Sustainability

By pursuing sustainable corporate practices, Tecan is looking to secure the longterm expansion and prosperity of the Company for the benefit of all interested parties. Tecan sees sustainable corporate practices as more than just a series of individual measures. Instead they are a basic mindset that shapes all corporate processes and unites economic, ecological and social aspects. Tecan’s business principle is to treat partners – including employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers, government agencies and stakeholders – professionally, fairly and to high ethical standards.

At Tecan, strong customer loyalty and a high degree of customer satisfaction are key factors for sustainable business growth. In collaboration with an external market research institute, Tecan regularly measures and evaluates customer loyalty and satisfaction. For example, the Company conducted a global survey of more than a thousand scientists as part of the major brand refresh project. Both customers and non-customers were questioned about their perception of Tecan compared to its most important competitors in the various market segments. The survey confirmed Tecan as the leading brand in the field of laboratory automation. It stands for the highest standards, quality, reliability and innovation. These are decisive success factors for building up and strengthening a brand in this sector on a sustainable basis.

In addition to the largely positive results, the survey also identified room for improvement, which Tecan is now addressing with appropriate measures. Overall, the Company is putting the customer at the center of its actions to an even greater extent. Tecan’s promise is: Always there for you. Tecan wishes to be closer to its customers and partners, in order to help them reach their targets even quicker. Using its expertise, the Company plays its part wherever possible.

At Tecan, prudent corporate activity founded on clearly structured, transparent business processes is the permeating theme of the daily routine of both employees and management. It is important that Tecan employees are familiar with globally binding internal corporate guidelines, business processes, and country-specific laws and regulations. Employees can access the most up-to-date version of these documents, which also convey guiding principles on the intangible values of the corporate culture, at any time in the Tecan Management System (TMS). The TMS is rated as a model tool by customers and external partners alike. Tecan develops the TMS on a continuous basis.

Tecan has had a continual improvement process (CIP) in place for a number of years. Employees in all areas of the Company should identify potential improvements at a day-to-day level, put forward solutions and contribute to their rapid implementation. The aim of the CIP is to increase the Company’s profitability, enhance efficiency as well as quality and occupational safety, and improve internal collaboration. Where possible, the success of the CIP is measured using key performance indicators, such as productivity, throughput time and inventories in production.

Tecan developed and installed the production and logistics system PULS specifically for continual process improvements as part of just-in-time manufacturing. This integrated system enables Tecan to eliminate weaknesses and to better achieve the required, ever-stricter quality standards. The sustainability of the improvements is ensured by means of an audit system, which covers the relevant areas from occupational safety and environmental protection through management and collaboration. One of the guiding principles of PULS is to avoid waste caused, for example, by overproduction, standby time, excessive inventories and defective units. 

As part of the existing lean production, an even more consistent one-piece flow approach – an “employee-linked workflow”– was adopted in the production system in the year under review. The employees accompany the instrument along the entire production path to completion, with no interruptions between the various work steps. Not only does this production process shorten production times and further improve quality, it should also further increase employees’ motivation levels. 

In the year under review, Tecan also reorganized the manufacturing processes of the various product lines at the Männedorf site. The most important innovations were as follows: Employees have clearer responsibilities and each product line has a production manager. Responsibility for the timely execution of orders, the procurement of materials and the observance of the agreed objectives is clearly allocated to individuals. Performance reviews are undertaken on the basis of KPIs (key performance indicators). Each morning, the production manager discusses the next steps to be undertaken with the entire team before production gets underway.

Tecan has a well-established global risk management process that allows the Company to detect risks in any area of corporate activity early on, categorize them according to likelihood of occurrence and impact, and limit them with an appropriate action plan. The process encompasses, among other factors, strategic risks, environmental and product risks, market and customer risks as well as occupational safety risks. It also focuses on political and economic developments as well as the possible impacts certain events may have on external partners such as customers or suppliers. 

Tecan continuously adjusts its risk management system in line with changes to the environment and takes current events into account in its risk assessment. Under the business continuity plan, for example, in the event of natural disasters such as earthquakes and flooding, direct suppliers in the affected region are examined, and information gathered on their subcontractors. The aim is to ensure Tecan’s ability to supply, even in this type of exceptional situation. The Board of Directors reviews annually whether the risk assessment of business activities is appropriate and whether it takes into account both internal and external changes. Where necessary, new measures to mitigate risk are implemented. Tecan’s risk management system is also regularly audited by a key insurer, who attests to the instrument’s high standard, enabling a premium reduction. Some of the Company’s employees hold risk management certification. Tecan attaches great importance to this high level of qualification being present internally and to the Company not having to depend exclusively on external experts, as is often the case at other companies.

