Diversity, equal opportunity and inclusion
5 CREATING VALUE BEYOND THE BUSINESS
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The Cicor Group is a globally active development and manufacturing partner providing innovative technology solutions for the electronics industry. Cicor offers highly complex printed circuit boards (PCB) and hybrid circuits, in addition to electronic manufacturing services (EMS) such as microelectronic assembly and plastic injection mold- ing. With approximately 2,200 employees across eleven production sites, the Group supplies customized products and services - design to finished products - from one source.
Cicor knows that being a sustainable company is a priority for its customers. The Group recognizes that upholding strong Environ- mental, Social and Governance (ESG) values is paramount to its success, not only to be a responsible corporate citizen but because ESG management is a key partnership criterion for some of its cus-
tomers. The customers' perceptions of Cicor's ESG practices can impact their decision to place an order.
The guiding principles for thought and action at Cicor are meeting customer expectations, ongoing improvement and fulfilling relevant legal requirements at all times. Thus, Cicor's corporate policy incorporates all three of these commitments. Fulfilling this aim requires consistent, high-quality services that use minimal resources and uphold first-rate occupational safety. Therefore, Cicor's quality policy, environmental policy, and health and safety policy are equal components of the corporate policy. Its performance on these priorities is how the Group measures its success in meeting its corporate policy.
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Cicor also expects its suppliers to mirror its commitment by executing business operations that preserve the environment, contribute to social well-being of the communities in which they are present and demonstrate accountability and transparency in sustainability performance. Furthermore, the Group seeks partnerships with suppliers dedicated to constantly improving their sustainability programs, and who share Cicor's goal of zero harm. The health and safety of the public should be safeguarded at all times, while any adverse effects to the communities, environment and natural resources must be continually minimized. To this end, suppliers must adhere to appropriate environmental permits and reporting, pollution prevention and waste reduction, hazardous substance management, wastewater and solid waste controls and processes, air emissions controls and procedures, and all applicable laws and regulations regarding materials restrictions. With this shared com- mitment, suppliers assist Cicor in achieving its sustainable supply chain objectives by continuously delivering price-competitive and environmentally sound goods and services.
As an internationally active company with a strong brand, Cicor generates steadily growing value for its customers, shareholders and employees while offering innovative products and services for various technologically demanding applications within the electronics industry. Cicor uses the vast expertise within the company and cooperation between different divisions to keep developing new technol- ogies. The Group strives to be an attractive employer that encourages an open and honest corporate culture.
This report has been drafted to fulfill the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). As a basis for this sustainability report, a materiality analysis was carried out in 2021. This process started with an analysis that evaluated a wide range of internal (documents, guidelines, directives) and external (sustainability standards, industry information, peer analysis) sources. Material topics were those identified by Cicor as important from an internal company perspective and/or from the perspective of external stakeholders, and/or have a significant economic, environmental or social impact. The topics were determined and evaluated in a workshop with Ci- cor's management (GRI 102-46). The materiality matrix shows the results of this material topic analysis (GRI 102-47).
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Establishing and maintaining good relationships with all stakeholders are essential for long-term business success. Cicor defines stakeholders as individuals or groups that have an economic relationship with the company and/or are affected by the company's actions. Within the divisions, stakeholders are identified and pri- oritized through management reviews, SWOT (strengths, weak- nesses, opportunities and threats) analysis or specific stakeholder analysis as part of the certification processes (GRI 102-42). The most important stakeholders include customers, employees, suppliers and shareholders (GRI 102-40). Cicor regularly exchanges information with all stakeholders to understand the individual needs of each stakeholder group and identify new developments and market requirements in a timely manner. Depending on the group, this contact takes place in different ways and at different levels, with day-to-day communication as the paramount interaction - that is, regular contact with customers and suppliers, and personal discussions with employees to assess satisfaction and well-being. The goal of these interactions is to bring business-relevant issues to light (GRI 102-43, GRI 102-44).
The Cicor Group understands that prolonged planning is only possible when the company is financially stable in the short, medium and long term. It knows that a strong financial position creates flexibility for strategic decisions. This is accomplished by providing customers with high-value materials that enable Cicor to achieve good margins on manufactured products. Furthermore, the Group recognizes that efficiency in tooling management will lead to faster setup and production and that increasing productivity will strengthen the Group's capability to produce more with no capital investment.
Cicor implements a multilevel approach to manage its economic performance. In addition to constantly reviewing prices, the Group analyses Request for Quotes (RFQ) in relation to its business seg- ment, technology and competitive environment. Cicor also ensures all managers are aware of assets and expenses when making managerial decisions, and share information with key managers in monthly meetings. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are in place to monitor the Group's economic performance including measuring sales performance and Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT). Cicor also compares its actual production output against planned output.
The Cicor Group is a service provider, and as such, creating value for its customers is a prerequisite for establishing and maintaining long-term partnerships. Customer acquisition is a crucial component of Cicor's business plan - the company works hard to win customers and projects in the medicine, industrial, aero- space, and defense sectors, in both production and development phases. Long-term customer retention is then achieved through high production quality and close customer contact. Key elements in value creation for customers include having highly qualified em- ployees, using high-quality materials with high availability at the best possible prices, and committing to technological leadership and continuous process optimization.
