Green Management of Hitachi Global Storage Technology

At 11:00 am, just after a conference call on global business strategy, Hua Ping came to the conference room on the first floor to accept our interview. Hitachi Global Storage Technology Co., Ltd. has tens of thousands of employees in China. As the company's chief representative and general operations director, Hua Ping has always regarded the implementation of the company's green environmental protection strategy as one of the priorities.

“Hitachi Global Storage Technologies and its parent company, Hitachi Group, are committed to reducing the impact and burden on the environment at every stage of the product cycle. From energy-efficient design to environmentally friendly production, to product reuse and recycling. Hua Ping said, "Some companies believe that strict environmental protection standards and improvement of environmental quality will increase the cost of the company, resulting in higher product prices and lower competitiveness, but our practice shows that continuous improvement and investment in green management of enterprises will , which can improve productivity, and ultimately achieve a combination of environmental improvement and competitiveness."

As one of the leading companies in the hard disk industry, Hitachi Global Storage Technology's business in Greater China achieved continuous growth in 2009, with an output value reaching $2 billion. The good news is that the emissions of carbon dioxide and waste, water consumption and consumption of chemical organic solvents in the three factories of Hitachi Global Storage Technology in China have continued to drop sharply. Taking Hitachi Global Storage Products (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., which manufactures hard disks as an example, in 2009, the amount of waste per unit product decreased by 22.5% compared with 2008, the emission of carbon dioxide decreased by 40.2%, and the water consumption decreased by 32.5%. consumption decreased by 22.98%.

How does Hitachi Global Storage China implement the green strategy and achieve its own sustainable development? Hua Ping, the director of general operations, and Fang Guoqing, the environmental, health and safety manager in charge of Hitachi Global Storage Technology (Shenzhen), detailed the measures for us.

Let the green strategy be implemented

In December 2007, Hitachi Group released a long-term plan called "Environmental Vision 2025". One of the clear goals is to use Hitachi Group's products in a global scale by 2025. 100 million tons of carbon dioxide emission reduction every year.

After the Hitachi Group set the goal of "Environmental Vision 2025", it also formulated annual action plans with the "Green Compass" as the core, and then decomposed it into subsidiaries such as Hitachi Global Storage Technology. The "green compass" covers action guidelines in four directions: N for providing new-age products and services; E for environmental awareness and global environmental operations; S for factories and offices with a high degree of environmental protection; W for the environment with stakeholders cooperation.

In 2007, Hitachi Global Storage Technology (Shenzhen) Company invested 3.24 million yuan to build and put into use an industrial wastewater reuse system, which can treat 3,000 tons of disk rinsing wastewater every day to a level that exceeds the water quality standard of Shenzhen City. reused in ultrapure water equipment. "Our used water can be recycled and put into industrial production. It can be used for watering flowers, raising fish, and for employees to wash their hands." Hua Ping said jokingly.

Promoting environmental protection means increasing costs, and consumers favor low-cost, high-quality products. This acute question plagues Chinese entrepreneurs. The experience of Hitachi Global Storage Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. shows that the implementation of environmental protection does not mean an increase in cost. When the cost of the initial investment exceeds the former after a period of time, the final performance is the overall decrease in cost.

After the industrial wastewater reuse system is completed, the company's municipal water consumption has dropped from 4,500 tons per day before reuse to about 2,000 tons per day, saving 700,000 tons of water per year. So far, the system has saved 1.75 million tons of water and saved 6.66 million yuan in cost, which is twice the investment.

In the same year, Hitachi Global Storage Technology (Shenzhen) also invested RMB 12.6 million to replace the original isopropanol product drying machine with a thermal ultrapure water product drying machine, which reduced the consumption of isopropanol by 235 tons in that year. It greatly reduces the emission of isopropanol waste liquid, natural gas and carbon dioxide consumed by incinerating isopropanol waste gas. While contributing to amelioration of global warming, it also reduces costs and risks associated with the transportation and storage of large quantities of flammable products.

