Initiatives with Our Suppliers

We have set out “Expanding business growth opportunities” and “Co-creation of sustainable social value” as the values we provide to our suppliers.

We aim to promote risk reduction and resilience in the supply chain through close collaboration with our suppliers, so that we can grow together. We also believe that promoting initiatives to build a sustainable supply chain that considers environmental, social, and ethical aspects through comprehensive engagement activities will also lead to generations of trust.

We announced our "Sustainability Action Plan" at the same time as our 3rd Mid-Term Management Plan announced in 2024. We will work together with our suppliers on two KPIs to deepen our understanding of sustainability.

We closely monitor cases where our suppliers or other business partners may have contributed to any action with adverse impacts on human rights.
In case a human rights violation is identified in connection with Advantest Group’s business activities, we will work to correct it through dialogue and consultation in accordance with the Advantest Group Human Rights Policy.

We have incorporated human rights due diligence into our procurement process, disclosed clear procurement policies to our suppliers, and specified our policies on human rights, labor, and health and safety through the "Advantest CSR Procurement Guidebook.".

As part of our supply chain due diligence, Advantest uses multiple approaches to risk-based assessment and monitoring.

Advantest conducts a CSR Questionnaire for business partners who account for approximately 85% of the transaction value of all Advantest Group companies. The contents of the questionnaire mainly refer to the "Supply Chain CSR Promotion Guidebook" in line with international norm and initiatives such as the RBA Code of Conduct*. We also confirm the awareness and status of respect for human rights, including the elimination of child and forced labor and the implementation of occupational health and safety practices, as well as the prevention and detection of bribery and corrupt practices.
Advantest believes that the CSR Questionnaire serves to achieve mutual growth with our suppliers not only by building fair and sound partnerships, but also by promoting sustainability-oriented business activities such as the introduction of renewable energy and reporting of GHG emissions as a response to climate change.

In FY2024, 44 companies were requested to participate in the questionnaire (in FY2023, we were able to obtain responses from all 42 companies that received the questionnaire, and no significant risks related to human rights were identified). We not only provided each supplier with materials summarizing the results of their responses to enable them to address social issues throughout their supply chain but also provided feedback on points that were highly rated and points that require improvement. We are working to raise the level of the entire supply chain through this close interactive communication.

In Japan, we evaluate the QCD* of our business partners every quarter aimed to ensure the stable supply of products while maintaining and improving quality. On a global basis, we also conduct annual evaluations of our major suppliers, including their technology, quality, and procurement measures. Going forward, we will also work to create a globally unified system for evaluating our business partners.

We ask new business partners to understand and cooperate with our social (human rights, ethics, health and safety) and environmental initiatives based on our procurement policy. Two business partners joined in FY2024.

We ask our business partners to report cases where our employees may be subject to any suspected violations of the Advantest Code of Conduct, business contracts, laws and regulations, etc., using a dedicated compliance hotline on our website, when completing the CSR questionnaire. There were no complaints filed (no cases) in FY2024. Note that Advantest will not subject the whistleblower, nor the whistleblower's company, to any disadvantage. If an investigation finds any issues, the relevant action shall be stopped and measures shall be taken to prevent recurrence.

Advantest and Advanfacilities Co., Ltd. have agreed to and endorsed the Declaration of Partnership Building and announced our framework on Declaration of Partnership Building* in the fall of 2021. The Declaration of Partnership Building declares, in the name of the representative of the company, that it will build new partnerships by promoting further collaboration and prosperous coexistence with business partners in the supply chain and encourage businesses that create value. The following are few examples of matters to observe for the promotion of partnership building.

Advantest supports the philosophy of the Declaration of Partnership Building and promotes various ESG activities together with our business partners.

Musashiseki Unyu Co., Ltd., our freight forwarder who transports our products via eco-drive technology, was awarded the highest rating of "three stars" for the fourth consecutive year in the 2024 "Tokyo Freight Transportation Evaluation System" (evaluation of efforts, such as eco-driving, of freight forwarders based on actual driving fuel efficiency and consumption), and was also selected as one of the top two highest rated forwarders. Advantest has set the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions throughout the value chain as one of its key themes. We believe that the fact that our business partner won such an outstanding award shall be a further driving force for ESG promotion, as we continue to promote efforts to reduce supply chain emissions.