Tecan has a solid SAP-based infrastructure for business processes which integrates sales, customer service, production and the entire financial area in one platform and harmonizes processes. This platform also forms the basis for a “business intelligence reporting suite” with integrated planning modules, for instance for human resources or the budget process. Annual updates ensure that Tecan always has the latest software versions, thus limiting outages and helping avoid large-scale, expensive update processes with long test phases.

In the financial area, Tecan uses an internal, self-managed treasury system and in doing so, is taking a pioneering role. Tecan executes all money transfers for all Group companies centrally, and manages their cash reserves. This has enabled Tecan to reduce the number of banks it uses in connection with its business activities, and transfer cash reserves to banks at lower risk of failure. The treasury system has also improved short-term financial planning and ensured an interest rate benefit compared with decentralized management.

Tecan uses an IT-based control system in the financial area. This automatically recognizes and flags potential areas of conflict with regard to employees entrusted with a range of duties, which when combined could result in a risk of manipulation. The system is an integral part of the IT audit by the auditors. In this process, Tecan provided evidence that the access control system is working well.

All IT services offered by the Group worldwide are outsourced to servers of an external service provider. The data is backed up redundantly, and the data centers are physically separated from one another and from the production sites. This enables Tecan to minimize the risk of critical data loss and increase data security. Global round-the-clock IT support is also available to Group companies, thereby reducing outages.

Tecan has established several organizational control mechanisms with the aim of ensuring correct corporate behavior. These include an internal auditor, who reports directly to the Board of Directors. Tecan has a formalized Code of Conduct that is binding for all employees, managers and Board members. In this Code, Tecan undertakes to maintain the highest standards in its business activities and to respect ethical values. The document is available to the public on the Company’s website. Tecan aims to document internally and externally that the Company is a credible and reliable business partner and employer in all situations through the Code. The Code of Conduct also brings together key guidelines that are already included in other tools, such as the employment regulations or the Tecan Management System, in a comprehensible form. It instructs employees how to orient themselves within the Company, and to seek further information or support in cases of doubt. The Code promotes compliance with standards on occupational health, safety and the environment. It provides instructions on ensuring data protection and handling confidential information, and requires accurate and timely communication of information and careful logging of relevant meetings and processes by Tecan staff. The Code also stipulates compliance with competition law as well as national and international trade law for the import and export of products. It guarantees anonymity for whistleblowers. Although Tecan only generates a small portion of its sales in countries with an increased risk of corruption according to the criteria of the organization Transparency International, the Code of Conduct has a zero-tolerance policy toward bribery and corruption. Line managers are responsible for ensuring that all of their staff know and understand the content of the Code of Conduct. All employees must attend and successfully complete a training course on the Code. 

The Code is established worldwide and the relevant employees have been given training on it. Tecan conducted the training for a proportion of the employees in the form of e-learning courses. People exposed to higher business risks in their function, such as sales or procurement staff, also had to attend training courses in person. The Code is available in English and German as well as various other languages, including Chinese and Japanese. By providing these different language versions, Tecan wishes to ensure that this important document is understood by employees all around the world.

Tecan’s most important suppliers are also provided with a dedicated version of the Tecan Code of Conduct, to which they must commit. This document, the “Tecan Supplier Code of Conduct”, defines the minimum requirements by which all suppliers must abide. These refer to internationally recognized ethical standards relating to labor and the environment, as well as business practices. The requirements are based on the ten principles of the UN Global Compact initiative. 

Tecan also carries out regular detailed screening of its distributors, and has established a separate process with a TMS directive (Distributors and Intermediaries Anti Bribery Due Diligence) for this purpose. The screening is carried out with the assistance of an external specialist service provider who draws up a due diligence report. This process is supplemented by Internet research and a database analysis as to whether companies or individuals related to Tecan appear in connection with corruption, bribery or other untolerated behavior. In particular, the TMS directive requires that all Tecan distribution partners and their owners, directors and employees refrain from bribing representatives of governments or state-owned or private enterprises, or from taking bribes. It does not matter whether bribery is prohibited, tolerated or allowed in the countries in which business is being done. Bribes are prohibited irrespective of whether a bribe is connected to a specific act or omission or is granted or received with a general view to the future execution of duties. Bribes do not only involve cash payments but also mean, for instance, lavish gifts, hospitality and entertainment. Distributors and intermediaries need to ensure that their representatives and their sales force are trained and adhere to Tecan’s standards on doing business. In individual cases, the screening has led to Tecan terminating relationships with intermediaries. The process is also applied during the selection of new distributors.

