Kao Corporation

CINCINNATI, OHIO – April 20: Kao Collins announced the launch of a new website for their industrial inkjet and flexographic inks.

The site, found at www.kaoprint.com and launched just before DRUPA’s 2021 event, offers businesses involved in the industrial printing industry access to the expertise and innovative capabilities provided by Kao Corporation (the company’s three brands: Kao Collins, Kao Chimigraf, and Kao Corporation Chemical Business).

Now customers anywhere have access to Kao’s suite of ink products and services. The site aims to support worldwide industrial printing through the following:

• Stronger supply chain support
• Efficient access to all inks and services
• Supporting decentralized production and manufacturing
• Faster development of custom ink and printing solutions
• Greater flexibility to support changing markets and business conditions

“We’re offering solutions locally by combining expertise from our chemists and engineers with the product development and manufacturing capabilities provided by Kao locations around the world,” said Vice President Chris Rogers. As a global brand serving a worldwide network of industrial printers, packagers, and distributors, Kao seeks to prioritize sustainability efforts throughout the supply chain.

• Formulating innovative ink solutions that reduce the environmental impact of industrial printing operations
• Diversifying our network of distributors to promote fairness in markets and competition
• Providing customers with technical support that advances their sustainability goals

The company will highlight various initiatives for sustainability in several webinars during DRUPA 2021:

• Business Expansion with Kao Thermal Inkjet Solution
• Eco Value Chain created by Kao Digital Printing Solution on Flexible Packaging
• UV Low-migration Inkjet Inks For Corrugated
• Sustainability as the Only Path

“Already many of our products are meeting the need of our customers for more sustainable printing solutions,” said Rogers.

Contact Kristin Adams at kadams@kaocollins.com for more information

About Kao
Kao creates high-value-added products that enrich the lives of consumers around the world. Through its portfolio of over 20 leading brands such as Attack, Bioré, Goldwell, Jergens, John Frieda, Kanebo, Laurier, Merries and Molton Brown, Kao is part of the everyday lives of people in Asia, Oceania, North America, and Europe. Combined with its chemical division, which contributes to a wide range of industries, Kao generates about 1,400 billion yen in annual sales. Kao employs about 33,000 people worldwide and has more than 120 years of history in innovation. Please visit the Kao Group website for updated information.

About Kao Collins
Kao Collins provides inkjet printing solutions for the commercial and industrial printing industry, offering a full line of inkjet inks, technical support, parts, and repair services worldwide. About Kao Chimigraf Kao Chimigraf is a global provider and supplier of high-performance printing inks and coatings for flexographic printing systems and industrial inkjet equipment used by various industries, markets, and manufacturers.

About Kao Corporation Chemical Business
Kao Corporation Chemical Business provides a wide range of chemical solutions, developed through comprehensive lab research and testing, to support Kao and its customers in the commercial and industrial printing industries and Kao Group brands in sectors such as. cosmetics, healthcare, home care, and more.

Kao Corporation was granted the “Semi-Nadeshiko Brand” designation by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (METI) and the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), which recognises outstanding listed companies that encourage women to play active roles in the workplace.

The Japanese government has set measures to promote women’s success in the workplace as a core growth strategy. To accelerate the initiatives, METI and TSE jointly select and publicise listed enterprises that are exceptional in providing women with opportunities for success in the workplace, including developing work environments in which women are able to further their careers, and grant them the “Nadeshiko Brand” and “Semi-Nadeshiko Brand” designations.

Outlines of Kao’s activities
Based on the recognition that the dynamism generated by diversity supports business development, Kao promotes Diversity & Inclusion to realise an organisation in which each individual’s diverse skills, experiences, personality and values are mutually accepted and mobilised to enhance the company’s collective strength. Kao, as a group, has been working to build rewarding workplaces where each employee can leverage his or her full potential by fostering an understanding of diversity and an attitude of mutual respect.

Kao has worked to evaluate and promote women, and all employees, according to their motivation and abilities and regardless of personal attributes, in an effort to encourage an active role for each individual. This has led to expanded roles for diverse employees, and in particular, has helped Kao achieve a ratio of female managers of 19.2%*1 (Kao Group in Japan). Initiatives aimed at encouraging men to participate in childcare have included distributing pamphlets on taking childcare leave to male employees with newborn babies and their superiors and promoting their participation with their partners in seminars for employees returning from childcare leave, as well as efforts to create a workplace environment that makes it easier for men to take part in childcare. Thanks to these initiatives, the ratio of men taking childcare leave has risen to 42.2%*1 (Kao Corporation). In addition, to promote diverse, flexible work styles, Kao has put in place a flextime system with no core hours, a system for taking paid leave by the hour, systems for shortened work hours and sabbaticals that enable employees to balance work with family responsibilities like child and elder care, as well as work-from-home systems. More employees are now taking advantage of these offerings. Kao also continues its efforts to encourage employees to take leave, and through its efforts to promote more balanced work styles, has achieved a paid vacation time usage rate of 75.8%*2 (Kao Group in Japan).

