• Supply Chain Management
• Socially Responsible Procurement Program
• Respect for Human Rights in the Supply Chain

• Supply Chain Environmental Initiatives
• Partnerships with External Organizations

Epson considers suppliers to be important partners in its business activities. As such, our procurement activities are designed to develop mutually beneficial, trusting relationships with our business partners based on fairness, transparency, and respect.

Epson procures goods from around the world. Domestic Japanese procurement accounts for about 36% of our total procurement spend. Asia accounts for the large majority of the remaining 64%.
We source both direct materials, such as raw materials and parts necessary for product assembly and outsourced manufacturing, and indirect materials and services, including factory consumables, machinery, public relations and advertising, logistics, and staffing. Direct materials account for about 62% of our procurement spend and indirect materials for about 38%.
Epson does business with 1,700 direct material suppliers and has established a procurement network centered on Asia, where our  major manufacturing sites are located.

Procurement Over View

Before commencing business with a prospective new supplier, Epson comprehensively evaluates them and their performance, including their CSR initiatives. They are asked to sign a Supplier Agreement under which they commit to observe the Epson Group Supplier Guidelines / RBA Code of Conduct (covering labor/human rights, health and safety, environment, and ethics). They are also assessed both directly and indirectly in accordance with our supplier qualification procedures.

Indirect evaluation	An evaluation conducted using information provided by a credit investigation service Evaluation items: Credit score, business history, capital composition, business size, profit/loss, financing status, management, etc.
Direct evaluation	A self-assessment based on annual evaluation criteria Evaluation items: quality control, cost control, delivery date management, environmental management, and management systems, including business continuity management and anti-corruption framework, and information security

Annual Evaluation Results

Epson systematically performs its due diligence with respect to supplier CSR. We ask our suppliers to complete an annual self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) to help raise CSR standards across the global supply chain and to verify compliance with our supplier management obligations¹ as a Regular Member of the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA). Once the answers to the SAQ have been analyzed, Epson requests any necessary corrective actions and supports suppliers in their continuous improvement efforts.
We also use processes to verify suppliers’ answers through audits, on-site inspections, and interviews. In accordance with the RBA Regular Member requirements and other applicable requirements, suppliers that are ranked high risk based on their SAQ scores are required to undergo audits in line with RBA standards and implement corrective actions. Furthermore, regardless of a supplier’s SAQ score, if a nonconformity is found in any key human rights areas, Epson requests a corrective action and monitors the progress. 

¹ Summary of RBA Regular Member obligations

(1) Evaluations

2026-07-31 17:34 As part of its due diligence, Epson conducts an annual risk assessment to identify which suppliers it will ask to complete a self-assessment. Suppliers can choose to answer either an online SAQ provided by the RBA or an SAQ designed by Epson that is based on the RBA’s Validated Assessment Program (VAP) audit criteria. The Epson SAQ is designed to closely check the human rights situation at suppliers’ facilities. It has many questions in the labor section as well as questions about the protection of the rights of indigenous peoples and foreign immigrants. Epson’s SAQ form is available in multiple languages¹ to ensure that local suppliers in the countries and regions where Epson's manufacturing sites reside can accurately understand and answer the questions on the SAQ.
¹ The form for direct material suppliers is available in three languages, and that for the other suppliers is available in six languages.

Determining which suppliers receive an SAQ

In accordance with the RBA Regular Member requirements and other relevant requirements, we conducted risk assessments to select the suppliers who would be asked to complete an SAQ in 2025. The suppliers who met the selection criteria below were asked to complete an SAQ.

Suppliers Asked to Complete an SAQ in 2025

¹ Epson's first-tier (direct) suppliers are arranged in descending order based on spend volume and selected from the top of the list until the cumulative spend volume exceeds 80% of the total spend. If a first-tier supplier is a trading company, manufacturers that supply the trading company are asked to complete an SAQ.  

² Contractors who provide security, food service (canteen), and other services at Epson Group facilities.

Direct material suppliers

Following a risk-based supplier selection process, we asked 265 first-tier direct material supplier groups to complete a 2025 SAQ. All 775 manufacturing sites/facilities responded. In cases where the first-tier supplier was a trading company, we also asked the second-tier suppliers (the manufacturers) to complete the SAQ.

The number of suppliers using RBA-Online has been increasing each year and now accounts for about 60% of all Epson suppliers. In 2023, the facility SAQ in RBA-Online was renewed and is now called the "Risk SAQ." Its use was made mandatory starting in 2024. The changes to the SAQ tended to result in lower scores for the newly included Country Risk and Product Risk (business risk) questions in RBA-Online. 

