Month: August 2024

Wonderful every WT – WT Microelectronics’30th anniversary

Posted on by vicky_yeh@bwnet.com.tw

One Step Further Towards Global Presence with Future

WT Group announced in September 2023 that it had signed a formal agreement to amalgamate Canadian Future Electronics Inc. in all cash at an enterprise value of US$3.8 billion. The amalgamation of the two highly complementary companies in terms of product types, customer portfolio, global presence, and logistics center layouts is expected to create long-term and sustainable growth value for all stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, employees and shareholders.

 

WT and Future will jointly shape a world-class leading electronic components distributor with its dual headquarters in Taipei and Montreal. This amalgamation will create long-term and sustainable value for all stakeholders, and marks a significant milestone for WT’s journey towards a world-class enterprise.

Innovative design for the exclusive 30th anniversary logo

The exclusive logo, with the W in the classic logo turned into number 3, symbolizes an imagined flying bird. The circuit board shading and highlights on the bird’s body represent a profound industrial significance and great expectations, that it will fly high and far around the world for a prosperous future.

The logo has a blue and green color scheme, with blue representing honesty, trust, and professionalism, and green representing rebirth, hope, and growth. The two colors are also colors with a sense of technology. The blue-green gradient symbolizes the company’s constant growth and evolution on a steady and solid foundation.

 

Naming contest for WT’s 30th anniversary special exhibition

The sense of involvement makes a successful event. “Every Wonderful Chapter WT Wrote” was selected from 308 submissions, for the name faithfully describes the journey in WT’s first 30 years. Indeed, every chapter of the story, be it a struggle, joy or surprise, is wonderful.

“Every Wonderful Chapter WT Wrote” WT Microelectronics’30th anniversary

In order to further unite the employees and build a solid foundation for sustainable development in the future, a series of events were organized to help our people to know ourselves better. In particular, a 30th anniversary gala was held at the end of the year, and a special exhibition in the offices. The exhibition of precious materials relating to the group’s history, core values, and vision, was like a time machine, taking the visitors back to 1993. An interactive well-wishes was also put up, and the special exhibition features a quiz and lucky draw activity. The quiz offered prizes including WT limited edition OMAR whiskey gift sets, tickets and vouchers for well-known art and cultural exhibitions.

WT Microelectronics’30th anniversary gifts for employees

The employees have been playing the most significant role in moving the company forward. As a token of appreciation, a portable tea cup sets set along with a fashionable and comfortable Polo shirt were given to every employee. In addition, the portable tea cup gift box also provides engraving services for employees with more than 15 years of service to express our gratitude to our employees.

WT cares to plan the best and most complete career blueprint for employees

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An enterprise’s development stems from its belief in talent cultivation. WT group values the comprehensive development of employees and creates a work environment suitable for the right people. In a fast-changing environment, in order to equip the talent pool with the capacity to adapt to future changes, WT has established a training and development plan to effectively translate learning into performance.

In 2023, WT invested NT$ 4,825,705 in total in education and training. Throughout the year, 458 sessions of training were given to 17,587 person-times, totaling 27,398 hours. The average training hours of all employees were 7.91 hours. On average, female employees received 0.61 hours more training than their male counterparts.

Total Training Spend and Time, 2019-2023

More training sessions and higher attendance: adapting to micro-courses to enhance learning effectiveness

 

Three major optimization measures for talent development in 2023

  1. Improve departmental OJT (On the Job Training) awareness：In addition to general training of the Company, each department in Taiwan has customized department-specific product technology courses based on the different attributes of the products and customers they are responsible for, including product knowledge, technology content, and experience sharing. In 2023, a total of 3,127 person-times received 6,322 hours of physical and digital learning.
  2. Strengthen process optimization training：The Company is committed to improving its work efficiency of each operating process, promoting digital optimization, and strengthening training when a system is launched. In 2023, a total of 1,766 person-times received 3,272 hours of physical and digital learning.
  3. Promote personal career development plans：There are currently more than 30 people being trained and rotated in the “Want Talent” elite training program.

Enhanced New Hire Training Program

  1. Mentorship system：Supervisors or senior employees are appointed as mentors to help the new hires fit into the company culture and work environment.
  2. New hire training program：The new hire training starts from the on-board date, and provides courses on functional skills in basic stage (1-3 months) and advanced stage (after 6 months) to familiarize new hires with corporation processes and key policies.
  3. The program adopts on-the-job training method and is conducted in an online and offline blended learning mode in a step-by-step manner to help new hires to develop relevant functional skills.

