OMRON Taiyo Obtains Certification for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Excelling in the Employment of Persons with Disabilities (MONISU Certification System)Recognition for the Company’s Work Toward Diversity & Inclusion

• July 02, 2021

On June 18, 2021, OMRON Corporation special subsidiary OMRON Taiyo Co., Ltd. obtained certification under the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s MONISU Certification System for small and medium-sized enterprises excelling in the employment of persons with disabilities.

OMRON Taiyo President Ikuo Tateishi (Right) Accepts the Letter of Certification from Akihiko Nakayama, the Director General of the Oita Labour Bureau (Left).

Under the MONISU Certification System launched last year, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare certifies small and medium-sized enterprises excelling in their initiatives related to promoting and securing the employment of persons with disabilities. OMRON Taiyo is only the second company headquartered in Oita prefecture to receive MONISU Certification.

OMRON Taiyo was established as Japan’s first welfare factory in 1972, alongside the social welfare organization Japan Sun Industries. Since then, guided by the notion of “Working for the Benefit of Society”, OMRON Taiyo has upheld the OMRON Principle of “Respect for All” as it works to be a place where everyone can make full use of their individual attributes and capabilities, regardless of whether or not they have a disability. MONISU Certification recognizes the company’s proactive initiatives in areas such as building an environment that expands the opportunities for employment and advancement of persons with disabilities, and providing opportunities for training that supports the upskilling of each individual employee.

Citation for MONISU Certification
OMRON Taiyo has been employing persons with disabilities for the past 49 years. The company has sixteen vocational consultants for persons with disabilities (five of whom have disabilities themselves) and three in-house workplace adaptation support officers (one of whom has a disability), and it implements in-house training programs for its consultants and pursues skills enhancement and workplace information-sharing. It uses this accumulated know-how as the basis for accepting numerous requests for factory inspection tours and practical workplace training, including employment-related consultations.

• Realizing Diversity & Inclusion
  In order to respond to the employment needs of persons with psychological and intellectual disabilities, the company has been advancing “universal manufacturing” initiatives and continues to develop a more conducive working environment for a diverse range of individuals, regardless of disability.
• Enhancement of In-house Training (understanding one another’s disabilities)
  Since FY2017, the company has operated “human development training” programs to foster deeper mutual understanding, including comprehension of and attentiveness to the characteristics of different disabilities.
• Production of Video Manuals (to facilitate understanding of work processes)
  The company has produced video manuals for employees with intellectual disabilities in its manufacturing division to enable them to master workplace skills more easily.
• Employing Persons with Disabilities in Career-Track Positions (receiving the Good Career Company Award
  OMRON Taiyo has established two grading systems to cater for the disability types and levels of each and every employee. The company uses these systems to support gradual skills enhancement based on development plans tailored to individual characteristics.

OMRON Taiyo President Ikuo Tateishi offered the following comment on the certification: “This is a very significant certification, the second of its type granted in Oita prefecture. The initiatives it recognizes are the ideas leading to the OMRON Principles of 'Human beings are at the center of everything and protect the dignity of all human beings' and based on the importance we have continued to attach to the value of 'Respect for All.' Next year, OMRON Taiyo will celebrate its 50th anniversary. It is our mission to chart a course for the next 50 years, work towards it, and share it with others. We will continue to contribute to the creation of a society where initiatives like ours will one day be commonplace.”

OMRON Taiyo President Ikuo Tateishi (Second from Left) Holds the Certification Letter for a Commemorative Photograph

Guided by the OMRON Principles, OMRON will continue working to provide opportunities for diverse employees, including those with disabilities, to maximize their individual talents and attributes, and thereby generate innovation and contribute to the creation of a better society: an abundant society where everyone can thrive.

About the MONISU Certification System for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Excelling in the Employment of Persons with Disabilities
Under this system, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare certifies small and medium-sized enterprises excelling in their initiatives related to promoting and securing the employment of persons with disabilities.
In addition to providing an incentive for companies to pursue the employment of persons with disabilities, the certification system is designed to give public exposure to the initiatives undertaken by certified enterprises as role models for the employment of persons with disabilities in their region, and enable other operators to use them as a point of reference, thereby advancing the employment of persons with disabilities across the entire small and medium-sized enterprise sector.
The certification system is known affectionately as “MONISU,” part of Japanese words “Tomoni Susumu” meaning to move forward together, to represent the hope that employers and persons with disabilities will move forward together toward a brighter future and society.

About the Good Career Awards (conferred by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare)These awards are used by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to recognize employers pursuing autonomous career development support for their employees.

OMRON Taiyo Co., Ltd.
OMRON Taiyo Co., Ltd. was founded in 1972 as Japan’s first welfare factory: a collaboration between a welfare facility, people with disabilities, and a private company that was inspired by the shared ideals of OMRON’s founder Kazuma Tateishi, and the founder of the social welfare corporation Japan Sun Industries, Dr. Yutaka Nakamura. Ever since its founding, the company has assigned duties tailored to each individual employee’s abilities, deployed a variety of technologies, and harnessed the initiative and ingenuity of all its employees to create an accessible working environment for both those with disabilities and those without. It currently manufactures products including relay sockets for control components, which are OMRON’s main product line, and various types of switches including thumb rotary switches. Through factory inspection tours, lectures and the like, the company shares the insights and know-how in the employment of persons with disabilities that it has accumulated over many years, thereby helping to expand employment opportunities of persons with disabilities and improve their working environment.
https://components.omron.com/taiyo/en/