading companies and production management companies.

Meetings with Main Suppliers (Trading Companies)

GOLDWIN holds separate regular monthly meetings with each of its major suppliers (trading companies). The meetings are a place to exchange information on quality, cost, delivery schedules, and other matters as well as to discuss issues that arise from time to time and resolve them together. Engaging in communication helps deepen our cooperation and build better partnerships.

We provide regular education to internal persons in charge of procurement to enhance our CSR framework for the supply chain.
In FY 2022, in promoting the CSR framework for the supply chain, we invited outside instructors to speak to our employees. They gave a seminar on sustainable management and restricted substance management in the supply chain from a global perspective, and encouraged understanding and awareness among our employees. We also carefully explain our review of the Code of Conduct for GOLDWIN Suppliers, its content, and approaches for promoting the current system, and share information so that we can respond appropriately when performing our role as a point of contact with suppliers.

Subcontract Act Training

Internal training is regularly provided on the Act against Delay in Payment of Subcontract Proceeds, etc. to Subcontractors (Subcontract Act), which is a law that helps ensure that transactions are fair. In addition to explaining things like the purpose of the Subcontract Act, as well as relevant conditions and obligations of procuring companies, we discuss information that is required on order forms to ensure compliance with the act when company employees place orders.