Enhanced overseas training capacity

Integrating internal and external resources to promote hybrid learning

With the advent of the digital era, WT introduced the WT e-Learning Academy, a digital learning platform that combines online and in-person learning. In the post-pandemic world, learning styles have changed and the proportion of digital learning has increased. Based on WT’s training and development plan, WT e-Learning Academy has established courses in five categories, combining e-newsletters, a knowledge center, and online courses to integrate internal and external resources and enrich the platform’s content, while becoming a platform for linking WT’s knowledge transmission and communication. WT will continue to refine and hold regular course planning workshops in the hope of providing richer training resources to all employees through continuous innovation.

Want Talent, an elite development program for promising talents

To provide a better career pathway program, WT launched the “Want Talent” elite training program and recruited selected new graduates for the program. In addition to soft skills and technical courses, job rotation training and participation in important projects and large-scale conferences are organized for them to gain a comprehensive understanding of the core concepts of the Company’s operation. Furthermore, senior executives and the human resources department show regular care for them, provide them career guidance, and plan their individual advancement goals and development, to keep them in a changing and challenging work environment. Meanwhile, salary adjustments and rank promotions have been made according to performance and market standard of the individual, offering market competitive salary and fair benefits.

Meetings with promising talents to check and bond with them

The Chief Human Resources officer and HRBP meet with promising young talents regularly to check in on their career needs and their unit supervisors’ feedback, in order to prepare them for leadership and bond with them.

 

Promoting three major waste reduction policies: waste sorting, recycling, and reusing packaging materials

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WT is committed to source reduction and recycling, and selects qualified suppliers to properly dispose the waste. The waste generated during WT’s operation is mainly made up of operational waste, daily-life waste discarded by employees, and redundant sample ICs in the offices, and cartons, paper boards, fillers and waste left from carton sealing at the logistics centers.

WT has been proactively making sustainability efforts. It plans to optimize and transform internal meeting setups to meet the prerequisite of being eco-friendly and beneficial for sustainability. Meetings will be plastic-free and disposablefree. In principle, no disposable tableware or plastic bags will be used. Meeting venues will be decorated with artificial flowers as they are more reusable, and bottled water will be replaced with glasses towards the ultimate goal of plastic-free meetings. In addition, the offices will buy less and less single-use consumables for daily operations and use durable recyclable products whenever possible. Waste reduction and carbon reduction awareness campaign for employees will be intensified, and waste sorting and recycling measures implemented to achieve the goal of waste reduction.

As of the end of 2023, no hazardous waste is generated. Among the non-hazardous waste, the recyclables are collected and reused, while the non-recyclables are incinerated with energy recovery. No waste is land-filled. The total amount of waste was 132.56 tons, down 17.90 tons or 11.90% relative to 2022. Daily-life waste has decreased over the years, mainly as a result of effective waste reduction and sorting practices.

Improving logistics operations and implementing green transportation

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As logistics operations is its most important operational activity besides integrated product sales and services, WT implements the low-carbon internal logistics operation strategy through four major logistics operation improvements. In addition, with regard to the transportation carbon reduction emissions strategy, it has also begun to evaluate the feasibility of green transportation.

 

Updating warehouse equipment to improve energy efficiency

As 3C products must be stored in a constant temperature and humidity environment to maintain their quality and performance, a 3C product warehouse must be equipped with appliances such as air conditioners, dehumidifiers, etc. WT continues to introduce and connect intelligent temperature and humidity monitors to AC controllers to reduce energy consumption.

 

Introducing advanced electronic systems for comprehensive paperless inventory management

WT has five logistics centers, located in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Singapore, and South Korea. When a purchase order is placed, the shortest footprint across the supply chain as well as the respective demand and inventory of these locations are taken into account by the system to determine and designate a logistic center for the vendors to ship to.

An advanced logistics system has been deployed to all the logistics centers to achieve paperless electronic operations, while handheld devices are used to scan product and storage placement barcodes for all warehouse handling including receiving, shipment, and relocation. Accounting and location is updated in real-time by the system, replacing the significant amount of paperwork that it used to involve.

 

Largely cutting paper use by shipment consolidation and electronic procedures

In addition to requiring vendors to ship goods to designated logistics centers, WT also works with customers to consolidate purchase orders for shipment whenever possible to minimize transportation trips and carbon mileage. In 2023, order consolidation reduced the number of shipments by nearly 250,000, or 56.65%. Among them, the Shenzhen logistics center serves a relatively small number of customers and thus has difficulties in consolidating shipment orders.

