Sumitomo Light Metal is striving for a safe, healthy and effective work environment where our employees can work without worry and anxiety.

We are disclosing to all employees our personnel efficiency evaluating standards. The final evaluation of an employee is determined after multiple stages of evaluation in order to secure impartiality.

For managers, we have a goal management program. In this program, evaluation of the manager depends not only on results but also on process, innovativeness and difficulty. The result is disclosed to each manager at a semi-annual interview with his/her superior.

The "SLM Group's business ethical behavior handbook" expresses that employees must respect each other's personality and human rights and that no discrimination shall exist.

We provide regular seminars on human rights in employee training programs by level of responsibility. 135 employees attended the seminar in FY2009.

We are proactively employing persons with physically-callenged. Our employment rate of those with physically-callenged reached 2.17% as of June 2010, exceeding the statutory rate.

Re-employment of retired workers has been actively promoted through our Retirement Part-time Job Program. After the law concerning the stabilization of employment for elderly workers was amended, we established the "Retirement Re-employment Program" in April 2006 and have been running it along with the Retirement Part-time Job Program. As of September 31, 2010, about 170 people are working through these programs.

We believe in the importance of achieving a better work-life balance, which will bring out　the best　in our employees contributing to the growth of the company.

We created the "Labor-Management Committee of Working Hours" in FY2009 to minimize overtime and encourage the use of paid leave.

We are also focusing on an environment where harmony between working and raising children can be achieved, taking into consideration the Law for Measures to Support the Development of the Next-Generation. We obtained the Tokyo Labor Bureau's certification symbol mark, nicknamed Kurumin, which recognizes our efforts supporting the "work and family　balance".

The company is a union shop, where, under a labor agreement, all employees except managers become members of the Sumitomo Light Metal Workers' Union.

To build a work environment free of worry and anxiety, our labor union and management maintain discussions, based on mutual respect, through such occasions as: the Negotiation of Working Conditions held annually in spring, the quarterly Labor-Management Central Conference, meetings of Labor-Management Committee of Working Hours, labor-management conferences and welfare committees at offices and works, etc.

Sumitomo Light Metal Group has the Human Resource Development Center operated by ten staff members in Nagoya Works.

Our Human Resource Development Center arranges a variety of learning opportunities such as trainings by level of responsibility and skill building seminars by business department, as well as promoting the SK51 program. The Center supports OJTs and self-study programs as the basis for human resource development. It develops human resources that are not only professionally skilled but also future-oriented and motivated, who will unite to help us survive in the competitive 21st century.

Trainings by Responsibility Level

For employees in planning or clerical jobs, we provide compulsory trainings from their first year in the company through the third year. After that, employees are provided with training opportunities arranged in accordance with their respective levels of responsibility, such as when they are promoted from manager to general manager, for example.

For employees in technical production jobs, we provide compuｌsory trainings in their first, third and fifth year in the company. After that, employees are provided with training opportunities arranged in accordance with their respective levels of responsibility, such as when they move up from Senior Staff to Assistant Foreman, for example.

Skill Seminar by Business department

Apart from the training by responsibility level, we provide compulsory trainings by business department to help employees improve their skills necessary for their respective jobs.

Main subjects of the trainings include product knowledge, patent/contract, logical thinking, leadership, problem solution (i.e. QC paraphernalia, new QC paraphernalia and QC story), human relationship/communication and PC literacy (PC for beginners, Excel for beginner/intermediate levels, PowerPoint).

The Human Resource Development Center is also committed to Group employee education. In FY2009, 16.9% of the participants in the trainings by responsibility level and 20.6% of the participants in trainings by business department were from Group companies.

Program Outline

As a driving factor of "further enhance technological development", which is one of the fundamental policies of SV12, the new medium-term management plan, we have included "enhancement of "Staff-ryoku"-increasing the efficiency of staff" in addition to "enhancement of technology development and "Genba-ryoku"-continually improving the actions of the manufacturing line". In 2009, as the primary measure for improving"Staff-ryoku", we started an across-the-group program called SK50. This program is dedicated to developing and improving human resources within worksites by staff segment (i.e. non-production segment).

"SK50" stands for "Staff", "Kaizen" (improvement) and "50th anniversary" of the company' foundation which was celebrated in 2009. "50"also represents improving the staff performance efficiency and quality by 50% and building the basis to survive for another 50 years.

Major tasks of SK50 are "Own-process completion ", "Worksite Learning" and "5S action", of which we are currently concentrating on is "Own-process completion".

Commitment to "Own-process completion"

In staff segment, "Own-process completion" means that one, a staff member, must not do one's own duty poorly. One must consider how one could influence the customers or other staff members waiting downstream for one's performance results. It also means that one must not try to blame others. One must, instead, have pride and take full responsibility for one's duties, making things better and completing your own duties by yourself. To implement "Own-process completion", we have tailored our own method based on that from Toyota Motor Corporation.

The trial of SK50 started in all of the Group companies in June 2009. In April 2010, "SK50 Promotion Team" was established within the Human Resource Development Department to promote the program across the Group.

All of the company's departments and sectors including Corporate Administration Marketing & Sales Division, Production Division and Research & Development Center have started SK50, implementing about 200 themes with nearly 400 improvements completed before November 2010. Activity case presentations and exhibitions are taking place continuously in each area of our offices and works, and efforts at our affiliates are also getting underway.

Structuring "Worksite Learning"

The Production Division is trying a systematic OJT approach to improve the level of technical staff, using the "Individual Development Sheet" tailored to each segment's characteristics.

The Marketing & Sales Division also have started to prepare the structure for promoting systematic, continuous and effective OJT.

Staff Segment's Commitment to 5S action

"5S" stands for "Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu and Shitsuke", which mean "organizing, tidying, cleaning, cleanliness and discipline". We think that 5S action is as important for the non-production segment as it is for the production segment. Specific programs are planned to start in 2011 or later.

The continuation of product quality retention and productivity improvement is impossible without handing down the time-tested craftsmanship, experience and skills to future generations.

Preparing for the massive retirement of expert technicians, the company established "Seihan Gijuku"Aluminum (Sheet Rolling Workshop) in the sheet division of Nagoya Factory in 2004. Expert technicians there are making efforts for their skills, senses, knacks and other knowhows to be handed down continuously through generations. Similar programs are taking place at "Shindo Gijuku"(Copper Product Workshop) in the copper product division and at "Oshidashi Gijuku"Aluminum (Extrusion Workshop) in the extrusion division in Sumikei Techno Nagoya. This program has now been implemented across the Group.