Sustainability | Sustainability Management | Efforts to Achieve the SDGsTDK Group's Approach to the SDGs and Its Activities

TDK Group's Approach to the SDGs

To make the global environment and people’s lives sustainable, the United Nations General Assembly approved the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in September 2015. This agenda advocates Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), consisting of 17 goals and 169 targets, to be achieved by all countries by 2030.

Under our long-term vision, “TDK Transformation—Accelerating transformation for a sustainable future,” TDK aims to accelerate the evolution of technology and the transformation of society through electronic devices by combining its unique materials, processes, and software, thereby contributing to the realization of a sustainable future. Further, by continuing to transform itself, TDK aims to grow alongside its global customers as their No. 1 partner.
For TDK, the SDGs are the starting point of value creation. We believe that the measurement of how much value we have supplied to society and how much we have contributed to the solution of social issues is a barometer of our business achievements.

Building a Setup to Address the SDGs through Business

The TDK Group is continuing efforts, as explained below, to identify and implement available countermeasures and how TDK’s products and technological strengths can be exploited to tackle the global issues specified in the SDGs.
In the term when measures are started, in addition to general in-house education, in accordance with company policy, we conducted an in-house dialogue with business groups in Japan and overseas regarding the approach to sustainability that the TDK Group should be aiming for and the SDGs. After that, of the issues cited in the SDGs, we summarized the discussions that took place in each business group about what issues and targets could be addressed by their own technologies and solutions in the medium and long term and whether there were any technologies and solutions that could be newly created stemming from social issues. The results are organized and the business groups and the Sustainability Promotion HQ conducted discussions on priority areas and medium- to long-term strategies.
Subsequently, we have been working to continuously improve measures as the creation of mechanisms. In the investigation results of each business group that can be achieved in the short term have been incorporated into business plans since FY March 2021. After organizing the results, we report a summary and review of the results for all business groups to the Board of Directors and also engage in dialogue with each business group for the purpose of reviewing the implementation status in the previous fiscal year and improving activities for the following fiscal year.
Going forward, we will communicate inside and outside the company to share the results of the above activities and promote activities.

Process:

  1. Implementation of employee educational dialogue to deepen understanding of the SDGs (since June 2018)
  2. Discussion by questionnaire or interview of what products or technologies possessed by each business group could contribute to the achievement of goals 3, 7, 9, 11, 12, and 13 of the SDGs (May–November 2019)
  3. Inclusion of discussed ideas into the FY March 2021 business plans of each business group (October 2019 – March 2020)
  4. Promotion of dialogue with business groups and other related parties and consideration of TDK’s priority areas and strategy based on social issues (since April 2020)
  5. Implementation of integrated progress management combining the EX and DX specified in the TDK Group’s materiality with the business areas that TDK focuses on for social value creation and corporate growth (since April 2021–March 2024)
  6. With the aim of making visible the social impacts of TDK’s business activities that contribute to solutions to social issues based on TDK Transformation, our long-term vision, we revised the details of questionnaire. Progress management is continuously implemented (since April 2024).

Contribution to achieving the SDGs

Enhancing the Objectivity and Accurateness of Disclosed Information

Regarding environmental performance data, TDK has been receiving third-party verification and third-party reviews by SGS Japan Inc.

Business Creation Starting from Social Issues

The following are examples of the TDK Group’s business creation starting from social issues.

TDK Corporation
An optical transmission system underpinned by temperature sensor miniaturization

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Optical transmission systems have been evolving at an impressive pace, as seen for example in 5G communications and the LiDAR technology used to maintain a safe distance between vehicles. One particularly important product in the optical transmission systems field is laser diodes, which are very widely used because they make it possible to achieve high laser output with a small device. Temperature control is an important issue for laser diodes, because the wavelength changes depending on the temperature.

A negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistor is a temperature sensor utilizing a semiconductor material for which the resistance value falls as the temperature rises. TDK’s wire bondable NTC thermistor uses innovative process technology and materials technology to realize small device size and also enable convenient mounting with wire bonding that allows a high degree of flexibility in terms of placement. By making it possible to have the NTC thermistor located close to the laser diode, it facilitates high-precision temperature detection.

The small size of this product also helps to reduce transportation costs and reduce CO2 emissions, while the lower power demand contributes toward a reduction in electric power consumption.

