As social structures evolve due to factors such as technological innovations and globalization, supply chain management has become increasingly important since it is difficult to sustain business activities without cooperation from business partners and other organizations. Furthermore, in order to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society, it is crucial to not only develop activities on our own, but to also work together with all business partners in the supply chain to establish and strengthen management systems related to human rights, the labor environment, the natural environment, and other issues. We have built a sound network with our business partners to ensure the quality and stable supply of pharmaceutical products. While maintaining this network and strengthening our collaborations with partners, we will develop a management system and initiatives related to human rights, the labor environment, the natural environment, and other issues in order to enhance not only our corporate value, but that of our business partners as well.
In addition to ensuring that all employees involved in procurement activities comply with our Basic Policy for Procurement Activities, we have also formulated Ono Sustainable Procurement Code for Business Partnerthat summarize matters which we would like our business partners to cooperate with. Moving forward, we will strive to request cooperation from more business partners while strengthening our collaborative efforts at the same time.

Procurement Activities

We utilize EcoVadis's sustainability assessment system (hereinafter, EcoVadis) to objectively and continually grasp the status of sustainability initiatives by business partners in our supply chain. The use of EcoVadis enables us to obtain highly reliable information regarding suppliers’ sustainability management practices, and thereby allows us to propose appropriate corrective actions to our suppliers.
When we request a business partner to undergo an EcoVadis evaluation, we hold explanatory meetings to help people understand our approach to sustainability procurement. In the FY2021 evaluation, following on from FY2020, none of our suppliers were classified as having a high risk in terms of sustainability. In addition, we provided an opportunity for several of our business partners who underwent EcoVadis in FY2020 to confirm the status of their sustainability-related management systems, initiatives and corrective action plans. In the FY2021 evaluation, we confirmed that the initiatives of these companies have been strengthened.
We will strive to further strengthen our supply chain management initiatives moving forward. In FY2021, we conducted a risk analysis based on information including procurement amount, type of industry, presence of substitutes and country of origin in order to grasp and organize sustainability-related risks in our supply chain. We plan to set priorities and develop initiatives in collaboration with our business partners based on the results of this risk analysis and the degree of impact it will have on our business.

Major Supplier Types

For more information on Supply Chain Management, see also ONO’s Approach to Sustainability.

When we outsource animal experiments, we ensure that the outsourcing contractor complies with the laws and standards of the relevant country concerning animal welfare. We also make every effort so that such an outsourcing contractor complies with our standards as much as possible. Please click here for our thoughts on ethical considerations in animal experiments.

Before appointing a third party such as a subcontractor or an agent, we perform due diligence using an Anti-bribery Check Sheet to see if there are any red flags. We have developed a process through which we submit the third party’s replies to our detailed question sheet to the Corporate Compliance Officer to get his/her approval before appointing the third party in case we identify a red flag.