 

Buying less new cartons and filling materials by reusing packaging cartons

Through the integrated management of sales orders and purchase orders, some received products can be shipped out in full boxes. They will be put into storage in their original packaging without unpacking. No waste will be generated. If repackaging is necessary, the removed cartons and all the fillers within will be collected upon receiving process. The cartons will be classified as “eco-friendly cartons” for reuse. For shipment packaging, recycled cartons will be used whenever possible to reduce the use of new cartons. The fillers used to protect the products in the cartons are made of bio-degradable materials.

In 2020, Taiwan and Hong Kong began to keep track of the amount of fillers used (in meters). An average of 0.21 meters of fillers were used per carton in 2023, down by 43.24% from 2020. The unit usage in 2023 increased slightly from 2022, because a new standard packaging and filling procedure was introduced to meet customers’ request for better product protection. Singapore and South Korea Logistics Centers do not purchase fillers, as the goods received at the two locations are shipped out in full boxes to single customers, and do not require repackaging.

WT continues to cut down on packaging materials with efforts including using paper pallets whenever possible for loading products in warehouses and shipments, reducing the usage of fillers, and always using renewable packaging materials for logistics operations. Newly purchased cartons also adopt the principle of minimal printing, with only stacking and transportation precautions marked and no additional graphic or text printed. In 2023, the use of recycled cartons for packaging and shipment in original boxes reduced the use of new cartons by 72.55%, or reduced CO2 emission by 1,398 tonnes based on a new carton’s carbon footprint.

 

 

There are two causes of the slight increase in the use of new cartons in 2023: 1) For inventory level control reasons, the logistics centers scrapped some sample products that were no longer needed. Most of them were in small electrostatic bags and needed to be put into boxes; 2) Customers placed consolidated orders more often in 2023, resulting in the need to unpack and repackage goods purchased from vendors, and the increase in carton consumption from previous years.

Continuously raising awareness and implementing water conservation measures

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The water intake at WT’s operating sites are mainly used for circulated water of air conditioners and daily-life water consumed by employees in office and storage areas. The water is entirely sourced from the local water companies (fresh water) where each operating base is located, with no significant impact on water resources and the ecological environment of water source areas.

 

In order to ensure drinking water safety for employees, the water dispenser filters are replaced every month to effectively remove harmful substances in the water. Taiwan SGS is commissioned to regularly test the water every year to ensure safe and healthy water quality. The water consumption is mainly contributed by the evaporation and drift losses from air-conditioners and the water drunken by employees, and there is no effective tool available to measure them. The water discharge is solely made up of water used by employees in the daily life and is discharged into local public sewage systems through the sewage pipes of the building. WT conducts assessments using the World Resources Institute (WRI) Water Risk Atlas and has set a target to reduce water consumption by 1% annually.

 

In 2023, operational locations included in the disclosure inventory were Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, and China, with a total water consumption of 21.32 ML, an increase of 8.37 ML compared to 2022, due to the expanded statistical scope.

 

Note 1: The 2023 statistical boundary covers all operational locations in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, and Korea. Water fees for some offices are included in management fees without separate payment, making it impossible to reasonably calculate actual water consumption. As these represent an extremely small proportion of total water consumption, they are not included.　

Note 2: To implement water resource management, from 2021 onwards, statistics are based on water consumption figures shown on water company bills. For years prior to 2020, consumption was estimated based on water fees and unit prices.

Note 3: Water consumption includes air conditioning water evaporation and employee drinking water needs. As these amounts are not significant and lack reasonable statistical methods, they are not separately tracked. All wastewater is domestic sewage directly discharged from office buildings to domestic sewers without flow measurement capabilities, so water consumption is used to estimate discharge volume for disclosure purposes.

 

 

 

 

To ensure the accuracy of water usage data, the water consumption of the Zhonghe Headquarters in Taiwan for 2022 and 2023 has been verified by BSI Taiwan Branch. The 2023 water consumption was 11.49 ML, an 8% increase compared to the 2022 figure of 10.68 ML. This increase was due to the 2023 cooling tower repairs and updates, which required large amounts of water drainage. WT has been continuously communicating with the building management committee to implement relevant water conservation measures.

 

Note: The verification scope for 2022 and 2023 was the Zhonghe Headquarters office in Taiwan. Water consumption data for 2022 and 2023 was verified by BSI Taiwan Branch in May 2024.

