E Ink Actions｜E Ink ESG Website

(I) Strengthen sustainable risk management and control

• Supplier Code of Conduct follows

• Supply chain risk assessment

(II) Create a green and low-carbon supply chain

• Local procurement

• Low carbon energy sustainable cooperation

(III) Improve supply chain resilience

• Sustainable procurement

• Resilience Strategies

As a global leader in e-paper, E Ink's supply chain consists of hundreds of suppliers. These suppliers provide us with raw materials, components, assembled products, transportation, and various other services.

E Ink aims to establish an ethical, sustainable and resilient supply chain. We require all personnel in the supply chain to have access to fair treatment, free choice of employment opportunities and safe working conditions. Business operations are responsible Environmentally responsible and ethical.

E Ink uses the "Supplier Code of Conduct" and “Non Conflict Minerals(CM) Policy" to improve supply chain human rights, occupational safety, environmental protection, management systems and ethics, and conduct supply chain management through supply chain evaluation and audit systems. Reduce the risk of supplier chain disconnection. In addition, suppliers are also expected to jointly respond to E Ink's goal of using 100% renewable energy (RE100) in 2030 and achieving Net Zero Carbon Emissions (Net Zero Carbon Emissions) in 2040, so as to realize the vision of sustainable co-prosperity.

In response to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the impact of climate change, E Ink announced that it will use 100% renewable energy (RE100) by 2030 and achieve net zero carbon emissions (Net Zero Carbon Emissions) by 2040, and plans sustainable development actions blueprint.

In order to gradually realize the goal of E Ink's sustainable supply chain, three sustainable actions are specially set up: (1) Control and mitigate the risk of supply chain sustainability (2) Create a green and low-carbon supply chain (3) Improve the resilience of the supply chain, to implement sustainable supply chain management. Propose the goal of "creating a sustainable and co-prosperous value-added onto the supply chain, and incorporate ESG elements into the procurement system, including conducting supply chain ESG surveys, implementing supplier ESG risk assessment systems, and holding regular supplier conferences for formal communication.

By 2nd Qtr 2024, E Ink will also further implement the ISO 20400 sustainable procurement guidelines to continuously improve and optimize the overall sustainable supply chain management, and work together with the supply chain to move towards sustainable development.

E Ink Supplier Code of Conduct

All suppliers of E Ink must sign the “Guarantee of Supplier Code of Conduct” , so that suppliers of E Ink can clearly understand and truly abide by the requirements of the Supplier Code of Conduct of E Ink.

In the Supplier Code of Conduct, we define that suppliers should commit to safeguarding the human rights of laborers and respecting them according to the norms recognized by the international community. This applies to all workers, including temporary workers, migrant workers, students, contract workers, direct employees, and any other type of worker.

In addition, E Ink suppliers must also realize that in addition to minimizing the incidence of work-related injuries, a safe and healthy working environment can help improve the quality of products and services, production stability, and labor loyalty and morale. Suppliers should also recognize that ongoing workforce investment and education are key to identifying and addressing health and safety issues in the workplace.

E Ink suppliers must also acknowledge that environmental responsibility is an integral part of producing world-class products. Suppliers shall identify the impact of their manufacturing operations on the environment, and minimize adverse impacts of the process on the community, the environment, and natural resources, while safeguarding public health and safety.

In order to fulfill its social responsibility, E Ink requires all suppliers to abide by the highest ethical standards. The Supplier Code of Conduct also requires suppliers to adopt or establish a management system whose scope is related to the content of this Code. The management system shall be designed to ensure: (a) compliance with applicable laws, regulations and customer requirements related to supplier operations and products; (b) compliance with this Code; and (c) identification and mitigation of operational concerns related to this Code. risk. The management system should also drive continuous improvement.

Sign the Letter of Undertaking for Integrity

All suppliers of E Ink (including its subsidiaries) are required to sign the updated version of the Letter of Undertaking for Integrity.

Declare and commit to reject minerals extracted from all Conflict Minerals (CM) areas

CM refers to areas controlled by non-governmental military groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (this type of conflict minerals also includes Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania Metal minerals such as Tantalum, Tungsten, Tin and Gold (collectively referred to as 3TG) mined in ways that violate human rights. As a citizen of the world and actively promoting the "Responsible Business Alliance (RBA)" , E Ink declares and promises not to accept metals from the conflict area.

E Ink declares and requires the conflict minerals policy to suppliers in writing, and the suppliers must abide sign the "Not Using Conflict Minerals Statement", establish its conflict minerals policy and pass it on to its next-tier suppliers.

