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• Risk Management
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Risk Management

• Basic Concept

• Risk Management Structure

• Responding to Issues with Quality

• Business Continuity Plan (BCP)

Basic Concept

The automobile industry is currently in the midst of unprecedented rapid change, including swift technological innovation, changes in social values, and environmental issues. Suzuki recognizes that there are a wide range of risks involved in conducting business activities amid such change. Based on our Mission Statement and Philosophy of Conduct, Suzuki believes that accurately identifying and analyzing the various risks inherent in corporate activities, preventing them from manifesting, and minimizing the impact if they do occur are essential for sustainable growth and improving corporate value over the medium to long term.

Based on this understanding, Suzuki regularly collects information on various internal and external risks in accordance with risk management regulations and other related internal rules so as to detect risks early and respond promptly, in an effort to ensure the continuity and stable development of its business. Additionally, the Corporate Governance Committee and other committees, promptly discuss issues that arise or are recognized in any department in accordance with their urgency and importance, so we can quickly make decisions and resolve the issues.

We will continue to accurately grasp changes in social environments and technological trends, identify and assess risks on an ongoing basis, and develop and strengthen the strategic risk management system across the entire Suzuki Group, with the goal of being a company that continues to deserve the trust of all stakeholders, including customers.

Risk Management Structure

Responding to Issues with Quality

To avoid situations where slow responses to quality issues would cause significant inconvenience to customers and increase countermeasure costs, we are working to strengthen our system for quickly identifying causes and taking countermeasures, and we keep abreast of the latest quality issues at weekly and monthly management meetings. We decide on market measures such as recalls after the Quality Measures Committee deliberates on what measures to take. The committee is made up of relevant executives, division chiefs, and general managers.

Business Continuity Plan (BCP)

We have formulated a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) to ensure business continuity and rapid recovery in the event of an emergency such as an earthquake, storm, flood, or other natural disaster. In preparation for the various latent business disruption risks, we are working to strengthen a resilient management structure that ensures employee safety and business continuity, and that we recover as quickly as possible.

We will continue striving to be ready to quickly restore important functions and ensure stable supply through regular reviews to create an even more effective system.

Suzuki disaster countermeasures

In preparation against a natural disaster like a major earthquake in the Nankai Trough, Suzuki places the highest priority on ensuring the lives and safety of customers and employees, protecting company assets and properties, and enabling early restoration of operations, including those in local communities, to restore normal business operations. To minimize the impact of damage, we have taken various measures, such as providing buildings and facilities with earthquake-resistance measures, defining fire prevention measures, formulating an action manual and business continuity plan (BCP) that includes the establishment of a disaster response organization, and purchasing earthquake insurance.

Disaster countermeasures

The Group has taken various preventative measures in anticipation of a major earthquake along the Nankai Trough. Following the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Group has been diversifying its production and research bases, including overseas, by relocating its base from the Ryuyo district of Iwata City, Shizuoka Prefecture, which is expected to be hit by tsunami, to Miyakoda, a northern district of Hamamatsu City, distributing production of minicar engines, which had been concentrated at the Sagara Plant, to the Kosai Plant, and expanding research facilities in India, which also serves as a risk diversification for the Sagara Plant, which is our automobile development base. Furthermore, to improve the functionality of Disaster Response Headquarters that will be set up in the event of a disaster, the head office regularly conducts drills with the participation of executives and staff from the headquarters in cooperation with Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd. and Tokio Marine dR Co., Ltd. We will continue to use these activities to improve our disaster response capabilities.

Efforts to protect local residents from earthquakes and tsunamis

Employee initiatives for responding to earthquakes and tsunamis

To protect the lives of employees, our head office, plants, and manufacturing affiliates have introduced an emergency earthquake alert system. We conduct regular earthquake and tsunami evacuation drills in which all employees participate so that they can protect their own safety when earthquake early warnings sound, and so that, at business locations at risk of tsunami, they can safely evacuate to locations that are not expected to flood. To ensure people can keep in contact during a disaster, we have installed communication devices such as satellite phones and walkie-talkies at each plant and distributor nationwide so we can quickly confirm employees are safe, and we conduct regular communications drills to prepare for emergencies.

We have also introduced a safety information system that enables us to confirm employees are safe in the event an earthquake or tsunami occurs outside of working hours. Under this system, if an earthquake with a magnitude of 5 or higher occurs, an email inquiring about the safety of employees and their families is automatically sent to the email address registered by each employee so that we can confirm that employees and their families are safe. Employees who receive this email can respond with a confirmation that they are safe, allowing managers to know they are safe. We conduct training drills of this system twice a year to ensure that we can confirm safety quickly if an earthquake occurs.

To encourage each household to prepare for earthquakes and floods, we also distribute a leaflet entitled Preparing for Disasters (Earthquakes and Floods) at Home to all employees. We convey the importance of preparing before a disaster occurs by encouraging people to check their contact details and evacuation locations, check their homes and other areas for risks using hazard maps, and prepare emergency supplies.

Efforts against fire disasters

As part of our company-wide fire prevention campaign, we investigate the true cause of even the smallest sparks, and work to roll out effective countermeasures and conduct voluntary inspections across the entire company. To minimize damage if an emergency occurs, we work to ensure that everyone in the workplace is able to take initial actions, and we conduct various training activities, including reporting drills in which employees activate fire alarm transmitters, firefighting drills in which they use fire extinguishers and fire hydrants, water spraying drills in which our in-house fire brigades use fire engines and small portable pumps, and evacuation drills in which some fire shutters are closed. We also distribute disaster bandannas to people who cannot hear emergency announcements or who have mobility issues, and provide training to ensure they get help from those around them.

In addition to disaster prevention audits, in which each plant and business establishment checks for any fire prevention deficiencies, we also conduct joint disaster prevention audits with Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd. and Tokio Marine dR Co., Ltd., and have established disaster prevention standards to prevent fires, and are working to build a global disaster prevention system that includes our overseas factories.

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Donation to efforts to construct a seawall along the Enshu Nada coast

As of the end of September 2014, Suzuki had donated a total of 500 million yen to the Hamamatsu City Tsunami Countermeasures Fund to promote the construction of seawalls as a measure against tsunamis caused by earthquakes. Additionally, by the end of March 2015, we had donated 500 million yen to the Hamamatsu City Sports Facilities Development Fund to help construct a sports facility that will also function as a tsunami evacuation base and emergency rescue heliport. As a result, the total amount of support given to the Hamamatsu City Seawall Improvement Project, including the Hamamatsu City Tsunami Countermeasures Project Fund and the Hamamatsu City Sports Facilities Development Fund, has reached 1 billion yen.

Furthermore, by the end of March 2019, we had donated a total of 340 million yen to earthquake and tsunami countermeasures for eight cities and towns in western Shizuoka Prefecture, where our plants, related facilities, and many of our business partners are located. Additionally, we donated 2.8 billion yen in August 2020 and part of the land on the Ryuyo Course in December 2021 to promote the development of seawalls in Iwata City.

Global risk management (GRM)