For supplier facilities that complete the RBA-Online SAQ, Epson communicates directly with suppliers regarding incomplete or deficient answers and any identified risk issues, and requests that appropriate corrective actions be taken. In addition, Epson incorporated Country Risk and Product Risk into the scoring methodology of the Epson SAQ to ensure consistency with the evaluation criteria used in the RBA-Online SAQ. All suppliers who completed the Epson SAQ were notified of their results. In addition to their SAQ scores, we provided them with a feedback sheet that included comparisons with the previous year's answers and recommendations for addressing identified issues. We also monitored the formulation and progress of the corrective action plans for addressing failures to comply with high-priority requirements related to human rights¹ and provided assistance as needed.
The results of the 2025 SAQs showed that no suppliers were classified as high risk (i.e., scoring below 60 points), regardless of whether they completed the RBA-Online SAQ or the Epson SAQ.
¹ Priority items related to human rights (Excerpt):
・ Prohibition of child labor (not detected)
・ Prohibition of slave labor and forced labor (conclusion of appropriate employment contracts, freedom of movement, limits on company loans)
・ Proper management of working hours (no more than six consecutive work days and a limit on working hours of 60 hours/week)
・ Proper payment of wages (payment of at least the legal minimum wage and overtime, and timely payment of wages)
・ Prohibition of worker-paid recruitment fees
・ Humane treatment (prohibition of harassment)
・ Evacuation drills (mandatory all-hands drill, nighttime and dormitory drills, etc.)
・ Provision of suitable personal protective equipment at no cost to workers
・ Provision of safety measures for pregnant and nursing mothers, and provision of a hygienic room for expressing breast milk.

Evaluation Results for Direct Material Suppliers

¹ Corporate group
² Risk assessment criteria

Other suppliers

Epson is also working to ensure that its other suppliers, who are essential partners in its business operations, understand RBA's requirements and are working to improve their operations in accordance with them.
Since 2019, we have been asking our major suppliers, including on-site service vendors, temporary staffing and recruitment companies, and logistics warehouse companies, to complete the SAQ and take corrective action depending on the results. We expanded the scope of the SAQ in 2022 based on findings from a risk assessment.
At manufacturing sites, we conduct audits in addition to the SAQ to check the working environment and employment conditions of employees of companies stationed on the premises. We provide them with support until verifying the correction of issues that were identified, including issues involving working hours, the granting of days off, consecutive working days, and appropriate payment of overtime wages. These efforts have helped to raise SAQ scores.

In 2025, Epson conducted SAQs covering 146 on-site service providers and 80 labor agents at Seiko Epson facilities and Epson’s major manufacturing sites. All companies that were asked to complete the SAQ did so, for a 100% response rate. As with direct material suppliers, we ask these companies to create corrective action plans and correct any issues found in key areas related to human rights, and we monitor plan progress until completion.

Examples of confirmed corrective action

• Refunds to workers for expenses (for Japanese language education, visa acquisition, etc.) incurred in the sending country by foreign workers employed by contract manufacturing companies.

Other supplier evaluation results

¹ Logistics warehouse companies and call center contractors were asked to complete SAQs in 2023 and 2024 based on findings from risk assessments, and call center contractors were not asked in 2025.
² Includes 37 companies used by sales companies
³ Risk assessment criteria

(2) Monitoring (audits, on-site verification, and corrective action support)

Epson schedules field audits and on-site verification of suppliers, mainly of Epson Group's major manufacturing sites, because it believes that it is important, as part of the CSR due diligence process, to understand and monitor the situation. We provide assistance for corrective action taken by suppliers who are found to be at risk.

Third-Party Audits

The number of suppliers undergoing RBA VAP audits is increasing, and a growing number of facilities are earning RBA recognition awarded for high audit performance¹, indicating steady improvement in suppliers’ compliance with the RBA Code of Conduct. We communicate with suppliers before VAP audits. We also provide guidance and support following initial audits to help drive corrective action plans (CAPs) to address identified nonconformances. Moreover, we monitor the corrective action progress through closure audits.
¹ Of the 101 supplier facilities that underwent an RBA VAP audit in 2025, approximately 70% (76 sites) earned Silver recognition or higher. Furthermore, approximately 23% (23 sites) earned Platinum recognition, which is awarded to facilities that close all nonconformances and receive a full score of 200 points.

On-site verification and support for correction and improvement

Professional members of Epson's manufacturing sites visit suppliers to conduct on-site verification and support corrective actions.
For on-site service providers, Epson employees conducted second-party audits and requested that they take corrective actions on working conditions, including such as reducing and managing working hours, granting days off, paying overtime wages appropriately, and prohibiting the collection of recruitment fees from foreign migrant workers.

Audit and On-Site Verification (number of sites, Japan and other areas)

¹ Includes 10 staffing and recruitment agencies.
² Examples of priority nonconformances (2025):

Epson has declared in its Human Rights Policy that human rights should be respected not only by Epson but also by its suppliers. As stated in the Human Rights Policy, Epson is committed to not only adhering to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and respecting the internationally recognized human rights set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and elsewhere, but also, in support of the purpose of RBA as its member, striving to ensure that our suppliers also comply with the RBA Code of Conduct. Through these efforts, we aim to ensure that human rights are respected throughout the entire supply chain of Epson products.

In addition to its own initiatives, Epson supports and actively participates in alliance activities in order to resolve CSR issues, including human rights issues in the supply chain. We have joined the RBA and JEITA to share knowledge and collaborate on solutions to societal issues around the world and to enhance supply chain CSR.

【Japanese industry associations】
Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA)​
CSR Committee (34 member companies as of June 2026)

Example activities:

• General CSR support (e.g., tracking and sharing information on regulations in various countries)
• Streamlining of socially responsible procurement (e.g., develop guidance on responsible corporate conduct, educate and build awareness in the supply chain)
• Utilization and development of grievance mechanisms
• Correspondence with government and CSR-related organizations and institutions