Tecan has established processes Group-wide and at its individual business locations to ensure compliance with national laws and regulations as well as with internal guidelines on safety and environmental protection. The Company invests substantial amounts each year in pursuit of further improvement. Tecan cooperates closely with public authorities and standard-setting bodies around the world to recognize new trends in regulation, occupational safety and environmental protection as early as possible and to integrate them in its corporate processes. The Company actively shapes these developments in significant economic regions by participating in key industry associations.

Internal and external experts regularly inspect whether Tecan’s locations comply with country-specific regulations and the Company’s internal standards for product and occupational safety as well as health and environmental protection. These inspections also cover measures that Tecan has to implement if it fails to meet any requirements. Each year, the locations are subject to a number of audits conducted by regulatory authorities, testing, monitoring and certification agencies, customers, and Tecan’s own specialist teams. As part of a continual improvement process, gap analyses are performed and improvement measures implemented. In 2015, Tecan was subject to a number of sometimes very extensive audits by customers at its production sites. These included leading diagnostics companies that Tecan supplies with instruments through its OEM business in the Partnering Business, or will supply in the future. The audits covered areas including processes, quality management systems, product design, validation and documentation. The customers again attested a high standard at Tecan with regard to the relevant requirements. In 2015, audits of one production site and one distribution site by international authorities also took place and were successfully concluded. Customers in the Partnering Business were supported in authorization applications for new diagnostic instruments through the provision of key documentation. Tecan put together an ISO 14971-certified product risk management process for medical devices that covers the entire lifespan of a product and evaluates all possible risks, especially those pertinent to patients and users. The Tecan parent company, all production sites and almost all sales subsidiaries are now ISO 13485 certified. With global certification to this standard by TÜV Süd, Tecan has established a stringent system of control, which has a very good reputation in the life science industry worldwide.

As part of its certification strategy, Tecan obtained a full, Groupwide matrix certificate based on ISO 13485. The Company wants to ensure that all units worldwide work according to the same processes and strive together to continuously improve their products and services. The matrix certificate also accommodates the current and future Group structure with an increasing number of subsidiaries. In Europe, the sales subsidiary in Germany was awarded the main certificate, while subsidiaries in other countries received subcertificates. This new method of coordinated certification has benefits for customers and Tecan alike: greater transparency; the possibility to systematically monitor processes worldwide; and harmonized, standardized systems that also accommodate differences in the markets. The matrix certificate results in considerable simplifications and increased safety compared to individual certificates. TÜV Süd verifies the certification annually with sample checks at different subsidiaries. Tecan products must also satisfy the following important requirements, among many others: US QSR (Quality System Regulation)/21 CFR 820, CMDCAS (Canadian Medical Device Conformity Assessment System), JPAL (Japanese Pharmaceutical Affairs Law) and CCC (Chinese Compulsory Certification). New opportunities are developing for Tecan in emerging markets, which will place additional requirements on the Company.

Regulatory requirements are increasing around the world. To ensure that the current versions of these are understood and satisfied everywhere, Tecan is in constant contact with local organizations and authorities. Several online applications provide Tecan’s technical staff with the necessary technical support for managing product registrations and clarifying regulatory requirements in more than 60 countries.

Tecan has a central Quality & Regulatory organization at Group level to ensure ongoing improvements in the high quality standards worldwide. In Europe, all of the quality systems of the national subsidiaries and organizations have been harmonized and processes standardized, including sales, service and complaint processes, for example. Tecan operates a Central Complaint Unit for customer complaints.

Tecan performs a global management review every year in which relevant data from all Group companies are reviewed centrally. The process assesses whether quality management is still optimized to the legal requirements and regulations for the products and services supplied by Tecan. Tecan undertakes this review with regard to the individual national markets as well as from a Group-level perspective.

Tecan’s approach to product development is also characterized by an awareness of quality and regulatory requirements. Specialists collaborate from an early stage, supporting the process in a series of structured stages that span the product’s entire life up to the point where it is withdrawn from the market.

The Company attaches great importance to acting responsibly and in an environmentally friendly manner in the development, manufacture and global distribution of Tecan products as well as in all services it provides. All Tecan production locations and the majority of suppliers are located in stringently regulated markets in Europe and the US, while a small portion operate in Asia. Direct suppliers are subject to an audit program in order to ensure sustainable business.

