Linking people to the future with OMRON窶冱 perspective on cutting edge technology
Since 2012 OMRON has been holding TOGA (The OMRON Global Awards), an opportunity for all group companies across the globe to share and celebrate stories of how employees are solving social issues by putting the OMRON Principles into practice in their work. Held on September 21 this year in front of a global employee audience, the 10th TOGA Global Meet showcased 17 projects selected from 6,944 entries created by a total of 51,736 employees.
Around the world, teams of OMRON group employees submit entries to TOGA that explain how they are putting the OMRON Principles into practice in their day-to-day work. The teams present to one another within their own countries or regions, and selected projects are then shared with the global employee body, to expand the circle of empathy and resonance with practical applications of the OMRON Principles. The 10th TOGA saw a total of 51,736 employees entering 6,944 projects--significantly more than the 9th TOGA. Seventeen of these--15 Gold awards and 2 Special awards--made it through the regional meets to be shared both within and beyond the OMRON group at the 10th TOGA Global Meet held in Kyoto on September 21.
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In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the TOGA Global Meet switched to an online format from the 8th Meet in 2020. This year, however, a hybrid format was used, with the option to participate either online or onsite with thorough infection countermeasures in place. At least 12,000 employees from across the globe joined to watch the presentations. Participation from outside the company is also growing year on year, and this year the Meet attracted a record 700 guests including customers, executives and associates of OMRON's business partners, investors, and media representatives. TOGA began as an initiative to aid the penetration of the OMRON Principles within the company, but the circle of empathy and resonance with employees' passionate efforts to solve social issues is now extending well beyond OMRON itself. Globally, a growing number of projects are being pursued collaboratively with partner companies interested in solving social issues together with OMRON.
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At the opening of the Meet, President and CEO of OMRON Corporation Yoshihito Yamada commented: "It's ten years since TOGA was launched, and the circle of resonance with efforts to put the OMRON Principles into practice is now extending to our OMRON colleagues across the world, as well as to many of our business partners. The important thing is to unleash the passion and ambition of every individual. By taking a step forward for yourself, you can trigger a spiral of empathy and resonance with those around you, which leads to the OMRON Principles being realized in practice. I invite all of you to work together to create new 'stories' that will be passed on to the next generation." CEO Yamada declared the Meet open with a rousing appeal to all employees and external guests: "The social issues confronting us are growing larger and more complex day by day. There's a limit to OMRON's ability to solve them single-handedly. I strongly and sincerely hope that going forward, we'll be able to work in partnership with people and organizations beyond OMRON as we continue to tackle social issues."
President and CEO Yamada declares the 10th TOGA Global Meet open縲
How did the teams approach their task of solving social problems? Here we introduce three of the 17 projects showcased at the Global Meet.
Carbon Neutral Manufacturing: Toward the Creation of Both Social and Economic Value
A team of the Industrial Automation Business in Japan worked on a project that involved exploring fundamental challenges in the achievement of carbon neutrality in manufacturing contexts, where greenhouse gases are produced in large volumes, as well as pursuing carbon neutral goals company-wide, beyond any single line of business. This was a story of a team working to generate solutions that harness the collective strengths of OMRON as a whole.
Protecting Employees' Health while Delivering Products to Customers Even Under "3 On The Spot" (Living at the Workplace) Rules
COVID-19 raged across the world in the summer of 2021. In Vietnam, while most factories were forced to close temporarily, a team of employees at the manufacturing hub Omron Healthcare Manufacturing Vietnam remained eagerly committed to keeping supply chains alive so that their products could reach waiting customers. The team members' story of how they pursued a unique method to sustain production left a deep impression on all those attending the Global Meet.
Mutual Aid to Transform Social Systems: Symbiotic MaaS "meemo"
A team from Social Systems in Japan presented an initiative called "meemo," a transportation service by and for local residents that was created through the united efforts of communities, local government, transport providers, and OMRON. Cities in rural and regional areas of Japan are experiencing problems of low birthrates, ageing, and population decline, which are generating serious labor shortages in public transportation services such as buses and taxis. Confronted by this social issue impacting residents' mobility, the team sought a way in eagerness to maintain transportation options and create sustainable communities. Their story told how they involved many different people as they gave shape to their passion for change.
Presentation by a team leader縲
To end the proceedings, Chairman Fumio Tateishi made the following comments looking back on the first ten years of the TOGA Global Meet. "This year's TOGA Global Meet marks not only the tenth anniversary of TOGA but also the first year of our long-term vision, Shaping the Future 2030. I feel that each year, there are more and more distinctively 'OMRON' projects rooted firmly in our commitment to solve social issues. This is surely because the realization of a better society as envisioned in the OMRON Principles corresponds with efforts to achieve a more sustainable society. In other words, putting the OMRON Principles into practice means pursuing sustainability. Taking on a challenge never ends without fruit. It bears fruit called lessons. Let's enjoy the challenge without fear of failure, and work together to create a better society, as envisioned in Shaping the Future 2030."
Chairman Tateishi delivers his closing remarksOMRON believes that working to create a better society is the same thing as working to achieve sustainability. Over the next ten years, through TOGA, OMRON will continue to expand the circle of empathy and resonance with the OMRON Principles within and outside OMRON itself, and pursue a variety of challenges toward the resolution of social issues.
