Production Site in Wuxi, China, Achieves First “Green Factory Certification Sytem Level 2” Among Business Technologies Factories
- Adoption of Industrial Engineering Drives Environmental Impact Reduction and Productivity Enhancement -

Tokyo (March 4, 2014) - Konica Minolta, Inc. (Konica Minolta) today announced that its manufacturing subsidiary, Konica Minolta Business Technologies (WUXI) Co., Ltd. (Wuxi Factory) in Wuxi, China, has been certified with Level 2 status of the Green Factory Certification System. Konica Minolta has implemented its unique Green Factory Certification System for comprehensive evaluation of the environmental activities of its production sites. Wuxi Factory is the first to be certified with Level 2 status among Konica Minolta's worldwide Business Technologies manufacturing plants.

Konica Minolta has been running the Green Factory Certification System since January 2010, as one of pillars helping it reach the goals in its Medium-Term Environmental Plan 2015. The system has a set of targets called “Level 2” to be achieved by fiscal 2015 in each of its objectives: preventing global warming; supporting a recycling-oriented society; reducing the risks of chemical substances; restoring and preserving biodiversity; and so on. Production sites around the world have been developing their environmental initiatives to meet the Level 2 goals. The Level 2 criteria include significant reduction in CO₂ emissions, waste discharged externally and petroleum-based resource waste. Additionally, the production sites must meet requirements based on the guidelines with approximately 250 items regarding the implementation process of the initiatives.

Toward the Level 2 certification, Wuxi Factory has launched a number of initiatives since 2012 to boost productivity, based on the belief that higher productivity is the key to further reduce environmental impact. The factory adopted a new technique to review thoroughly the efficiency and detailed movement in the operation at the production lines, based on “Industrial Engineering (IE) Work Analysis.” It has successfully led to reduction in production time and floor space and, consequently, contributed to cutting down energy consumption including air conditioning and lighting. Having fostered in-house IE work analysis specialists, Konica Minolta has been able to utilizing their accumulated expertise globally at its production sites across the company, as one of its strengths in manufacturing. In addition, Wuxi Factory has held Kaizen (improvement) contest to appraise employees' hands-on creative ideas and drive all-out efforts. These initiatives have helped employees change in the way of thinking and enhance ability to devise solutions on their own.

Another activity adopted at Wuxi Factory is 3R (Reduce; Reuse; and Recycle) of resin waste in the molding processes. With the development and introduction of molding dyes which do not produce waste, along with other techniques, resin usage has been largely reduced. As a result of these and other various multi-faceted initiatives, the factory has reduced CO₂ emissions by 38%^*, petroleum-based resource waste by 60%^*, and externally discharged waste by 65%^* against the baseline year of fiscal 2007, respectively. These activities in the Green Factory Certification System have not only reduced the CO₂ emissions, but also contributed to the enhancement of manufacturing capability such as productivity improvement and further cost cutting.

*

per unit of sales

Under the communication message “Giving Shape to Ideas,” Konica Minolta will continue contributing to solutions for social challenges and executing strong growth by globally driving environmentally responsible production and strong competitive edges through innovations in manufacturing processes.

Overview of Konica Minolta Business Technologies (WUXI) Co., Ltd.

For additional information about Konica Minolta's Green Factory Certification System, please visit:
//www.konicaminolta.com/about/csr/environment/progress/green-factory.html