“After we have the environmental concept, we have an action plan for environmental improvement every year.” Hua Ping analyzed, “In 2009, Hitachi Global Storage Technology China mainly focused on preventing the greenhouse effect, recycling resources, and protecting ecosystems. The head office evaluates the implementation of the goals three times a year. The results are reported to the responsible managers at all levels, and the outstanding projects are required to be commended. The department managers who have not completed the plan are ordered to make rectifications to ensure the overall strategy. Procedural advancement.”

Pollution prevention begins with the establishment of a factory

Many times, building environmental advantages requires extensive efforts from all levels of the company, but the real environmental protection efforts begin with advocacy and promotion at the top. Hua Ping told us that the three factories of Hitachi Global Storage Technology in Greater China in China were all considering the specific issues of environmental protection at the beginning of the construction of the factories.

The three factories are Shenzhen Mass Storage Equipment Co., Ltd. established in 1995 to produce magnetic heads, Hitachi Global Storage Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. established in 1998 to produce magnetic disks and tape heads, and established in 2004 with an investment of US$500 million Hitachi Global Storage Products (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. produces super hard drives.

In the beginning, the company's senior management consulted a professional environmental consulting company on important issues such as factory design, purchase of environmental protection facilities, and how to implement a sewage recycling system, and made large-scale capital investment in environmental protection projects when building a factory in Shenzhen , the total investment reached 133 million, of which more than 60 million was invested in industrial wastewater treatment, more than 5 million in industrial wastewater reuse, more than 9 million in domestic wastewater treatment facilities, and more than 2.5 million in industrial waste gas incineration. There is also continuous investment in noise treatment, solid waste treatment, and chemical treatment.

To the satisfaction of Huaping and Hitachi Global Storage Technology's employees in China, the three factories passed the ISO14001 environmental management system certification in the early stage of construction. In 2008, the three factories were rated as "Super Environmental Protection Factory”, was selected from more than 100 group subsidiaries.

Participating in Hitachi Global Storage Technology (Shenzhen) for nearly two years, Fang Guoqing, Manager of Environment, Health and Safety, was deeply touched by this. Many details of environmental protection implementation make him feel the difference of the company. For example, in order to prevent the leakage of chemicals, the company established underground collection pools at some locations where chemicals may be loaded and unloaded when building the factory. "In case of accidental leakage, the company can minimize the impact on the environment. To do this well, it requires the initial investment of land and capital. It can be seen that the company's top management attaches great importance to environmental protection. This is also a few times I have worked. Among the companies, it is the only company that prevents chemical leakage and has an implementation philosophy." Fang Guoqing said.

In addition, in order to protect the original underground water sources, Hitachi Global Storage Technology (Shenzhen) invested more than 200,000 yuan to build 11 groundwater monitoring wells, and spent 100,000 yuan each year to strictly monitor groundwater sources. "At present, Shenzhen's environmental protection law enforcement agencies only require some seriously polluted circuit board companies to do groundwater monitoring, but there are no requirements for ordinary companies. We are using international standards to require ourselves to make a contribution to environmental protection." Fang National Day said.

Work together to save energy and reduce emissions

During the visit to Hitachi Global Storage Technology (Shenzhen) Company, we found that the temperature of the office area is suitable, and there is no phenomenon that the temperature of some office buildings is too low. The company's escort said that the temperature in the office is kept at about 25 degrees all year round, and the lighting system uses energy-saving lamps. Employees will turn off the lights when they go out to eat at noon. The escalator between the first and second floors is not turned on, but is used as an ordinary staircase. Use, firstly, it can save electricity, and secondly, it can urge employees to climb more stairs to exercise; cold air conditioners are installed in the office, and air is mainly supplied in winter to save electricity.

“Only every employee participates in environmental protection and energy conservation, and everyone works together, our energy conservation and emission reduction effect can be continuously improved and improved.” Hua Ping said, “With the determination and leadership of the senior management, middle-level managers and front-line employees can Invest in environmental protection."

Hitachi Global Storage Products (Shenzhen) Company vigorously promotes solar water heating projects. Longgang's staff quarters have installed solar energy facilities, saving 800,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity every year. Electricity cost savings reached 400,000 RMB. The project has saved a total of 4 million kWh of electricity from its establishment to the present, and the electricity cost saved has reached 3 million yuan. "Green environmental protection is not only in the factory area, but also in the dormitory and living space." Hua Ping concluded.