Currently, Cicor's reaction time is strongly affected by global issues regarding long lead times for raw materials and availability issues for electronic components. To maintain Cicor's position as a market leader, creating customer value by boosting customer satisfaction, improving customer experience, providing additional service benefits and eliminating wasteful processes are all important. Cicor will accomplish this by shortening delivery times, developing a superior supply chain and pursuing competitive costs for materials.
Cicor implements growth targets to measure and expand on its value creation for customers. To develop close relationships with its customers, the company ensures customers are listened to and their needs are clarified. The Group emphasizes delivery of goods and services at the agreed level of quality, quantity and timing, while seeking and responding accordingly to ongoing customer feedback.
Cicor maintains regular alignment with customer requirements throughout the organization by ensuring customer consulting, supplier management and operational excellence. For example, at our production site in Arad, each customer has a team in place consisting of key account manager, project manager, sourcing team, procurement and new product introduction (NPI) engineer. Materials are managed through an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, and Cicor's production capabilities are carefully scheduled. In Ulm, an after-sales team and an export control expert have been installed to help customers with questions they may have regarding export. The site also started a fast prototyping project and executed a training program for the sales team to increase their understanding of foreign cultures which included an English course.
Cicor's services were maintained without interruption despite the raw materials shortages and supply chain problems presented by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Together with the customers and suppliers, Cicor took coordinated actions to deal with these new circumstances. In Batam, after receiving a project transfer from Singapore in 2020, raw material constraints were overcome by capitalizing on economies of scale in material purchases across the whole supply chain. Seeking to purchase an increased volume of resin enabled early bargaining, helping to fulfill the customer product request in the shortest time possible.
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Cicor endeavors to solve its customers' challenges by helping the customer address issues they cannot resolve themselves or by finding more affordable solutions than the customer can access on its own. The Group increases customer satisfaction by improving efficiency, reducing costs and upgrading quality, while respecting the relevant standards and laws and ensuring compliance with regulations and rules.
Cicor pushes for stronger customer relationships with better communication and continuous technology exchanges. This can lead to a greater understanding of customer needs and allow for more foresight and flexibility. Additionally, the Group is striving to reach its full potential by improving its business selection and introducing
Progress on Cicor's customer goals is monitored through KPIs, including on-time delivery (OTD), customer complaints, revenue increment tracking, first pass yield and quality reporting, response time, technical competence, product quality and lead time, as well as an annual customer survey. Cicor also takes recommendations from customer audits to improve the company and its services.
Poor product quality not only harms the customer's reputation, it also damages Cicor's. Therefore, delivering high-quality products is a non-negotiable aspect of Cicor's competitiveness. Providing superior performance that meets its customers' expectations is crucial. The Group seeks to perpetually expand its know-how and technological capabilities and develop innovative applications with improved performance from new materials. The Group believes that quality is achieved by processes rather than inspections, and thus has implemented safe working practices as a way to maintain and improve quality control.
Cicor's customers trust the company to comply with their requirements and specifications, while ensuring that products are produced in adherence to all relevant laws and regulations. In particu- lar, since Cicor is delivering to the aerospace, defence and medical markets, quality is an extremely high priority.
ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 certifications also reassure customers that Cicor has a well-managed system to ensure high product quality. As part of the certified quality system, all responsibilities are defined and employees must qualify on the required skills, including retraining within a defined time interval. All Cicor's processes are documented in detail and their observance is regularly audited.
The Group has clearly defined work instructions and processes to comply with specifications, as well as an extensive quality management and approval process in the production phase. Cicor's Integrated Management System provides process descriptions, behaviors and RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed). Policies and processes for the handling of chemicals and hazardous substances according to the European Union REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals) and RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive, conflict minerals and other regulated substances are also implemented.
Materials are purchased from authorized sources with quality guar- antees. The Group fosters a strong network of material suppliers to maintain its place at the cutting edge of the latest technical trends.
The Group verifies that its product quality and compliance are managed effectively with a series of KPIs, including defect rates, such as parts per million (ppm), number of complaints, and its non-quality cost. For some product certifications there are periodic third-party audits. Moreover, suppliers are rated by key customers using a scorecard that covers all relevant business parameters, such as pricing, OTD, technical support and innovation.
Cicor holds monthly management meetings, during which KPI achievement within the ISO 9001/13485 certifications and customer audits is assessed.
Engineering is fundamental to the Cicor Group. More than 150 well- trained engineers with interdisciplinary competencies work on customer projects, making the engineering department a unique selling point of the company. In many cases, engineering is the primary entry point for Cicor's customers. Cicor's engineers support the Group's customers in the areas of hardware and software engi- neering, printed circuit board (PCB) layout and component selec- tion, test engineering, tool design, printed electronics, and process and quality management throughout the entire product life cycle.
Usage of green technology or energy-efficiency is largely based on the product design, which is carried out exclusively by Cicor's cus- tomers. However, Cicor's manufacturing approach with customers enables the company to positively influence the manufacturability of the products and their production efficiency. Cicor chooses technologies and production methods that use fewer valuable resourc- es, reducing material consumption and minimizing waste, such as the miniaturization of circuits or consolidating the type of chemicals used in production, using one rather than multiple types of coating material. In addition to decreasing the use of these materials, the Group also reduces dross and reprocessing cost. The implementation of requirements such as energy efficiency and green technologies is verified at the customer project level.
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Cicor Technologies SA published this content on 10 March 2022 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 10 March 2022 08:22:03 UTC.