 

 

 

In the future, WT will continue to promote water conservation measures, use water-saving devices, conduct water usage inspections, and regularly promote water conservation information to achieve the goal of zero water waste together with employees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continued voluntary purchase of renewables and launch of solar installation plan

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WT’s total energy consumption was 19,451 GJ in 2023. The biggest source of energy was non-renewable electricity purchased from power companies, accounting for 94.74% of the total consumption. The total electricity consumption was 18,429.11 GJ in 2023, up 18.88% relative to 2022, as a result of the inventory scope expansion to the entire Group. The others were gasoline and diesel consumed by company fleet, totaling 1,022 GJ in 2023. The total energy consumption increased by 16.34% compared with 2022, as the scope was expanded to the entire Group. However, the intensity measured by floor area decreased by 5.12% relative to 2022.

The Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs’ plans to achieve 20% renewables in electricity generation matrix by 2025 and the Paris Agreement pursues efforts to keep the temperature rise under control. In response, despite not being a major electricity consumer or carbon emitter subject to prioritized control, WT purchased 10,000 kWh of renewable energy certificates in 2023 to understand Taiwan’s renewable energy procurement process. The renewables make up 0.41% of the consumption in Taiwan, and a 100 KW solar system was installed in the Shanghai offices (completed in Q1 2024) to generate electricity mainly for self-use. WT will continue to conduct feasibility assessments on green power generation, green electricity purchase, and renewable energy certificates, in order to gradually increase the proportion of renewable energy usage.

Training professionals and assisting suppliers towards netzero carbon reduction

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In 2023, two employees with practical experience in GHG inventory were appointed to participate in the GHG verification professional certification course, which covers standards such as ISO 14064-1, ISO 14067 and PAS 2060. In addition, a number of administrative supervisors attended a series of corporate carbon reduction and net-zero strategic planning courses and all passed the exam and obtained certificates. They became the Group’s internal lecturers to continuously promote GHG inventory and carbon reduction plans. It is scheduled to invite relevant personnel from suppliers for a meeting in 2024 to promote concepts and knowledge related to net-zero carbon reduction for joint efforts towards net-zero.

An inventory of WT and its subsidiaries included in the consolidated reports is 100% developed, earlier than legally required.

Since 2018, WT has been working on GHG inventory with reference to the Specification with Guidance at the Organization Level for Quantification and Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Removals (ISO 14064-1) and the GHG inventory protocol. The inventory is verified by a third party to assure its accuracy and reliability every year. A complete inventory of all its individual companies was developed in 2022. With 2022 as the base year, WT is committed to reducing Scopes 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 2% every year, and keeping its management policies updated according to the reduction situation.

Base on the result of major indirect emission sources identification, indirect GHG emissions from purchased electricity (Category 2: Capital Goods), upstream transportation and distribution (Category 4) and business Travel (Category 3) were included within the boundaries. In addition, the emissions of all the locations where operate WT’s companies and Taiwan subsidiaries included the consolidated statements were verified by a third-party in accordance with ISO 14064-1

GHG emission reductions target was met again in 2023

In 2023, WT emitted 3152.10 tonnes CO2e (using location-based accounting), or 3,147.15 tonnes CO2e (using marketbased accounting). Third-party verified Scopes 1 and 2 GHG emissions was 1,541.94 tons CO2e, down by 3.49% relative to 2022 (1597.75 tonnes CO2e), meeting the reduction target of 0.0041 tonnes CO2e/NTD million.

Proactively managing climate change to turn crises into opportunities

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Climate change is an issue that needs the world to face together, no matter who. As a distributor in the semiconductor sector, WT has operating sites, partners, collaborators, and vendors all over the world and they are all subject to impacts of climate change. WT’s management understands the potential impact of climate change on its operations and long-term development. Since 2021, it has been promoting relevant management mechanisms and operations, formulating policies and goals, and investing resources in assessment and research on transition plans. In the future, it will continue to track the achievement of goals, and take a more aggressive course of action accordingly.

氣候變遷治理與架構

The Climate Change Risk Management Task Force convened two meetings since the fourth quarter of 2023, inviting functional and business units to identify risks and opportunities, assess financial impacts, and discuss response plans. The evaluation and planning results will be included in the operational promotion plans of relevant units and reported quarterly to the Risk Management Committee and the Board of Directors as a reference for governance.