Hitachi Global Storage Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. is constantly innovating its production process to reduce energy consumption and pollution. For example, industrial raw materials for the production of magnetic tapes and disks use nitrogen. Nitrogen needs to be liquefied before it can be transported. Second, the transportation of vehicles requires diesel fuel and pollution. Now it has been changed to on-site nitrogen production. The nitrogen manufacturing base is within 200 meters of the disk factory, connected by laid pipelines, and directly transported, which eliminates the consumption of electricity during liquefaction and reduces carbon dioxide emissions caused by vehicle transportation. This process can save 2.56 million kWh of electricity a year. With on-site nitrogen production, the daily supply reaches 30 tons, which also brings significant cost savings.

“A project recently completed by a colleague in the facility department has achieved remarkable energy-saving effect.” Fang Guoqing said, “Our production base is located in Shenzhen Futian Free Trade Zone, where the purification room needs to maintain constant temperature and humidity all year round. Shenzhen’s climate is very dry in winter. , It is necessary to continuously humidify the clean room during the three months of winter. In the past, the process adopted was to turn water into water vapor through electric heating to increase the humidity of the air in the clean room. In this process, with the generation of water vapor, the temperature also increases. In 2009, colleagues in the facility department found new equipment in the market for 'high pressure atomization', which directly atomized water, which is just a simple power Consumption, without the process of heating, the entire energy consumption is greatly reduced. This equipment was put into use in December last year. According to estimates, its power consumption is 98% less than the original process of electric heating water, with 3 months in winter and 20 days per month It is roughly estimated that the company can save electricity bills up to 1 million yuan a year.”

Building a Green Supply Chain

Hitachi Global Storage Technology Co., Ltd. realizes that it is necessary to establish a long-term, reliable, green and safe supply chain in China. , in addition to its own business operations to meet environmental protection requirements, but also to drive all business partners in the supply chain to fulfill corporate social responsibility. Huaping said: "We classify all suppliers and conduct on-site environmental assessments for suppliers that may have significant environmental impacts, such as hazardous waste, chemical operations, etc. In addition, the company has also set a 'green supplier' target, requiring 80% Suppliers must establish an environmental management system. We will give priority to suppliers who are environmentally conscious and responsible for the environment.”

In August 2006, under the advocacy of Shenzhen Environmental Protection Bureau, Hitachi Global Storage Technology and other 12 and other enterprises signed and issued the "Declaration of Green Procurement" at the Civic Center, advocating the protection of the environment and the reduction of waste discharge. This declaration aims to make enterprises pay more attention to reducing waste from product front-end design, raw material selection and other sources.

Since 2006, Hitachi Global Storage has designated September 20 as its "Corporate Social Responsibility Day". "On this day, we will make the green environmental protection activities of the past year into publicity materials, and display them for employees to share and improve employees' environmental protection awareness." Hua Ping said, "In 2010, our environmental protection work focus is still through various We will continue to strive for the goal of zero emissions. Our environmental protection work will run through the entire life cycle of the product, including the product design process, transportation process, production process, use process, and finally the scrapping process. On the one hand, the efficiency will be improved. , on the other hand, reduce energy consumption, and ultimately minimize our load on the social environment."

Green Compass

Green Compass covers action guidelines in four directions:

N means to provide new-age products and services;

E means environmental awareness and global environmental management;

S means factories and offices with a high degree of environmental protection;

W means environmental collaboration with stakeholders.

Green highlights:

1. According to the environmental vision given by the headquarters, an action plan for environmental improvement is established every year.

2. Senior leaders attach great importance to environmental protection. In the early stage of construction, they cooperate with professional environmental consulting companies on specific environmental protection issues, and invest a lot of money in environmental protection projects.

3. Encourage every employee to participate in environmental protection and energy conservation, and the effect of energy conservation and emission reduction has been continuously improved and improved.

4. Establish a green supplier system, committed to driving business partners in the supply chain to fulfill corporate social responsibilities.