Local Communities

Basic Stance/Policy

As a good corporate citizen, our company actively contributes to society. Our activities include:

Establishing a basic philosophy of contributing to society through our business activities
Identifying areas to prioritize our efforts and using our corporate resources to promote specific contributions based on our corporate philosophy
Coordinating and cooperating with various stakeholders, including NPOs, NGOs, local communities, governments, and international institutions
Supporting employees’ own community contributions and involvement
Participating in the social efforts of the industry and business community

In 2020, we provided financial support to our local communities in Japan and around the world.
Additionally, although many production facilities had to forgo offering internships due to the coronavirus, five plants outside of Japan hosted a total of 74 interns.

Activities and Results

Coexisting with Local Communities

Holiday Donation

In December 2020, the TRA Michigan plant participated in the Christmas Program run by the Portland Community Fund (PCF), donating non-perishable food items to help provide holiday dinners for local families in need.

Supporting Education

THK Education Outreach Program

Now in its fifth and final year, the THK Education Outreach Program began in 2017 as a special project in anticipation of our 50th anniversary in 2021 and with the desire to introduce children to the joy of manufacturing. The objective of this project is to use manufacturing education to foster talent that can create and develop, thinking about issues with classmates and arriving at solutions.
The coronavirus caused a number of events to be canceled or postponed in 2020. Many schools were closed for about three months between March and May, which meant that we did not conduct our middle school visits as we had done in the past.
However, we decided to hold virtual interviews for the 4th Science Castle Grant THK Prize, which is aimed at students pursuing manufacturing-related research and development. Although the application period was during the school closures, we received submissions from 20 schools. Ten of those were selected, and those students spent half a year developing their project. The annual gathering at the end of December to present everyone’s results was held online, but we made use of the meeting chat to liven things up in a different way than an in-person event. Among the ten entries, Okayama Junior and Senior High School was selected for the Best Development Prize.
We will resume our school trips and continue the Science Castle Grant THK Prize in 2021, and we are also planning to release new learning materials that can be used in middle school engineering curricula.

Winner of the Science Castle Grant THK Prize for Best Development: Okayama Junior High School (Okayama City)

Seeing the 2018 floods damage our friends’ houses and watching the rescue teams saving people from the widespread flooding downtown after the levees collapsed made us realize our limitations. That is how we came up with the concept of creating a disaster prevention robot to minimize damage immediately after a levee collapses.
We named it the Megaslime 39. First, it uses an air pump to cause balloons to float, then an electromagnetic valve is used to release the air so the balloons can be filled with water. After that, a submersible pump adds the water so the balloons will sink from the weight of the liquid. The six water-filled balloons then plug the space where the river has broken its bank. The current robot is a miniature, indoor model. Because the battery runs out quickly and it cannot be used outside of the remote control range, it is 70% complete. However, we should make a breakthrough if we can come up with solutions like adding a solar cell to keep it from losing power or putting a cellphone inside the robot to operate it remotely by using the electric current from when the phone produces sound.
When we started on this project, we were unsure if we would be successful, but our advisor supported us over those six months and gave us very reassuring advice whenever we ran into trouble. Because of the pandemic, we ran into issues with the audio and frozen screens when meeting online, but we ended up with an amazing creation. There are big challenges ahead, but we hope to see this disaster prevention robot in action.

Okayama Junior High School students who developed the disaster prevention robot

Community Outreach in Response to the Pandemic

As part of our response to the coronavirus, we provided appropriate assistance to medical institutions and health care workers who treat and care for patients, and we also aided local schools and suppliers.

Activities

Facility	Beneficiary	Details
THK Headquarters	Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s mask team	Donated 12,900 medical N95 masks
THK Headquarters	National Cancer Center Japan	Donated 3,120 medical N95 masks
THK Singapore	Health care workers	Joined “Clap For #SGUnited” at 8 p.m. to express gratitude
THK Singapore	Health care workers	Joined “Sing Together Singapore” to sing the Singapore National Day song “Home” at 7:55 p.m.
THK Changzhou (China)	Two machining parts suppliers	Shared documents to prepare for reopening and helped the suppliers meet government requirements for reopening
THK Changzhou (China)	Xuejiazhen government	Donated 300 masks
TMA (USA)	Perry County Family Practice	Donated five 3D-printed face shields
TMA (USA)	Licking Memorial Hospital	Donated fifty 3D-printed ear guards for masks
TMA (USA)	Licking Memorial Hospital	Donated 200 coveralls, 400 shoe coverings, and 8 face shields with headgear
TRA Michigan (USA)	St. Patrick School	Donated 24 desktop plastic barriers made in-house to prevent the spread of droplets

Charitable Contributions

As part of our contributions to society, we provide financial assistance in times of natural disasters and donate money to organizations devoted to the advancement of science and the future development of manufacturing in Japan.

Date	Purpose	Recipient
1/2020	Japan Science Foundation support/membership dues	Japan Science Foundation
7/2020	Activity funds	Japanese Red Cross
9/2020	Japan Philharmonic Orchestra special member fee	Japan Philharmonic Orchestra
10/2020	The Disaster Relief Fund for Victims	Central Community Chest of Japan
12/2020	Holiday meal program	Portland Community Fund Association

Sustainability