Incorporating regular assessments and response strategy development into risk management mechanism

Climate-related risk assessment has been integrated into the existing risk management mechanism and regularly conducted by the Climate Change Risk Management Task Force. WT will continue to follow the climate change risk management process to identify risks and opportunities, evaluate response strategies, and conduct regular internal and external reports.

Scenario analysis of climate change risks
As WT does not operate in a sector with intensive or high carbon emissions, the impact of climate change is mainly on its value chain, including the transition pressure on the vendors and customers, and potential physical risks during the transport. In order to understand the impact of these transitional and physical risks on WT’s operations, WT uses scenario analysis to identify risks and opportunities. The assessment results are used for response plan development by relevant units, and for daily operation adjustment. The Board is briefed on a quarterly basis the GHG inventory and verification schedule planning progress for the parent company and subsidiaries, and requested to determine the guidelines.

Therefore, WT conducts the annual climate change risk assessment based on the SSP5-8.5 scenario for physical risk, the national target scenario for transitional risk, as well as information such as changes in laws and regulations, physical external environment, and issues of concern for sustainability assessments.

A climate change risks review identified three key risks and two opportunities

In 2023, WT reviewed the risks and opportunities identified and ranked in 2021 and selected items that may have an impact in the short term (1 to 3 years) based on the implementation benefits. After understanding their current implementation status, WT re-evaluated the impact scale and financial impact, and identified three key risks that require continued attention and two
major opportunities.

 

Respond to international trends and national goals and formulate three major indicators and goals

In response to international trends and Taiwan’s 2050 net-zero goal, WT set climate change indicators and goals in three aspects: governance and strategy, operations, and GHG reduction.

Being an earth steward and pursuing environmental sustainability

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Voluntarily raising carbon reduction standards as the world moves towards energy conservation and carbon reduction

WT has been developing a voluntary GHG inventory since 2018. In 2023, it has completed the GHG inventory of all operating locations of all subsidiaries included in the consolidated financial statements with 100% inventory coverage, and will complete a third-party verification of locations where operate WT’s companies and Taiwan subsidiaries included the consolidated statements, with 45% verification coverage, by 2027 at the latest.

Local procurement accounted for 100% of general supplies spending in 2023

As WT purchases products from global IC giants (known as its vendors) to meet customers’ requirement, its management of local procurement issues focuses on general supplies and excludes transactions with the vendors. According to statistics in 2023, procurement from Taiwanese suppliers accounted for 100% of the Taiwan headquarters’ spending on general supplies including office supplies, information equipment, and logistics center procurement, 1.7% up relative to 2022.

 

Purchasing green-labeled products whenever possible and spending NT$16.44 million on green procurement

WT gives priority to green-label products when purchasing general supplies, and has won the Performance Excellence Award for Promoting Green Procurement Plans for Private Enterprises and Groups from the New Taipei City Environmental Protection Department for four consecutive years. The total green procurement spending was NT$16.44 million in the 2023 reports, achieving an annual growth rate of 5% for two consecutive years. A target has been set to reach an annual growth rate of 5% in the coming years. Being a committed green consumer, WT purchases eco-friendly products that are recyclable, causing minimal pollution, and using minimal natural resources whenever possible. For example, a total of NT$10.66 million was spent on purchasing eco-labelled notebook computers from China and overseas.

 

2023年文曄獲頒「新北市綠色消費暨環保志工」績優企業。

In 2023, WT was awarded the Excellent Enterprise of Green Consumption and Environmental Protection Volunteer by New Taipei City.

 

Environmental management spending has been increased over the years

WT has been voluntarily developing GHG inventory for many years. In addition to third party verification, the inventory has been extended to include more operating sites over the years for a more comprehensive scope and a more reliable dataset. Additional environmental management training sessions are also conducted to enhance everyone’s sustainability awareness. In 2023, the Taiwan headquarters spent NT$2.71 million in related management systems, training and activities. See below for courses held in 2023.

 

 

Much attention has been paid to climate change and proactive effort made to protect the environment

WT continues to participate in activities such as community greening, ecological protection, recycling and reuse, and sharing of old objects. Since 2023, it adopts Shimen Baisha Bay, Kite Park, and Laomei Lushicao Beach on the north coast of New Taipei City, and calls on employees to join the Company’s monthly beach cleanups, during which knowledge may be disseminated with increased interactions. Starting from beach cleanups, WT went further to remind employees not to litter, and encourage sorting at office and home, etc. In 2023, a total of 499 person-times participated in the beach clean-ups, removing 2,763 kilograms of debris from the beaches.

