Author: web.it

Activate Green Innovation

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Addressing climate risks and opportunities、Enhancing green design、Strengthening social resilience、Participating in advocacy initiatives

As a leading semiconductor distributor, WT is committed to providing cutting-edge products and exceptional solutions to tens of thousands of customers and end-users worldwide, overcoming various challenges. However, facing the increasingly severe climate change, WT is committed to taking responsibility, actively responding to climate risks, and seizing the opportunities that arise. We will continue to deepen our expertise in green design, develop energy-saving products and solutions, optimize energy efficiency, and reduce the carbon footprint of our customers and end-users. At the same time, we will work with supply chain partners to respond to various advocacy initiatives and jointly implement the four major green design goals of energy conservation, waste reduction, resilience, and efficiency.

 

 

WT is committed to advancing clean technology and green design, guided by three core values and four action strategies

Addressing climate risks and opportunities

WT has identified five main climate risk factors:

(1) Extreme weather event risk: Property damage or transportation disruptions caused by natural disasters such as typhoons, hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures, and heavy snow.

(2) Climate regulatory and policy change risk: Laws or standards introduced by countries or regions to reduce carbon emissions and waste, which may affect production costs and require products to meet stricter standards after changes.

(3) Market demand change risk: Increased demand for energy-efficient and high-performance products due to rising environmental awareness, leading to the inability to continue selling or using existing products.

(4) Technological innovation and iteration risk: Economic and equipment investment in developing new technologies and components, requiring significant professional manpower and resources for research and development.

(5) Supply chain disruption risk: Production or supply chain disruptions caused by climate change, such as resource scarcity affecting production or transportation, electricity, or water resources, leading to disruptions throughout the supply chain.

In addition to identifying the aforementioned risks, WT actively invests resources to address climate opportunities. In green technology innovation, WT has facilitated the adoption and implementation of technologies such as green energy and energy storage within the industry chain through long-term development and promotion. Regarding the issue of improving energy efficiency, WT continues to accelerate research and development and increase investment in research related to high-energy-consuming industries such as power supplies, motors, and artificial intelligence. In emerging markets such as environmental monitoring and climate early warning, or in response to supply chain challenges posed by extreme climates, we also maintain close collaboration with customers and suppliers to enhance supply chain resilience. We continuously and actively participate in green initiatives, promote environmentally friendly electronic components, and develop the green product market, enabling WT to make significant contributions.

 

Enhancing Green Design

Green design is not only a key to addressing climate change, but also a significant opportunity for industrial development. As a leading semiconductor distributor and a key player in the electronics industry, WT actively invests in technological innovation, market expansion, and application deepening of green design, while integrating clean technology and green thinking into every design. From the selection of green materials for semiconductor components and supply chain management to the sustainable architecture, component durability, and energy-efficient applications of product design, we are committed to extending product lifecycles. With the responsibility of a semiconductor distributor, WT contributes to the electronics industry’s response to climate change through green innovation.

WT continues to collaborate with suppliers, prioritizing products with green design concepts (such as those assessed to reduce resource usage or chemical substance content by 10% or more).

 

We focus on green applications and clean technology (such as clean transportation in electric vehicles or autonomous driving systems), and continuously improve energy efficiency in data centers, communication systems, public facilities, and other areas. In addition to continuously introducing more energy-efficient solutions, we also propose designs that benefit the environment and human health and safety in diverse fields such as industrial automation, infrastructure, and medical and healthcare.

Strengthening social resilience

WT provides high-quality products from leading suppliers to serve tens of thousands of manufacturers worldwide, and continuously builds strategic partnerships with leading vendors and customers. We not only strengthen supply chain services and improve inventory management to address supply chain disruptions caused by extreme weather, but also actively increase R&D investment in green design. In these green designs, we act as a bridge for multi-party collaboration between industry, academia, and research, and propose excellent solutions. This not only enhances the technological development of our customers but also cultivates talent, improves industrial innovation capabilities, and accelerates green transformation. These actions not only strengthen the resilience of the supply chain and industry but also make society safer and more progressive.

 

To design resilience applications, extreme weather may cause disruptions in electricity, communication, transportation, and other areas. WT, in its research, development, and promotion, has emphasized the importance of resilience in various applications. For example, we have invested in the research and development of technologies such as renewable energy and grid-tied systems in power supply systems, battery safety and power management in energy storage systems, and the design of solutions for early warning, protection, and backup in response to power outages or quality degradation in different application areas.

