Supporting both the ecology and the economy

As concern for the global environment grows, the demand for environmentally conscious production is on the rise.

OMRON considers it a manufacturer's responsibility to create products using resources as efficiently as possible. Based on this awareness, the Monozukuri Innovation Headquarters is promoting environmentally conscious production.

Although production tends to put priorities on costs over all else, OMRON also pays attention to the cost of waste generated during production (OMRON calls it a 'negative product') and has already launched a 'no waste emission' initiative through the reduction of negative product costs. As part of this effort, a trial launch of an environmental management accounting system is being planned.

With this system, all the resources used on OMRON's production lines, including raw materials, energy and water, are first classified into positive and negative products. The system then encourages effective utilization of resources by assessing both products in terms of volume and costs.

30-year commitment to safety and security

In recent years, information security has become more and more a part of corporate social responsibility. Companies that acquire ISMS* (Information Security Management System) certification and Privacy Mark have been rising steadily. However, the industrial community in Japan traditionally tends to put efficiency and productivity first, while postponing other considerations. The manufacturing industry, in particular, has fallen behind other sectors in terms of security measures. As employees become more diverse and mobile, the manufacturing industry faces an urgent need to implement effective security measures.

For more than 30 years, OMRON has provided security solutions mainly for schools, tenant buildings, public service areas and financial institutions through access control. In 2004, OMRON launched a security solutions business, and since then has concentrated its efforts on enhancing security for the manufacturing industry by drawing on its own experience in in-house security measures as a manufacturer.

* ISMS is a system of management concerned with information security. It requires companies/organizations to have a management system that sets security levels and conducts risk assessment based on established rules.

Developing optimal solutions through risk assessment of all corporate assets

ASMS (Asset Security Management System) is the key concept behind OMRON's security solutions business. While ISMS concerns security of information and intellectual property, ASMS aims to protect all corporate assets including personnel and equipment in addition to these intangible assets.

When presenting ASMS-based security solutions to a client, OMRON first surveys the client's workplace to assess its assets and the company's current status. All potential risks for tangible and intangible assets are then visualized by plotting them on a coordinates plane, with the vertical and horizontal axes indicating severity and frequency, respectively. Careful risk assessment is then carried out along the flow starting from definition of risks through detailed examination/analysis to target setting. This process enables OMRON to propose solutions that are ideally tailored to each client.

Risk Assessment Flow

More people-friendly security systems

At the end of March 2007, OMRON delivered security systems to Olympus Corporation's head office and plants in Japan.

OMRON's security system centers on access control using IC cards distributed to all employees. At Olympus plants in Hachioji and Tatsuno, the IC card is used in combination with a wireless RFID tag, enabling detection and tracking of many people entering and exiting facilities at the same clock-in and clock-out times. This meets Olympus' need for correctly keeping track of employees coming to work and leaving from work while at the same time maintaining security. OMRON also provided considerations for people with disabilities who face difficulty touching their IC cards against the card reader by suggesting a keyless entry system that automatically opens the door when a person presses the RFID tag button.

A dependable partner for clients

For this project, OMRON handled everything from determination of specifications and development of a system to its deployment and operation in the workplace. Exacting rules were in place for the access of information provided by Olympus, so that the administrator had centralized control over the information and strict prohibition of access by unauthorized personnel.

To explain the introduction of the security system to Olympus employees, OMRON staff organized seminars to help deepen understanding of the importance of security measures. This reflects OMRON's belief that employee education and other programs to promote employee awareness are as essential as the deployment itself for enhanced security.

OMRON's security solutions allow clients to visualize potential risks concerned with all assets, including information, personnel, equipment and others. This helps the client company to understand risks and issues that were previously not detected. Toward this end, OMRON endeavors to build an optimal system at both the hardware (system components) and software (system operation) levels. In this way, OMRON aims to serve as a dependable partner for client companies.

Example of Risk Map with Axes of Severity and Frequency