Carry out due diligence on all conflict minerals requirements from customers, and conduct risk assessment and questionnaire collection on suppliers, and confirm by referring to the list of effective and qualified smelters of the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) The content of the supplier's reply is the latest information and a list of smelters that meet the valid or qualified standards.

E Ink in order to follow the development, evaluation and approval of raw material suppliers, truly grasp the quality and timeliness of supplier recognition, and give full play to the benefits of supplier development, E Ink will list the bill of materials (BOM) according to the material properties. For the direct materials listed of BOM, the suppliers are classified and controlled accordingly, considering the impact on product quality, the difficulty of obtaining and supplying, and the risks.

In order to understand the development status and potential risks of E Ink suppliers in the three major aspects of environment, society and policy, E Ink conducts a supplier ESG questionnaire survey, through 3 major aspects, 12 themes and 64 topics, to assist Suppliers quickly review the status quo of sustainable management and raise ESG awareness.

In addition, in order to ensure product quality, E Ink conducts the supply chain evaluation process according to the regular evaluation method of qualified suppliers, and selects suppliers who provide E Ink raw materials for a long time or on a regular basis every quarter, and the procurement and quality assurance units, Manufacturing technology units conduct evaluations, and score for R &D capability, quality, delivery time, and after-sales service quality.

At the same time, E Ink will form an assessment and audit team from procurement, manufacturing technology, and quality assurance units for new and current suppliers every year, and discuss and formulate an annual audit plan at the fourth quarter meeting of each year. Conduct audits on key components and critical suppliers, improve suppliers' manufacturing technology, quality standards and management capabilities, reduce costs and ensure the continuous supply of required raw materials.

Suppliers are important partners of E Ink’s sustainable operations. In order to accelerate production efficiency and reduce carbon emissions, after considering factors such as cost, supply quality, delivery time and risks in the future, local procurement will be given priority. Increase the proportion of local procurement year by year. 

E Ink jointly develops raw materials and spare parts with customers and suppliers to create a sustainable business model.

E Ink joins hands with ecosystem partners to create low-carbon smart display solutions to accelerate the popularization of the electronic price tag market. Furthermore, in response to the increase in overall shipments and the increasing number of packaging materials used for shipments.

E Ink and suppliers are actively promoting the recycling and reuse of packaging materials used in shipments to reduce waste of packaging materials and reduce environmental impact and costs.

On the other hand, E Ink also requires suppliers to provide the carbon emission coefficients of products shipped to E Ink to help suppliers start with self-investigation, face their own energy saving and carbon reduction issues, and be responsible for the entire supply chain.

 In order to enhance suppliers awareness of supply chain sustainability, E Ink has organized a training course - “ESG Sustainable Supply Chain”, which mainly explains the company’s overall ESG policy promotion, and further details the corresponding short/medium/Long-term planning of supply chain, and specific implementation activities. It is hoped that relevant trainees can clearly understand the planning and implementation details of the sustainable supply chain plan, and convey the ESG concept of E Ink to all suppliers, so as to jointly improve and promote the sustainable supply chain plan.

    In addition to using business visits and exchanges, supplier evaluation processes, as a channel for supplier feedback, E Ink also arranges technical and business forums for supply chain manufacturers every year to provide smoother and more objective channels for feedback and promote cooperation with suppliers.

Through the sharing of innovative technologies at the meeting, we can understand the supplier's technological development and long-term technical direction, and the supplier can better understand the request of E Ink, hoping that both parties can grow together in technology and maintain a long-term partnership. In addition to technical discussions, this meeting can also be used to directly review the existing product cooperation quality service and price delivery time, and further implement supply chain management.

In addition, E Ink attaches great importance to the long-term cooperative relationship with suppliers, and will hold an annual supplier conference since 2021.

In order to avoid single supply risks, reduce procurement costs, and maintain a stable supply of raw materials, E Ink established a cross-department "alternative material platform" meeting to respond. The value of the alternative material platform lies in making up for the lack of supplier selection in the product design stage, and allowing the supply chain to still have the possibility of optimization after mass production. It also encourages existing material suppliers to continuously improve the quality and cost advantages of material supply. The reason why this platform can be perfected is that the quality control system is more important to make the verification process more clear and efficient. After customers accept the addition of alternative materials, the quality of mass production supply can also be ensured.

In response to the global supply chain restructuring trend, local raw materials are introduced to reduce cross-border transportation, and module materials will be converted from the world factory model to the development of regional manufacturing centers to achieve short-chain downstream manufacturing and achieve the goal of reducing carbon footprints. Establish a supply chain with diverse sources and introduce reliable trading partners to create a stable and efficient supply chain and improve the efficiency of the supply chain.