 

In strengthening system resilience, we emphasize redundant design and flexible architecture, enhance the ability to respond to faults or risks, and continuously improve scalability. WT uses a modular architecture to make design redundancy and maintenance simpler and easier, and can shorten the replacement or response time in the event of a fault or risk. Modular design also has many advantages when functional upgrades are required, which not only ensures that the system is not interrupted due to upgrades, but also disperses development resources, reduces vulnerability risks, and eliminates safety hazards, further strengthening application resilience.

Participating in advocacy initiatives

WT collaborates closely with suppliers and customers, actively participating in green product and design initiatives, and prioritizing them in new product and application development.

 

In the semiconductor and electronic design industry chain, WT provided three core values:

Platform Integration: Serving as a bridge between suppliers and customers, facilitating collaboration

Technical Services: Providing technical services and promoting low-power, high-performance products and applications

Solution provider: Investing resources in researching clean technology-related products and applications, and providing solutions

 

In addition, WT actively participates in sustainable development seminars, engaging various industries (including transportation, raw materials, academic research, and petrochemicals). These conferences involve sharing the electronics industry’s net-zero goals and achievements, and exploring topics such as green energy, climate risks and opportunities, and carbon capture and storage. Through these actions, WT is committed to promoting the sustainable development of the industry.

 

Accelerating industry’s net-zero emissions through industry-academia collaboration

WT is dedicated to being a strategic partner to suppliers and customers. We have continuously invested resources to provide diverse technical services, assisting customers in quickly developing solutions and becoming a technical platform that delivers high-quality products and optimal solutions across various domains.

In pursuit of net-zero carbon emissions, industry-academia collaboration is crucial. WT actively promotes such collaboration through the following methods:

Information Sharing: Sharing real-world data from production, operations, and field applications, along with relevant data, to provide academic institutions with references for green design related to net-zero carbon emissions.

Technical Cooperation: Leveraging the academic community’s expertise and research resources in areas such as carbon capture, renewable energy, and carbon reduction technologies to accelerate technological innovation and research and development.

Talent Development and Resource Integration: Collaborating with suppliers and educational institutions to propose joint research projects, establish industry-academia programs, and participate in results presentations and exchanges, integrating the resources and strengths of academia and industry to accelerate the research, development, and application of carbon reduction technologies, and cultivate professional talent.

 

Through these efforts, WT not only promotes the sustainable development of the industry but also accelerates the realization of critical net-zero goals.

 

 

In 2024, facilitated an exchange visit to WT for international students from National Chengchi University, supporting international talent career development and promoting cross-border industry-academia collaboration.

 

Improve the past, change the future

As a leading semiconductor distributor, WT collaborates with hundreds of suppliers to serve tens of thousands of customers worldwide, jointly driving product and application innovation, improving lives, and shaping the multi-faceted future of the semiconductor industry in areas such as environment, society, education, economy, technology, and safety.

 

Review and Collaboration:

－Continuously collaborate with suppliers and customers to expand energy consumption and carbon footprint inventories

－Ensure suppliers provide green products that comply with regulations

－Collaborate with customers to reduce waste and adopt energy-saving technologies

 

Short-Term Plan:

－Actively distribute and promote green products

－Invest in research and development of forward-looking sustainable green solutions to drive industry green transformation

 

Mid-Term Plan:

－Continuously participate in green initiatives, implementing green design concepts in various applications

－Pursue environmentally friendly designs, providing low-power, high-performance chips and solutions

 

Long-Term Plan:

－Continuously disclose sustainable supply chain audit results and respond to carbon footprint inventory requests

－Collaborate with customers on inventory management to extend product lifecycles

－Collaborate with suppliers to strengthen global logistics and reuse plans, achieving waste reduction and a resilient future

 

High energy use, high efficiency needed

Artificial intelligence (AI) has experienced continuous development in recent years. Whether it’s machine learning, deep learning, or generative AI, coupled with the increasing accessibility and easy to use. AI’s integration and fusion across various industries has been promoted. For instance, AI is utilized to assist medical procedures and new drug development in health and preventive medicine. In financial management and economic activities, AI enhances customer experience and strengthens risk management. In manufacturing and retail, AI automates production and improves quality management through intelligent solutions. In personal transportation and logistics management, AI assistance makes transportation safer and more efficient.

