DENSO says while it may look like simply an automotive supplier, when you look a little closer, you will find a dynamic company full of purposeful innovators who are reimagining mobility. What exactly does that mean? It means DENSO employees build technologies, forge partnerships and create solutions across many areas with the wellbeing of people and the planet always top of mind.
In a year when being adaptable wasn’t an option but a requirement, DENSO says it innovated and helped contribute to a better world in a number of unexpected ways. As the company wraps up the year and reflects, it shares nine ways it evolved to support people and the environment in 2021:
- Hosted over 50 vaccination clinics for employees and their families at DENSO sites across North America to protect its workforce, their loved ones and local communities. This is in addition to similarly formatted vaccination clinics held daily at some sites, making getting the shot as simple as arriving to work.
- Signed a long-term alliance with aerospace leader Honeywell to create electric propulsion systems for urban air mobility vehicles, which have the potential to streamline and reduce emissions of regional travel.
- Issued sustainability bonds for the first time ever, helping power DENSO’s push to reach its carbon neutrality goals.
- Launched its first CO2 circulation facility, a key asset in helping reduce carbon consumption at its operations and to achieving carbon neutrality by 2035.
- Developed a biosensor to detect COVID-19 and other viruses, signaling DENSO’s expansion into new fields and commitment to serving the greater good.
- Earned recognition for its collaboration with Ford to create respirator components for frontline workers battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Supported the hiring of military veterans by signing a recruiting program partnership with the U.S. Army at DENSO’s thermal manufacturing facility in Battle Creek, Michigan.
- Celebrated the production of 100 million alternators at its Maryville, Tennessee, location, an achievement that connects to the site’s founding in 1988. Over the years, alternators have been essential in improving fuel economy of combustion engine vehicles. DENSO also remanufactures the parts at its Murrieta, California, facility, extending their lifecycle and sustainability.
- Donated $250,000 to tornado relief efforts after severe storms devastated parts of the southern and midwestern U.S. in early December.
The list captures only a portion of DENSO employees’ accomplishments over the past year, the company says. Their collective work connects with the company’s long history of constantly innovating in novel ways, such as when it invented the QR code almost 30 years ago. What began as a tool to track manufacturing operations is now an essential part of modern society, ensuring the quick and secure exchange of information in a variety of settings.
With speed and collaboration, DENSO says it will continue to pursue its Long-term Policy 2030, while creating a better future through its “green” (environmentally friendly) and “peace of mind” (safer world for all) values.