In the production process – unlike, for example, the mass production of consumer goods – Tecan focuses on the final assembly of a relatively small number of items of laboratory equipment. In comparison with companies with extensive production processes, Tecan therefore emits only very low levels of pollutants. Tecan implemented numerous controls as part of the ISO 13485 certification, which applies to all production sites and sales subsidiaries. ISO 14001 certification has not been applied for, as no own incinerators are used in the production process. The production sites therefore do not emit CO2, methane or other greenhouse gases (scope 1 emissions) from this direct source. Indirect emissions arise from energy purchased (scope 2 emissions). For the first time, Tecan is reporting these indirect emissions in the year under review for its largest location in Männedorf, Switzerland, in the environmental performance table. Overall, the manufacturing process is less energy-intensive and is limited to the final assembly. Energy costs therefore make up less than 1 % of all operating costs. The areas used at the production sites consist exclusively of offices and rooms for assembling products. They are located in already developed commercial and industrial zones. Environmental considerations such as the impact on protected areas and biodiversity are therefore not relevant in the current circumstances. Employee numbers rose in the period 2013 to 2015. The figures for the location of the subsidiary IBL International in Hamburg have been consolidated for the first time in 2015, which has led to an increase in total energy consumption of 6.2 %. However, without the inclusion of IBL International, energy consumption would have fallen year-on-year in the year under review. For the same reason, there was also an increase in paper consumption, which, with the inclusion of IBL International was 20.4 % above the prior-year level, but would otherwise have been lower for the existing locations.

Tecan takes care to ensure that modern, energy-efficient technology is used in the infrastructure of its buildings. For example, hot and cold water lines in the ceiling are the sole source of heating and cooling at the headquarters in Männedorf. Processed wastewater from the Männedorf wastewater treatment plant supplies the heat pumps with energy.

No water is used as a production factor in the assembly process. Tecan’s water requirements are met entirely by the communal water utilities and do not influence any water resources in protected areas. The Company was again able to significantly reduce per head water consumption in the year under review. Even with the inclusion of the IBL International location in Hamburg, Germany, overall consumption rose only slightly. Taking into account the Hamburg location, which is included for the first time, the total amount of waste produced increased by 20.45 % in comparison with the previous year. Without the inclusion of the new location, the amount of waste would have risen only slightly and would still have been significantly below the levels of 2011 to 2013, with recyclable waste and refuse accounting for the majority of that amount. Only a small portion of it was hazardous waste, which includes materials, solvents and chemicals contaminated through the automation of biological processes, for example. As Tecan has substantially improved transparency with regard to environmentally relevant indicators, in 2014 the Company achieved first place as “Best Improver Switzerland” in the largest climate rankings worldwide, the Carbon Disclosure Project.

Tecan attaches great importance to using the most environmentally friendly materials and ecologically efficient processes possible. Employees receive regular training and are familiar with the latest developments in this area. Environmental standards such as the WEEE1 or RoHS2 Directives are growing in importance. Tecan incorporated the RoHS requirements into product development from an early stage to comply with this directive. The Company must also implement the directives in their local forms in emerging markets such as China. In addition to environmental aspects, such as avoiding toxic substances that are not readily biodegradable in electrical and electronic devices, there are also ethical aspects related to rare earth elements and mining conflict minerals. Tecan is working together with suppliers on these areas and requires a Declaration of Conformity that human rights are respected as part of supply agreements. 

Through the reliable, robust and sustainable design of its products, Tecan continuously targets progress in their environmental sustainability. The PULS program set up by the Company also includes targets and measures to avoid wasting materials and energy.

Tecan also makes its administrative processes as environmentally friendly as possible. For example, the Company is holding more and more video conferences in order to reduce the number of flights. Customer service staff use tools that enable completely paper-free processes. For innovations, CO2 efficiency is also a key criterion. Designing products to be lighter and more compact means that CO2 emissions arising from their transportation can be reduced. The use of LED lamps also allows energy to be saved in comparison with predecessor technologies. Tecan supports employees at the Männedorf location in their use of electric vehicles. The Company provides separate parking spaces equipped with charging stations that can be used free of charge.

Tecan offers a wide range of healthcare initiatives for its employees including medical courses, vaccination programs and various sporting activities. The Company also supports chronically ill employees, taking efforts to ensure they remain integrated in the workplace as far as possible.

Tecan attaches great importance to good cooperation with the people and authorities where it does business. The Company also supports various projects serving the common good at its various locations. For example, in the year under review, IBL International put together a team of 17 for the HafenCity Run, which took place in Hamburg in June. Some 852 teams composed of a total of over 24,000 people took part in this charity run. The HafenCity Run generated donations of EUR 155,000 for children in difficult situations. 

In addition to individual projects, Tecan also gets involved in long-term projects. For example, the Company supports the learning concept “Spürnasenecke” (a corner for children with a nose for discovery) for kindergartens, which was developed in Austria together with the Tecan site in Salzburg. The “Spürnasenecke” lets teachers lead children toward scientific discoveries in a playful way. Tecan contributed to the development of the “Spürnasenecke” project in the form of funding and its own expertise. With this commitment, the Company wants to make a contribution to the early development of children in the communities around its locations and get them interested in science.