“ASUENE” streamlines environmental data management tasks, even for complex organizational structures with over 200 locations in 40 countries and business expansion through M&A.

Nidec Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells motors under the concept of “Moving the world. Changing the future.” Our motors are essential components in various everyday applications, including automobiles (EV engines, seat adjustments, power windows, steering), home appliances, IT and electronics, and industrial equipment. They are indispensable to modern society.

To address global environmental concerns, we have been formulating and implementing medium-term environmental conservation plans every three years since fiscal 2004. In 2021, we established “Vision 2025,” a medium-term strategic goal with the message “To be a company recognized for its ESG performance!” In April 2022, we established the Environmental Management Department, a specialized division to promote environmental management. At that time, our environmental data collection rate was approximately 50%. Our initial focus was on thoroughly collecting data from over 200 sites in approximately 40 countries worldwide.

However, considering the potential increase in the scope of calculation due to future M&A activities, we recognized the limitations of our existing system and Excel-based management. Anticipating the growth in the number of sites, we needed to further streamline data collection and began exploring the implementation of a system that could centrally manage data from each location.

As a company listed on the Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, we are obligated to disclose our CO2 emissions. However, our previous system could only calculate Scope 1 and 2 emissions, while Scope 3 emissions had to be calculated manually using Excel. We were searching for a system that could calculate Scope 1 through 3 emissions more accurately and efficiently.

In 2023, we learned that ASUENE had expanded its functionality to include not only CO2 but also environmental data management for waste and water, and that it supported multiple languages. After comparing and evaluating approximately ten different systems, including those from large enterprises, startups, and both Japanese and foreign companies, we concluded that ASUENE was the best solution to address our challenges and decided to implement it.

One of the deciding factors was its intuitive interface, which is easily understandable for anyone, as we needed to collect data from over 200 factories in 40 countries. With ASUENE, by simply inputting data such as fuel consumption and electricity usage, CO2 emissions are visualized on a dashboard and can be grasped at a glance. The immediate visualization of CO2 emissions not only enhances usability but also fosters a sense of ownership among those responsible at each factory.

Furthermore, user management has become significantly easier. We register two users per site: a data entry person and an administrator. ASUENE provides a user list that allows for easy management of user permissions, which we find very convenient.

We are currently preparing for the system rollout to each site starting in October this year. This includes providing supplementary training to address any knowledge gaps regarding CO2 emissions calculations.

We have recently seen an increase in requests from our business partners for disclosure of our climate change initiatives, targets, and CO2 emissions reduction roadmap, as well as calculations of our Corporate Carbon Footprint (CFP). To understand our current challenges and identify necessary actions, we began by visualizing our current status using ASUENE.

We disclose the visualized data on our website and through CDP to our customers. However, we believe it is essential to actively communicate with other stakeholders as well. Information from our customers is crucial for calculating Scope 3 supply chain emissions. Moving forward, we aim to visualize and reduce Scope 3 emissions by engaging with customers and suppliers to build partnerships and drive global change.

In March 2024, we announced our long-term goal of achieving net-zero emissions across Scopes 1, 2, and 3 by fiscal 2050. According to a paper published by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 2011, motors account for half of the world’s electricity consumption. Motors are used to convert electricity into motion, leading to significant energy consumption. By developing higher-efficiency motors and reducing resource consumption and transportation burdens, we aim to protect the livelihoods of future generations.

Currently, we are strengthening our development of water-cooled modules for data centers. Cooling systems are essential for data centers in the digital age, and water-cooled modules can reduce power consumption compared to conventional air-cooled fans. Through such products and solutions that contribute to CO2 emissions reduction, we will continue to contribute to climate change mitigation and the realization of a prosperous society.