Society

Business Continuity Planning (BCP) began to be a point of focus after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. Even before that, however, in 2010, the Cabinet approved the New Growth Strategy Implementation Plan, under which a specific rate of plan formulation was set as a target.As a member of the medical industry, our Group has worked to implement a stable supply system to ensure the continuity of medical infrastructure. The earthquake provided an opportunity to review our BCP.We first conducted careful interviews to find out what issues occurred at logistics sites during the earthquake, and then turned to the selection of a logistics warehouse with a seismic isolation structure.We have secured a seismically isolated warehouse in Kanagawa Prefecture for use as a logistics base to cover product supply for part of the metropolitan area including Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa. This warehouse is constantly stocked with 10,000 to 15,000 types of medical equipment and materials.This logistics base is seismically isolated from its building to its rampway where vehicles enter and exit. It is also located along National Route 16, which is designated as an emergency transportation road.Furthermore, the facility is fitted with equipment such as satellite phones, in-house power generation equipment, and redundant in-house networks to ensure that logistics operations continue uninterrupted even in the event of a disaster.We are confident that unique initiatives such as these will earn us the trust of those medical institutions that have a high level of disaster prevention awareness.

In addition, to handle the growth in product inventory associated with the increase in the scale of our operations, to cater to the need for delivery across the Kanto region, and to provide a stable supply, we have constructed a core logistics warehouse with automated warehousing facilities in Gunma Prefecture with a site area of 46,300 square meters and a total floor area of 32,800 square meters.
In order to further strengthen our BCP in the future, our Group will take advantage of the benefits of our scale by cooperating with companies in different areas and making it possible to decentralize our disaster response headquarters. In recognition of the fact that there is no area in the Japanese archipelago that is completely free from disasters, we will continue to take measures to minimize their impact.

Together with Japan's declining birthrate and aging population, changes in the medical care system are placing pressure on all medical institutions to provide high-quality medical care as well as improve efficiency and profitability. MEDIUS must provide medical materials that meet the demands of the field.In the planning and development of our own private brand product range ASOURCE® SELECT, we are broadly exploring the possibilities for a range of new products that reflect opinions from the field, starting with general-purpose consumables such as tongue depressors for medical examinations and sheets for examinations.

With ASOURCE® SELECT, our aim is more than to just supply large quantities of low-priced products; we intend to pursue the best balance between quality and price.We have changed our stance from that of a medical materials distributor to a manufacturer, and are striving to select and supply products in a responsible manner.For example, when manufacturing products at overseas factories, we carefully select factories to protect against risks incurred due to changes in a country's political situation, and maintain a stable supply of reliable products.Taking environmental pollution caused by coal into account, we have selected factories that have measures against this in place, such as utilizing liquefied natural gas (LNG) and waste heat from incinerators.Moreover, as a manufacturer, we take the environmental friendliness of our products into consideration as a matter of course, and take measures such as complying with wastewater regulations for immersion and ultrasonic cleaning agents, and labeling recycling logos on packaging materials.
Going forward, we will work to develop ASOURCE® SELECT "NEXT" which will have even higher added value, and we will help to offer greater safety and security in medical care through our products.

Through the "Red Cup Campaign," a portion of the sales of eligible ASOURCE SELECT products are used to help provide school meals offered through the United Nations WFP.In collaboration with medical professionals, the MEDIUS Group contributes to this program, which aims to eliminate hunger and poverty among children in developing countries while expanding the educational opportunities available to them, supporting their future and ambitions.

At a time when medical institutions are required to operate more efficiently, our role as a medical device supplier has grown to include supporting the operation and management of medical institutions, and resolving management issues.MEDIUS helps to improve safety and operational efficiency in medical settings through the development of unique medical support tools.

For example, in orthopedics, a single surgery may require anywhere from hundreds to more than a thousand medical instruments and materials.The process of ordering and inspecting these items requires a tremendous amount of time and effort, imposing a burden on nurses.MORISS®, an operating theater information sharing system developed by MEDIUS, provides centralized management of everything from ordering to delivery of instruments and materials using a PC, permitting sharing of information between doctors, nurses, and MEDIUS, and making it possible to prevent miscommunication and instrument and material overstocking or shortages during surgeries.This system is highly praised by nurses in the field, as it allows them to focus on their primary job of caring for patients by freeing up time that they would otherwise spend on cumbersome item management.

We also support the efficiency of medical operations in a variety of other ways, including through SURGELANE®, an operating theater management support program that provides visual representation of operating theaters, and our SPD and STORE® logistics management systems.

These are run on the ASOURCE® DATABASE platform, a vast medical materials database unique to MEDIUS.This platform provides immediate updates on products handled and also serves as a sort of dictionary, possessing one of the industry's most accurate master records of product data.With regard to ICT operations, we are working with our operating companies to develop a secure, highly convenient information infrastructure in accordance with our internal security policies.

Through the stable operation of these systems, our Group contributes to smooth communication, operational efficiency, and improved safety in medical settings.