A newsletter from Sumitomo Electric USA Holdings (SEUHO)

Issue #54 (December 19, 2023)

Payroll Conference / MPSS training / Mexico HR Conference / SEWS Wellness Summit / Employee recognition / Accounting Managers Meeting / SEECA / Global Legal Meeting / Integrated Report 2023 / Kaizen events / SEL customer success story

At this time of year, what could be more fitting than a festive photo from a holiday party? Except that's not what this is! The picture here is from the first-ever USA SEG Payroll Conference, which took place in Alpharetta, Georgia, on November 29 and 30. 

This was an important training event for payroll practitioners at Sumitomo Electric Group companies in the US, many of whom were involved in the huge project back in 2021 to consolidate the multiple payroll systems of more than a dozen companies into a single, state-of-the-art system from ADP. On this occasion, attendees heard directly from ADP and others about topics such as payroll trends, payroll best practices, data analysis, and advanced features of the system. What they learned will help them achieve further process improvements at their respective companies in the years ahead. 

While the Payroll Conference was happening, some other folks from ten US companies were gathered in Houston, Texas, to attend this year's final MPSS workshop (photo below). MPSS stands for "Management Program based on the Sumitomo Spirit." It's a course that teaches the fundamentals of sound management, the core principles of our corporate philosophy, and the ways in which these two sets of ideas reinforce each other. MPSS was developed by SEI's Human Resources Development Department for supervisors and managers at group companies outside of Japan, and since its start the program has been taken by more than 1,400 employees around the world. Here in the Americas, MPSS is supported by SEUHO's HR department and will be held again in the US and Mexico next year. 

Speaking of Mexico, the 6th Annual Human Resources Conference in Mexico was hosted by the Nayarit Division of wiring harness company ATR on November 8 and 9. Every year this event brings together the HR managers and staff from several different group companies in Mexico (including non-automotive ones) to share best practices related to employee development and well-being. This year's conference was attended by representatives from eight Mexico companies as well as Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems and SEUHO. 

Another group learning event, the SEWS Wellness Summit, was also held last month for the many people who volunteer their time to promote employee health and wellness at Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems locations across the country. SEWS has by far the most offices and manufacturing sites of any group company in the US, so this event was a valuable opportunity for all the Wellness Champions to be in the same room at the same time to collaborate on a yearlong plan of activities that will be both effective and fun for their coworkers. The summit also included reports on individual success stories, presentations from two invited speakers, and an in-depth Q&A session on various wellness topics. It was held in Kentucky on Nov. 16 and 17.

So what's the unifying thread between payroll processing, management training, and wellness programs? Well, at most (if not all) SEG companies it is the Human Resources people who are deeply involved in all three areas. And while HR departments typically have numerous other responsibilities on their plate, perhaps none is more enjoyable than bringing well-deserved recognition to their fellow employees. 

At Sumiden Wire Products Corporation, for example, HR Manager Jeffrey O'Brien tells us that "SWPC recently added four Service Tenure Plaques to our corporate lobby area in Dickson, Tennessee. Each plaque celebrates years of service with our company based on 10+, 15+, 20+, and 25+ years. We've always prided ourselves on the number of employees we have here who've worked hard for us and made a long career of it. To them we say: we salute you!"

To congratulate long-time employees at CONTEC, the HR department there organizes an annual event called the Seniority Celebration. Those with 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years at the company are invited to attend and bring their family members with them. This year's ceremony was held on October 28 in Juarez, Mexico. Each of the employees being recognized was presented with an award by company executives, and a group of 30-year employees received an additional special recognition in the form of a plaque with their names inscribed. (Photo below: CONTEC's 30-year employees.)

Regional & international meetings

The past few months have indeed been a busy time for meetings in the Sumitomo Electric Group — which is always a good thing because it gives participants the chance to learn from each other and to see the bigger picture of what's going on within the SEG or in their area of expertise. 

At the Accounting Managers Meeting on December 14 and 15, attendees got a good mix of presentations from their counterparts at other group companies as well as from outside experts based in New York. These talks covered topics such as taxation, auditing, financial markets, and credit management. In the photo below, SEUHO Vice President Hiro Nakazawa is providing everyone with an update on SEI's Global Platform Project, which is an ongoing, large-scale project to standardize accounting procedures across group companies worldwide.

A broader agenda of topics was discussed at the Sumitomo Electric Executive Conference of the Americas (SEECA) in San Diego on October 30 and 31. At this meeting, the managing directors of group companies in the US, Mexico, and Brazil heard about trends in the electric vehicle market, employee engagement, government regulations, initiatives to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and more. In addition, several people from SEI headquarters flew in for the conference to report on the activities of their corporate departments. As one of the major events on the SEG calendar, this regional meeting is a great chance for company executives to network and find opportunities for collaboration. (Photo below: SEECA participants.) 

