Reducing Water Consumption

Activities to reduce water consumption in different regions around the world

Enhancing efforts by setting new reduction targets

Securing safe water resources is an important environmental challenge for the global community. The Brother Group has been working to save water consumption to fulfill its responsibilities as an operator of many manufacturing facilities in Asia. A new target of reducing water consumption by 5% from FY2010 (April 1, 2010-March 31, 2011) levels by FY2015 (per unit of sales) has been set, and efforts have been stepped up to meet this target.

Details of the Brother Group's accomplishments in FY2010

The Brother Group has been working to save water as part of its drive to conserve resources. Activities in FY2010 continued from FY2009 (April 1, 2009-March 31, 2010)) included reducing tap water consumption and preventing the dispersion and evaporation of water in cooling towers in line with the replacement of water-cooled air conditioning equipment with air-cooled inverter air conditioning equipment, as part of energy-saving activities. However, water consumption increased by approximately 7.5% per unit of sales due to (i) increased production volume and personnel in line with the recovery in the operating ratio and (ii) intense heat in Huanan, China.

Trend of water consumption reduction of the Brother Group

Scope of aggregation

FY2001:: Seven entities of Brother Industries, Ltd. (Headquarters, Research & Development Center, Mizuho Manufacturing Facility, Hoshizaki Manufacturing Facility, Minato Manufacturing Facility, Momozono Manufacturing Facility, and Kariya Manufacturing Facility) and six group companies (Brother Technology (Shenzhen) Ltd., Brother Industries Technology (M) Sdn. Bhd., Zhuhai Brother Industries, Co., Ltd., Taiwan Brother Industries, Ltd., Xian Typical Brother Industries, Co., Ltd.^*1, and Brother Industries (U.K.) Ltd.)
FY2002:: Same as FY2001
FY2003:: Same as FY2002
FY2004:: Same as FY2003
FY2005:: Added one entity of Brother Industries(Shenzhen), Ltd. to the scope of FY2004
FY2006:: Added one entity of Brother Industries, Ltd. (Logistic Center) and two group companies (Brother Sewing Machine Xian Co., Ltd.^*1 and Brother Sewing Machine (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.^*2) to the scope of FY2005
FY2007:: Same as FY2006
FY2008:: Added one group company (Brother Industries (Vietnam) Ltd.) to the scope of FY2007
FY2009:: Same as FY2008
FY2010:: Added two group companies (Mie Brother Precision Industries, Ltd. and Brother Industries (Slovakia) s.r.o.) to the scope of FY2009

*: FY2001: April 1, 2001-March 31, 2002 for business sites in Japan; and January 1, 2001-December 31, 2001 for facilities outside Japan , FY2002: April 1, 2002-March 31, 2003 for business sites in Japan; and January 1, 2002-December 31, 2002 for facilities outside Japan , FY2003: April 1, 2003-March 31, 2004 for business sites in Japan; and January 1, 2003-December 31, 2003 for facilities outside Japan , FY2004: April 1, 2004-March 31, 2005 for business sites in Japan; and January 1, 2004-December 31, 2004 for facilities outside Japan , FY2005: April 1, 2005-March 31, 2006 for business sites in Japan; and January 1, 2005-December 31, 2005 for facilities outside Japan , FY2006: April 1, 2006-March 31, 2007 , FY2007: April 1, 2007-March 31, 2008 , FY2008: April 1, 2008-March 31, 2009 , FY2009: April 1, 2009-March 31, 2010 , FY2010: April 1, 2010-March 31, 2011
*1: Brother Sewing Machine Xian Co., Ltd. merged with Xian Typical Brother Industries, Co., Ltd. in 2010. The new company is named Brother Machinery Xian Co., Ltd.
*2: Brother Sewing Machine (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. transferred its business to Brother Machinery Xian Co., Ltd. in 2010.