The selection of Kao to receive the “Semi-Nadeshiko Brand” designation was based on comprehensive evaluation of both Kao’s Diversity & Inclusion measures and the company’s financial performance, etc.

The Kao Group established its ESG strategy, the Kirei Lifestyle Plan, in April 2019. One of its priority actions is achieving “inclusive and diverse workplaces.” Kao will continue striving to draw out the unlimited potential of every one of its employees and mobilize this dynamism for the maximum benefit of its organization. In addition, Kao is committed to implementing its unique ESG activities on a global level for the wholehearted satisfaction and enrichment of the lives of people worldwide and to contribute to a sustainable society.

* 1 As of December 31, 2020
* 2 FY2020 (January–December 2020)
 
About Kao

Kao creates high-value-added products that enrich the lives of consumers around the world. Through its portfolio of over 20 leading brands such as Attack, Bioré, Goldwell, Jergens, John Frieda, Kanebo, Laurier, Merries, and Molton Brown, Kao is part of the everyday lives of people in Asia, Oceania, North America, and Europe. Combined with its chemical division, which contributes to a wide range of industries, Kao generates about 1,400 billion yen in annual sales. Kao employs about 33,000 people worldwide and has 130 years of history in innovation. Please visit the Kao Group website for updated information.

CINCINNATI, OHIO: Kao Collins Inc., a leading manufacturer and supplier of industrial inkjet inks, announced the launch of the NEXXO line of inkjet inks for the new solvent-compatible Funai thermal inkjet ink cartridge after extensive testing in production environments.

The inks offer greater opportunities for printing on new and challenging substrates with thermal inkjet technology. Cartridges maintain integrity when using strong solvent formulation.

“These amazing Funai cartridges opened the door for our NEXXO line of solvent inks. Now printers using CIJ systems have a TIJ alternative that requires little ongoing service, reduces VOC emissions, and prints higher-quality expiration information,” said John Herman, the TIJ Business Manager.

The NEXXO inks print high-resolution 2d coding and increase the readability of expiration dates and lot numbers using solid alphanumerics instead of dot-matrix.

The inks also support the increased throw distance of the cartridge. At 10mm, the Funai TIJ systems now offer an alternative to other printing systems for marking and coding on curved or recessed surfaces.

Compared to CIJ systems for printing non-porous materials, the ink-cartridge combination reduces VOC emissions by almost 90%. There is virtually no downtime when using Nexxo ink in Funai cartridges. Funai TIJ technology offers greater efficiency, with less downtime, maintenance, and almost no cleaning.

Kao Collins has been producing inks for Funai systems since 2009.

About KAO

Kao creates high-value-added products that enrich the lives of consumers around the world. Through its portfolio of over 20 leading brands such as Attack, Bioré, Goldwell, Jergens, John Frieda, Kanebo, Laurier, Merries, and Molton Brown, Kao is part of the everyday lives of people in Asia, Oceania, North America, and Europe. Combined with its chemical division, which contributes to a wide range of industries, Kao generates about 1,400 billion yen in annual sales. Kao employs about 33,000 people worldwide and has 130 years of history in innovation. Please visit the Kao Group website for updated information.

TOKYO –  The Ethisphere Institute, a leading US think-tank, has named the Kao Corporation one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. Kao is a leading consumer goods company and the only Asian company to have made the list every year since Ethisphere began its ranking in 2007. Thoughtful, purposeful consumption is at the heart of Kao’s business and this continued recognition by Ethisphere, reflects this commitment.

The Ethisphere Institute develops and shares best practices in business ethics and corporate social responsibility. The World’s Most Ethical Companies list recognises companies which have demonstrated outstanding performance in transparency, integrity, ethics, and compliance. The Institute surveys and evaluates companies worldwide across five categories covering: ethics and compliance programs, corporate citizenship and responsibility, culture of ethics, governance, and leadership and reputation.