In the beginning, employees took their children to the clean-ups out of curiosity. After cleaning different beaches and accomplish various tasks month after month, the participants gradually fell in love with the ocean. They not only regularly attend the monthly clean-ups, but also rise to the debris weight challenges. In addition to the three beaches in Shimen District in New Taipei City, WT will adopt a fourth beach, Chungchiao Shachu Bay, and make some adjustment to the beach clean-up activities in 2024.

 

 

A long-term partnership with like-minded vendors by careful selection and strict control

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WT has formulated a Supplier Code of Conduct to regulate vendors in five major aspects. In order to continuously optimize vendor management, new vendors of 2023 were required to conduct a six-part self-evaluation of human rights, labor practices, consumers, ethical management, environment, and health and safety. A self-assessment questionnaire was used to analyze a vendor’s current risk level, including its sustainability awareness, whether there are major deficiencies or illegal situations, etc. In addition to Taiwan, the operating sites in China also began to require general vendors to conduct the self-evaluation in 2023.

WT requires new vendors to conduct a self-evaluation of social responsibility, labor practices and environmental protection, fill in the “Supplier Self-Assessment Form” truthfully, and sign back the “Supplier Corporate Social Responsibility Commitment Letter”. The return rate was 100% in 2023. According to the supplier self-assessment, four companies were exposed to high environmental risks, mainly due to lacking specific energy-saving measures (such as using renewable energies, replacing with energy-saving devices and energy-saving awareness measures, etc.). As neither of these four companies was a key vendor, individual communication, energy conservation awareness outreach and other measures were taken to enhance their sustainability awareness. In addition, a vendors assembly and training is being organized for 2024 to promote WT’s sustainability vision, cultivate joint sustainability implementation capabilities, and strive to maximize ESG development benefits through supply chain cooperation.

All vendors (other than vendors) with an annual transaction amount totaling more than NT$ 1 million or more than 12 transactions are subject to an annual assessment. The average evaluation score was 84.07 points in 2023 is 84.07 points, with A-level suppliers (scoring 80 points or more) accounting for 79.7%, up 4.4% relative to 2022. WT will optimize vendors evaluation items and standards to address ESG in a more comprehensive manner in the key vendors assessments.

 

On the occasion of World Earth Day, WT held a beach cleanup event and invited vendors to join and make a difference for the marine environment. To keep the Company’s sustainability commitment in line with its growth, WT will increase sustainability-related activities and training to create more opportunities to engage in sustainability dialogues with vendors.

Tracking vendors’ environmental and social management guidelines

Abiding by key vendors’ code of conduct

Vendors of a certain size always have comprehensive code of conduct in place to ensure that their operations comply with relevant laws and regulations and international standards. In addition, WT continues to track if a vendor complies with the Responsible Business Alliance Code of Conduct (RBA Code of Conduct). As of the end of 2023, 66.67% of the vendors making up 95% of WT’s purchase amounts have passed RBA audits.

 

All the products that WT represents comply with national regulations and standards on substances of concern

Considering the impact of the use of products on users’ health and safety, WT aims to 100% comply with the laws and regulations on substances of concern in the countries required by customers. It keeps a close watch and timely updates the control list accordingly. When a customer requests a list of materials used in a product, WT assists the customer in obtaining relevant lists from the vendors (such as a declaration for non use of prohibited substance, a product composition analysis report, a hazardous substance test report from a third-party testing agency, etc.). All the products sold in 2023 met customers’ chemical management requirements, and the vendors making up 95% of WT’s purchase amounts declared that they comply with relevant chemical management regulations.

In the future, as soon as the bill of materials is create for a finished product on the system, the relevant competent units will be notified to obtain relevant information of the materials from their respective vendors (such as product composition analysis report, hazardous substance testing report from a third-party testing agency, etc.). This could prevent repeatedly processing requests from different customers for the same product and enable timely provision of information.

Tracking and requiring vendors to use materials sourced from 100% conformant smelters as a humanitarian effort

The international community has been concerned about conflict minerals from areas involving human rights abuses. In response, WT released its conflict minerals policies in line with the universal value of a humanitarian supply chain on its official website in 2023, requiring all vendors purchase materials in compliance with international regulations relating to responsible minerals. WT continuously tracks whether vendors’ products contain substances involving conflict minerals, including gold (Au), tantalum (Ta), tin (Sn), tungsten (W), etc. WT keeps updated on information relating to qualified smelters by requiring vendors to provide information based on the Conflict Minerals Reporting Template (CMRT).