Even more international than SEECA was the Global Legal Meeting held in Los Angeles from September 26 to 29. This meeting was attended by members of the Sumitomo Electric Group's legal departments in the Americas, Japan, China, Asia-Pacific region, and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa). The meeting consisted of two days of legal topics, one day on compliance, and one day focused solely on Mexico. Overall, it was a highly informative meeting for everyone who attended. 

When it comes to "the big picture of Sumitomo Electric," SEI makes sure that anyone who wants to see this can do so. How? Through a publication called the Integrated Report. The latest edition of this report was released on October 4, and it is packed with details on our corporate philosophy, the SEG growth strategy, what kinds of eco-friendly products we manufacture, how big we are in every region, our governance structure, the group's financial performance, etc.

Whether you've been working in the Sumitomo Electric Group for two months or two decades, the breadth of the Integrated Report guarantees that you will learn something new. A copy of the report can be downloaded from this page on SEI's website.

Here in the SEUHO newsroom, we were surprised to learn from the Integrated Report that SEG sales practically doubled over the last ten fiscal years (from 2.16 trillion yen to 4 trillion yen). How did that happen? Clearly it was the combination of many factors — but one in particular that should be highlighted is kaizen. 

Often translated as "continuous improvement," kaizen has also been interpreted as "ongoing improvement involving everyone." Or, put differently, kaizen is the idea that everyone is empowered to contribute in some way, every day, to the betterment of their workplace. When kaizen is done, good things follow: better products, more satisfied customers, and growth in revenue and profits, for example. Improved safety is another positive outcome.

In the Sumitomo Electric Group, the kaizen mindset is directed toward the six points of SEQCDD: safety, environment, quality, cost, delivery, and development. So, naturally, these were the kinds of projects that were presented at two recent kaizen events, the SEWS Kaizen Competition in Kentucky on September 27 and the SMDC Kaizen Summit in Oregon on November 15. These events celebrate some of the more complex, team-oriented kaizen projects that are completed at Americas group companies.

According to SEWS Safety Engineer Wendy Cossey, "continual improvement is a core value at SEWS and all associates are encouraged to participate in the suggestion and team kaizen program. The SEWS Kaizen Competition, which started in 1995, gives associates the opportunity to network and benchmark with associates from other SEWS locations. This year's event featured five kaizen teams and four Suggestion of the Year nominees. Congratulations to The Eliminators from SEWS Edmonton who won first place and took home the coveted samurai sword to display at their location until next year's competition. They will go on to participate in the Honda Spring CAN Conference in Ohio next April to compete with other Honda suppliers on SEWS's behalf."  

There was also some friendly competition at the Kaizen Summit, where ten teams from seven companies gave great presentations on the process improvements they had made. As the Kaizen Summit has two leagues (like Major League Baseball), awards were given to a pair of winning teams: one was Team Humpty Dumpty from Keystone Powdered Metal Company, who improved a key aspect of their furnace maintenance, and the other was Team Hole-in-the-Wall from SEWS Edmonton, who established a way to improve material handling at their facility. The Kaizen Summit was started by the intercompany Sumitomo Monozukuri Development Committee in 2015 and hosted this year by Sumitomo Electric Semiconductor Materials, Inc. 

Note: The longer interpretation of kaizen cited above comes from the book Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success by management consultant Masaaki Imai. Published in 1986, this was one of the first books written in English to introduce the kaizen concept to business audiences outside of Japan. 

We can't think of a better way to wrap up 2023 than with a story about happy customers. This one comes to us from Sumitomo Electric Lightwave, who helped a construction company in Silicon Valley install 20,000 feet of fiber optic cable with greater efficiency than ever. "The cost savings and the amount of footage that you can place in a single day are above and beyond what you can achieve with traditional pull methods," said the customer's president. His coworker added, "I think Sumitomo Electric is the future." The story was nicely captured by SEL in a short 3-minute video. Click here to watch. 

Thank you for reading the Americas newsletter this year! we wish you a restful, delightful, and very happy holiday!

A big, hearty cheer to this issue's contributors: Henry Garcia (CONTEC); Wendy Cossey, Megan Hatchett, Laura Upchurch (SEWS); Jeffrey O'Brien (SWPC); Esther Gutierrez (SEIP); Jacob Godwin (SEL); Pat Descarage, Kaz Kaminaka, Sandy Lu, Pavee Suvagondha (SEUHO).

This newsletter is published for employees of Sumitomo Electric Group companies in the Americas by Sumitomo Electric USA Holdings (SEUHO). To send us your thoughts, please use this online survey or send us an email. Thank you for reading this newsletter.

Previous newsletters: Issue 53 | Issue 52 | Issue 51