 

All these conveniences and changes brought about by AI originate from semiconductor components. However, for AI to deliver accurate and effective functions, it requires training and inference capabilities. Comparing the power consumption differences between AI servers and traditional servers, traditional servers typically consume between 300 to 500 watts, while the addition of AI accelerator GPUs or TPUs significantly increases power consumption to over 2000 watts.

 

WT recognizes the highly promising and forward-looking of AI. However, technological development must incorporate environmental sustainability as the foundation of all designs. Therefore, we have collaborated with suppliers and customers to propose three solutions to address the high energy consumption of AI servers:

1.We have designed a 3000-watt power supply for servers based on advanced control technologies and high-efficiency electronic components.

2.In collaboration with computing units such as CPUs/GPUs/TPUs/ASICs, we provide core power solutions with high energy efficiency to meet their computational demands.

3.In partnership with thermal management and cooling technology companies, we provide microcontrollers with communication and management functions to efficiently reduce system power consumption by dissipating heat generated by high-performance hardware.

 

Continuous increase in R&D Investment and clean technology (low-carbon products) revenue contribution

In 2024, research and development investment reached NT$851 million. WT commits to continuously investing in clean technology R&D resources, aiming to increase R&D expenditure to NT$1 billion by 2030. WT focuses on the development and advancement of areas such as green energy, energy storage, and efficiency. Clean technology-related (low-carbon products) revenue reached 14.07% of total revenue, increased 2.64 percentage point compared with previous year. WT targets to achieve the goal of 20% clean technology-related revenue contribution by 2030.

Investing in solar plant developer and serving as a representative director

WT invested NTD 12.5 million in Daypower Co., Ltd. in April 2023. WT owns 10% shares of Daypower and serves as a representative director. WT participated in cash capital increase of Daypower and invested NTD 12.5 million in August 2024. WT maintains 10% shares of Daypower and accumulated investment amount reaches NTD 25 million. Daypower is a solar plant developer and completed 3.24 MW installation in 2024. Self-held solar plant reached 3.00 MW installation accumulatively in 2024, which generated 3.75 million kwh in 2024, equaling to 1,853 ton CO2 reduction.

 

 

 

Continuous monitoring of Environmental and Social management by key suppliers

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WT is committed to promoting sustainable development in the supply chain. We encourage our major suppliers to provide high-quality products and services while complying with national regulations and policies. They must ensure that their products and manufacturing processes adhere to environmental and social responsibility standards. Suppliers are required to prohibit the use of hazardous substances (such as those restricted by the EU RoHS directive), ensure that raw materials do not contain conflict minerals, and sign a Conflict-Free Minerals Declaration.

 

Additionally, WT encourages suppliers to adopt ISO certifications to enhance quality management. Suppliers are also urged to implement occupational safety measures, labor rights protections, and environmental protection initiatives, working together to establish a responsible and sustainable supply chain.

 

WT considers suppliers as long-term partners and maintains close communication with them. Through continuous engagement, we promote the implementation of environmental sustainability, social responsibility, and ethical standards. We also emphasize compliance and corporate responsibility in operations, ensuring that suppliers commit to ethical business practices, human rights principles, and corporate integrity.

 

Self-Regulation of major Supplier Codes of Conduct

The major suppliers have established comprehensive business conduct guidelines to ensure compliance with relevant regulations and international standards.

 

Supplier Environmental Management and International Standard Certifications

WT places high importance on supply chain responsibility. WT has identified and prioritized 36 key suppliers, which collectively account for over 80% of total revenue. Annually, WT conducts assessments on these suppliers, covering areas such as Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) compliance, restricted substance commitments, and conflict minerals policies. Additionally, the list of key suppliers is reviewed and updated at the beginning of each year.

 

The key suppliers have adopted ISO certifications to ensure their operations meet international standards. By implementing strict management systems, they enhance operational efficiency and minimize environmental impact.

 

As of the end of 2024, key suppliers have achieved the following certifications:
  • ISO 14001 Environmental Management System : In the 36 key suppliers, 33 have obtained certification, accounting for 92%.
  • ISO 9001 Quality Management System : In the 36 key suppliers, 34 have obtained certification, accounting for 97%.

 

Employee Rights and Labor Protection

The suppliers must comply with local laws to protect employee rights, ensuring:

  • Respect for employees’ rights to unionize, engage in collective bargaining, and enjoy freedom of association.
  • Establishment of communication channels to safeguard labor rights and prevent forced labor, child labor, or discrimination.

Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) Code of Conduct

WT supports and adheres to RBA Code of Conduct, striving to improve labor rights, health and safety, and environmental standards to ensure compliance with international and ethical norms.

As of the end of 2024, WT continuously monitors 36 key suppliers, of which 22 are official RBA members, representing 61% and having established comprehensive RBA guidelines.

Additionally, WT actively tracks whether suppliers undergo RBA audits to promote ongoing improvements in labor conditions throughout the supply chain.

 

Compliance of Agency Products with Global Substance Regulations

 

 

Chemical Management and Product Compliance

With increasing global emphasis on environmental protection, WT continues to monitor regulatory developments and ensures that suppliers’ agency products fully comply with relevant global substance regulations. We actively track and update compliance measures to meet customer requirements.

 

When customers request material substance lists for products, WT assists in obtaining relevant documentation from suppliers, such as non-use declarations, product composition reports, and third-party hazardous substance testing reports.

 

In 2024, all sold products complied with customer chemical management requirements. All of 36 key suppliers publicly declared full compliance with relevant chemical management regulations.

 

As of the end of 2024, compliance rates of key suppliers are as follows:

  • EU RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive):In the 36 major suppliers, 24 suppliers have publicly disclosed compliance, accounting for 66.7%, while 12 suppliers have not disclosed, accounting for 33.3%, but these suppliers are required to submit declaration letters confirming that their product materials comply with major international environmental regulations.
  • REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals): In the 36 major suppliers, 23 suppliers have publicly disclosed compliance, accounting for 63.9%, while 13 suppliers have not disclosed, accounting for 36.1%, but these suppliers are required to submit declaration letters confirming that their product materials comply with major international environmental regulations.

Furthermore, WT is actively implementing system-based management. In the future, when creating new product materials, relevant departments will be notified to obtain the necessary material substance lists (such as product composition reports and third-party hazardous substance testing reports). This will ensure compliance and improve the efficiency of providing relevant material disclosures.

 

PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances) Management

In 2023, the EU introduced a proposal to ban PFAS, a broad class of synthetic chemicals known for their persistence, long-range transport potential, and bioaccumulation risks. These substances pose significant environmental and health hazards, including water pollution.

 

In industries such as semiconductors, no viable alternatives currently exist, and immediate production cessation is not feasible. Therefore, a transition period of 13-15 years will be implemented upon enforcement of the regulations.

 

WT continues to investigate PFAS usage in supplier products and discloses this information to customers, aiming to mitigate environmental and health risks.

 

Carbon Footprint and Net-Zero Emission Goals

In response to global carbon reduction initiatives, WT is dedicated to carbon footprint assessments, aiming to reduce, capture, and reuse greenhouse gas emissions. The long-term goal is to achieve Net Zero Emissions by 2050, transforming carbon reduction efforts into competitive advantages and steadily implementing sustainability initiatives.

 

The customer requests products with conflict minerals traceability, 100% sourced from qualified smelters

Conflict Minerals Sourcing and Traceability Mechanisms

Referencing international concerns about conflict minerals from regions with human rights issues, in order to uphold the universal values of humanitarianism in the supply chain, WT published a Conflict Minerals Policy on its website in 2023. This policy mandates that all major suppliers comply with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) conflict minerals regulation, Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (DFA). Suppliers must fully disclose the sources of conflict minerals used in their manufacturing processes, including gold (Au), tantalum (Ta), tin (Sn), and tungsten (W) (collectively known as 3TG), and confirm whether these materials originate from non-compliant mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring regions.

 

Survey results indicate that the products supplied by suppliers contain conflict minerals such as gold, tantalum, tin, and tungsten. WT actively monitors updates from the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) regarding smelter assessments to obtain the latest versions of conflict-free documentation (Conflict Minerals Reporting Template – CMRT, Extended Minerals Reporting Template – EMRT, and Additional Minerals Reporting Template – AMRT). In alignment with customer requirements on conflict minerals policies, WT requests CMRT, EMRT, or AMRT reports from suppliers to ensure full supply chain compliance.

 

As of the end of 2024, WT tracked 36 key suppliers, with the following compliance rates:

  • 29 suppliers have publicly disclosed that they do not use conflict minerals, accounting for 80.6%.
  • 7 suppliers have not disclosed, accounting for 19.4%, but these suppliers are required to provide corresponding compliance declarations to demonstrate their adherence to RBA principles and relevant regulations.