As part of a broad, inclusive effort to get feedback on our workplaces, an employee engagement survey will be conducted at many of the US-based Sumitomo Electric Group companies starting on July 11. The survey will include questions about teamwork, well-being, growth and development, diversity and inclusion, company culture, and other topics. To ensure that everyone's responses are anonymous and confidential, the survey will be given online by Perceptyx, a vendor that specializes in employee surveys. All participants will be able to take the survey during company time, and anyone who needs help getting online will be assisted by their company's HR department. It is hoped that as many employees as possible will give feedback on what their company is doing well and what could be improved. Survey responses will be collected through July 29.

Also on the topic of safety, there's good news from the Dayton, Texas plant of Sumiden Wire Products Corporation. At the start of the new fiscal year on April 1, the Dayton plant marked four consecutive years of zero accidents at the facility. Plant Manager Robert Nelson is quick to credit everyone for their commitment to workplace safety, saying that the streak "is not about me, it's about the team we have here!" Congratulations to SWPC Dayton.

Last month at companies around the world, more than 3,000 employees and their family members participated in the SEI Spring Challenge Cup. Teams of runners and walkers were encouraged to get some exercise and record their daily progress for 10 days. The running category had 114 teams who collectively covered a distance of 41,195 km (approx. 25,500 miles) during the event. As for the more popular walking category, 444 teams combined for a staggering sum of 348 million steps!

Here in the Americas, there was strong participation from Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems and Keystone Powdered Metal Company. SEWS had four teams in the running category and their top team placed 25th overall in the event. In the walking category, 26 of the 35 teams in the Americas were either from SEWS (16 teams) or KPMC (10 teams). The KPMC teams were particularly active, taking the top four spots in our region. Overall, 238 people in the Americas participated in the Spring Challenge Cup. Runners had a daily average of 2.7 miles, while the walkers averaged a very healthy 9,457 steps per day.

Speaking of averages, the Sumitomo Monozukuri Development Committee recently came up with a different way of thinking about 200 Kaizen activities. That is, instead of just counting how many kaizens are done at a company per month, what if we also looked at the average contribution of kaizens per associate?

The insight here is that even though some places struggle to achieve 200 kaizens per month, this might simply be due to a location's smaller size and not to employees' enthusiasm.

Therefore, at this month's meeting the SMDC introduced a new metric for 200 Kaizen called the normalization number. This metric is calculated by dividing the number of kaizens at a location by the size of the workforce there. For example, 100 kaizens done at a plant with 100 associates yields a normalization number of 1.

SMDC leadership is still collecting data to calculate the normalization number for all member locations, but even so the new metric has already been useful in seeing where kaizen practices could be further developed with the committee's support. It has been a good example of the SMDC applying the principle of continuous improvement to itself.

Turning next to events happening outside our facilities, the Sumitomo Electric Group has been very active at trade shows over the past few months.

In April, Sumiden Wire Products Corp. and Sumitomo Electric USA teamed up to do a joint exhibit at MD&M West, a large-scale medical technology conference held in Southern California. SWPC's Director of Sales Jonathan Rigby explained that "Sumiden Wire produces stainless steel wires for a variety of medical applications, and is a growing supplier to this exciting industry." This year, SWPC exhibited a stainless alloy in wire form that "generated substantial interest from device designers at the show." As for SEUSA, General Manager Chiali Chang said they used the show to "test the waters and get feedback from the market for our micro wires and micro assemblies." Chiali said the joint exhibit was a good example of collaboration between group companies. [Pictured from left: Jonathan Rigby, Keith Stahl (SWPC); Naomi Stroud, Yuya Namiki, Chiali Chang (SEUSA).]

For two students at Nashville State Community College, Sumiden Wire's apprenticeship program was a great way to gain real-world experience while completing their studies at school. The program was established by SWPC about six months ago in order to attract applicants for short- and long-term positions in manufacturing and maintenance. Samuel Behzad was one of the apprentices. While Samuel was in the program, he said "I'd do jobs [at SWPC] that literally the next week we started to cover in my classes. Getting the hands-on work experience definitely helped me." Samuel is now a full-time employee at SWPC and, according to HR Manager Jeffrey O'Brien, is doing a fantastic job there.

At Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, some engineering students have been happily using cutting tools from Sumitomo Electric Carbide (SCI). The tools are being used to build an off-road vehicle for Baja SAE tournaments, where cars designed by dozens of schools — all built around the same engine — compete in races on rough terrain. In April, Lehigh's team reached out to SCI Tooling Engineering Manager Andy Gunarich for technical advice. "They asked me to visit the campus and help their group," said Andy. "While visiting the group and reviewing their challenges, I found the same situation that I previously saw at another school: a lack of adequate tooling and minimal knowledge of cutting tools." So Andy compiled a list of tools that would help the team produce the parts they needed for their vehicle. He then delivered the cutting tools to the team's workshop and shared his knowledge on how to use them.

As Andy says, "building relationships is the most important part of our business. My hope is that Sumitomo will have made a long-lasting impression on these students, so that in the future they will remember the name and know that they can look to us as a resource for knowledge and product and, more importantly, as a partner."

This month we'd like to introduce you to two new people at SEUHO.

First is Kazuo Oe, the company's new President as of June 24. Oe-san arrived in New York in mid-April from SEI's Osaka Headquarters, where he had been General Manager of the Human Resources Development Department. This is Oe-san's second assignment in the US, having been HR Planning Manager at SEUSA from 1997 to 2001. When asked about what's different this time around, Oe-san said that "before I was only in charge of HR matters as a representative of SEI, but this time in my role I'm responsible for broader corporate services. I am confident that SEUHO, as a corporate center of excellence, can become an even more important partner to SEG companies in the Americas."

Over in California, Yoshiki Tanaka joined the SEUHO Legal Department in April. Yoshiki serves in the role of Counsel and is initially focusing on commercial and contract matters for all SEG companies. Before coming to SEUHO, Yoshiki was with SEI Legal where he dealt with power cable projects as well as competition law and compliance matters. Prior to SEI, he specialized in mergers & acquisitions at a law firm in Japan.

In the next newsletter, we'll provide an overview of the Sumitomo Electric Group 2030 Vision, the long-term roadmap that was recently announced by SEI. It's the first time that SEI has prepared a document like this, which extends more than five years into the future. The purpose of the SEG 2030 Vision is to give various stakeholders (employees, customers, suppliers, investors, etc.) an idea of our organization's direction in the coming years. This includes the Group's technological aspirations in the fields of energy, communications, and mobility.

To read the SEG 2030 Vision or to download a copy, click here.

The Sumitomo Electric Group, in accordance with the Sumitomo Spirit and the Sumitomo Electric Group Corporate Principles, strives to be a group of companies worthy of society's trust by conducting our business activities with utmost integrity. To learn more about our corporate philosophy, click here.

The SEG Code of Conduct is a statement of our shared values and the standards of conduct that are expected of each of us. It describes the fundamental principles and key policies that govern how we conduct business. The Code applies to all Company employees, officers, and directors, at every level. To download a copy of the Code, click here.

The SEG Compliance Hotline is an anonymous, confidential reporting system maintained by an independent third party, Navex, who immediately refers all hotline reports to SEI's Compliance and Risk Management Office. Please note that the SEG prohibits retaliation against anyone who reports concerns or raises questions in good faith. To access the hotline, click here.