TDK Corporation
Helping to drive EV adoption by using TMR angle sensors to realize highly efficient e-motor control

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As environmental consciousness has grown, there has been an ongoing shift toward electric vehicles (EVs) in the mobility sector. When electric motors (e-motors) are used as the motive power for vehicles, they need to provide both efficiency and performance. Rotary angle detection for e-motors plays an important role in underpinning the precision and efficiency of the vehicle control system. Currently, the mainstream solution for this is the resolver, but resolvers present problems in terms of both cost and size, and these issues constitute a major obstacle impeding the evolution of angle sensor technology, so there is a clear need for a new approach.

The tunnel magneto resistance (TMR) angle sensor is a type of magnetic sensor that detects the direction of a magnet’s magnetic field. Able to perform high-precision detection of rotation angles, it facilitates efficient vehicle control. TDK’s TMR angle sensors use innovative process technology to deliver industry-leading high-precision angle detection. Our TMR angle sensors also provide very stable output across a wide temperature range, and so do not require temperature correction processing, which helps to reduce the size and cost of the vehicle control system as a whole, thereby making the system more efficient.

TDK Electronics AG
Film capacitors with increased sustainability along the life cycle for railway applications

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With the growing concern about environmental issues, considerable attention is being paid to the concept of a modal shift in freight transport away from road transport using trucks, to transportation by rail or ship, which supports large-volume transport while also being environmentally friendly. Power electronics technology, which enables the efficient conversion and control of electric power, has an important role to play in energy saving for rail transport. TDK’s ModCap film capacitors employ cutting-edge design techniques to realize modularization with industry-leading standardized specifications, creating a capacitor that is small, light, reliable, and durable.

The ModCap series film capacitors are made using bio-derived, sustainable film. By using environmentally friendly materials, they make a positive contribution to the environment right from the first stages of product manufacturing. All the products in the ModCap series are made using bio-circular materials.

To eliminate unnecessary wastage of material by extending component life-cycles, and to ensure appropriate management of waste, TDK has been undertaking research on how to realize the circular economy. While collaborating with a supplier on related R&D, it was suggested that the bio-based film used in the food sector could be used in the manufacturing of capacitors. This bio-based film has the same electrical properties as conventional products. The technology can also be applied to other types of film capacitor besides ModCap.

TDK Corporation
Sensing solutions for construction sites to help drive DX in the construction sector

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Construction is an important sector which creates the buildings and infrastructure that are so vital to us in our daily lives. In recent years, however, the construction sector has been faced with various problems, including labor shortages, safety concerns, and environmental issues.

On construction sites and civil engineering work sites, being aware of ground displacement and structures tilting is a very important aspect of project management, for safety reasons. In the past, in order to measure ground displacement or the incline of structures, it was necessary to install sensors at specific measuring points, which were connected to a data logger by cables to enable data collection. On construction sites that cover a large area, a great deal of time and effort had to be spent on connecting up multiple measurement points with cables. This kind of situation is one example of why it is vitally important to promote DX throughout the construction sector, so as to realize greater efficiency.

The incline measurement system that TDK has developed utilizes a 3-axis MEMS accelerometer and innovative data processing technology to realize high-precision measurement. The system uses 920MHz band wireless communication, which enables long-distance data communication that is free from interference from Wi-Fi or Bluetooth signals. Measurement data from multiple inclinometers is collated on cloud server or PC, allowing centralized management and remote monitoring. The incline measurement system is designed so that, if the measured data hits a specified level, a notification e-mail will be sent to the relevant personnel. When setting up the system, because there is no longer a need to link the different devices together by cable, the amount of cabling work that needs to be done on site is significantly reduced. The main type of sensor terminal used with this system is a wireless high-precision inclinometer, which is battery-powered, with an energy-saving design that enables over three years of continuous operation (assuming that data is sent every 10 minutes), thereby reducing the burden of battery replacement.

With systems like this that make effective use of sensor technology, TDK is contributing toward the DX of the construction sector.

Motor

TDK SensEI
Realizing predictive maintenance for industrial machinery by integrating edge AI with sensor technology

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Factories and other production sites need to minimize downtime by preventing machinery and equipment from malfunctioning. Rather than waiting for something to go wrong before dealing with it, if a problem can be predicted in advance, then it is possible to perform preventive maintenance that will improve the equipment availability rate and enhance productivity.
TDK SenEI’s edgeRX is a platform that uses AI-enabled edge sensor devices to monitor the status of industrial machinery. By integrating AI algorithms, edge computing and high-performance sensor devices, edgeRX enables monitoring of industrial machinery in real time, while also generating insights that can help to reduce downtime and improve productivity, and providing an alert function that notifies users when it is time to perform maintenance.