Social Contribution Activities
Promoting social contribution activities
Stance towards social contribution activities
Advantest’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Policy was stipulated as follows in April 2008: “Advantest respects each of its stakeholders and strives to maintain harmony with society in all its operations while contributing to the goal of a sustainable society.” Based on this stance, Advantest conducts social contribution activities focused on the areas of preserving the global environment, developing the next generation, and contributing to local communities.
Advantest seeks to respond to the needs of its stakeholders and the community in order to contribute to the development of an affluent society through its social contribution activities to fulfill its corporate social responsibility as a global company.
Framework to promote CSR
Advantest has a track record of promoting CSR and environmental initiatives in every country and region it operates in, especially Japan. However, it has been increasingly important to conduct more global CSR and environmental initiatives through its supply chain as a company that contributes to a broader range of society. We would like to use the recent merger as an opportunity to establish a new framework for promoting and implementing CSR and environmental initiatives on a global level.
Framework to promote CSR
Social contribution activities conducted during fiscal 2011
Participated in tree-planting activities on the Hibikinada Reclaimed Land in the City of Kitakyushu
Tree-planting activities
The Advantest Group participated in an event called the Tree-Planting Day in the Green Corridor with Singing Birds held at Hibiki-cho, Wakamatsu-ku, Kitakyushu-shi, on March 24. This was an environmental protection project hosted by the city of Kitakyushu and local NPOs. The objectives of the project were to plant trees on the Hibikinada reclaimed land and to create a green corridor with singing birds so that the citizens can relax and enjoy themselves in lush greenery.
The total of 25 volunteers, including the Advantest Group’s employees and their families, participated in the Tree-Planting Day and planted approximately 600 trees. There were nearly 1,500 people participated in the entire tree-planting activities, and they planted as many as 13,000 trees. One of the participants and his family said, “It was a great opportunity for me and my family to learn about the environment,” and “I hope these trees will grow and become a forest one day and a lot of birds will fly over here.”
The Advantest Group will continue to be part of the activities which will contribute to our society, our community and the global environment in the future.
A special science class at an Elementary school in Sendai City
Special science class
On February 15, 2012, the Advantest Group offered a special science class at the Koriyama Elementary School in Sendai City. The objectives of this class were to provide children with an opportunity to become interested in science and technologies, to contribute to the recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake and to contribute to the future development of this region.
On the day of the class, 48 fifth graders of the elementary school were divided into eight groups and worked together to make simple speakers by hand, using magnets and enamel coils. Advantest employees participated as instructors for the groups and explained the principles of a speaker. They then supervised the pupils while they made their own speakers. When their hand-assembled speakers were completed and made sounds, the pupils pushed the speakers to their ears and their friends’ ears and roared with excitement. The Advantest Group received a certificate of appreciation from the board of education in Sendai City for holding this activity.
The Advantest Group will continue to utilize its expertise in manufacturing and be part of the social contribution activities by offering science classes which cultivate children’s intellectual curiosity and by holding seminars which introduce the latest science and technology developments to school teachers.
Volunteer activities in the areas hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake
Volunteer activities in the
disaster area
For five days from May 16 to May 20 2011, 55 employees of the Advantest Group volunteered to work in the city of Sendai, one of the areas hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
The fact that our R&D facility, Advantest Laboratories Ltd., and our manufacturing site, Sendai Factory, are both located in Sendai symbolizes our strong tie with the city. In response the Advantest Group decided to recruit volunteers from our employees to provide support for the reconstruction effort in the city that contributes so much to our daily operations. By taking into account the information on the disaster areas’ needs made available by the Northern Tsunami Disaster Volunteer Center, the volunteers were dispatched to the Okada District and the Gamou District in Miyagino Ward and worked to dump out the mud, remove debris from the wreckage, and clean up the victims’ houses in these areas, among other things. Since it was the first time for the volunteers to be engaged with such tasks as removing the sludge piled up in the ditches after the tsunami and cleaning up the debris, they struggled to make the desired progress. However, the gratitude expressed by the victims warmed up their heart and became their motivating power to work. Participants made comments such as “I realized how much damage tsunamis caused when I went to the disaster area,” “Although the work was hard, it was worth it,” and “I would like to participate in these types of activities again.”
The Advantest Group hopes to continue to be involved in any activities that would lead to support for the earthquake-hit areas in the future.
Advantest Taiwan Inc. participates in coastal cleaning activities
Coastal cleaning activities
Advantest Taiwan Inc. (ATI) participated in a coastal cleaning activity on June 5, 2011 hosted by the Environmental Protection Bureau of Hsinchu City in Taiwan.
Its objectives included the protection of marine resources and the reduction of CO2 emissions by reducing the amount of waste. A total of twenty ATI employees and their families, as well as about fifty organizations, participated in this activity. They picked up garbage on the coast for two and a half hours from 8:30 to 11:00 AM. The garbage they picked up included not only empty cans and waste paper but also what appeared to be illegally-dumped large trash, such as tires and an organ, which damaged the beautiful landscape and the nature of the coast. The participants were drenched with sweat during the cleaning activity in strong sunlight, but they were extremely satisfied with the fact that they were able to be part of an activity to protect the global environment.
ATI hopes to continue its proactive participation in activities to protect the nature and learn the importance of our environment with its employees and their families.
Rehabilitating houses and the donation activities in the US
House rehabilitation activities
Advantest America, Inc. (AAI) provides support to Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley’s activities as part of our ongoing corporate social responsibility effort. Rebuilding Together is a well-known US non-profit organization that rehabilitates houses of low-income, senior, and disabled homeowners for free.
In fiscal 2011, AAI donated USD 10,000 to Rebuilding Together. This donation will be used to finance the purchase of material required by various projects held in Silicon Valley. Also on October 22, 24 members from AAI and Verigy Ltd. volunteered to take part in a mobile home rehabilitation activity. Mobile homes are wheeled homes that can be pulled by trailers and while they are inexpensive, they are not very durable against heavy rains or strong winds. There are many people that continue to live in mobile homes that have been damaged because they don’t have the money for repairs. The work began at 8:00 in the morning and continued for long hours. Although it was physically challenging, all the volunteers worked together and managed to complete the entire rehabilitation before the day was over. The homeowner and their family members rejoiced to see their beautifully renewed house.
AAI and Verigy will continue to actively promote social contribution activities.