Commenting on the accolade, Yoshihiro Hasebe, Kao’s President and CEO, said: “We are honoured to have been recognised as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for 15 consecutive years. Our business has always been based on walking the right path—a core value of our founder. Outside evaluations are therefore, an important indication we are indeed going in the right direction. However, we should never be satisfied with the status quo. What has worked for us today may not work in the future, so we should always strive for improvement. As CEO, I am determined we continue to make ethical decisions in this ever-changing world.”

Ethisphere’s Chief Executive Officer, Timothy Erblich, said: “We are, once again, delighted to include Kao in our World’s Most Ethical Companies list—the only Asian company we have honoured every year since the award’s inception. This is a testament to Kao’s dedication to advancing ethical and ESG management best practices. We believe Kao will continue to be at the forefront of setting ethical standards in the industry globally.”

Kao’s purpose is to create a Kirei life for all. The Japanese word ‘kirei’ describes something that is both clean and beautiful. For Kao, Kirei not only encapsulates appearance, but also attitude— to create beauty for oneself, other people, and for the world around us. Kao Group’s ESG strategy—the Kirei Lifestyle Plan—aims to integrate ESG as the foundation of its management to accelerate business growth and create products and services of better value for consumers and society. Additionally, Kao’s corporate code of conduct—the Kao Business Conduct Guidelines—guides our everyday business and is tailored to the special characteristics of Kao’s operations in different countries and regions.

With the world still gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic, Kao has taken a series of actions to support industry initiatives to promote good hygiene and handwashing, increasing production capacity for hand sanitisers, and making charitable donations across the world. Kao also took immediate action to ensure employee safety at an early stage of the pandemic, which included encouraging employees to work from home and providing them with the company’s products such as hand soap and sanitisers.

About Kao
Kao creates high-value-added products that enrich the lives of consumers around the world. Through its portfolio of over 20 leading brands such as Attack, Bioré, Goldwell, Jergens, John Frieda, Kanebo, Laurier, Merries, and Molton Brown, Kao is part of the everyday lives of people in Asia, Oceania, North America, and Europe. Combined with its chemical division, which contributes to a wide range of industries, Kao generates about 1,400 billion yen in annual sales. Kao employs about 33,000 people worldwide and has 130 years of history in innovation.
* “World’s Most Ethical Companies” and “Ethisphere” names and marks are registered trademarks of Ethisphere LLC.

Kao Corporation has been recognized, for the fourth consecutive year, as a Supplier Engagement leader for its initiatives in reducing carbon emissions and tackling climate change across its supply chain by CDP, an international non-profit organization that drives companies and governments to reduce their greenhouse emissions.

Recognizing its responsibility as an enterprise that provides products which people use on a regular basis in their daily lives, the Kao Group takes active steps to reduce the environmental footprint of its products throughout the entirety of the product lifecycle. In April 2019, Kao launched the Kirei Lifestyle Plan, its ESG (environmental, social and governance) strategy, which incorporates 19 key leadership actions. By integrating ESG into the core of its company management, Kao will drive business growth and better serve consumers and society through its enhanced products and services.

CDP rated over 5,500 companies worldwide, and assessed their supply chain engagement strategy, including carbon emission and climate-related risk reduction strategies across their supply chain. The evaluation was started in 2017, and CDP named almost 390 companies, including Kao, on its fourth annual Supplier Engagement leader board this year.

Kao, together with its suppliers, will continue to deepen its understanding of climate change and of the risks and opportunities regarding water and forests, so as to reduce carbon emissions across the product lifecycle. Kao is committed to implementing its unique ESG activities globally for the wholehearted satisfaction and enrichment of the lives of people worldwide and to contribute to a sustainable society.

CDP
CDP is an international non-profit charity based in the UK that creates engagement on environmental issues such as climate change. It operates a global disclosure system for major companies and cities around the world to release how they take action on climate change and manage water resources. It then surveys and evaluates the companies and cities with the support of institutional investors, and is one of the most trusted assessment organizations among investors.

About Kao
Kao creates high-value-added products that enrich the lives of consumers around the world. Through its portfolio of over 20 leading brands such as Attack, Bioré, Goldwell, Jergens, John Frieda, Kanebo, Laurier, Merries, and Molton Brown, Kao is part of the everyday lives of people in Asia, Oceania, North America and Europe. Combined with its chemical division, which contributes to a wide range of industries, Kao generates about 1,400 billion yen in annual sales. Kao employs about 33,000 people worldwide and has 130 years of history in innovation. Please visit the Kao Group website for updated information.