Business Continuity Planning (BCP)

The MEDIPAL Group anticipates a range of risks, and has drafted an effective BCP that allows it to provide a steady supply of products, not only in normal times but also in the event of pandemics or large-scale natural disasters such as earthquakes. This enables the Group to fulfill its role as a social infrastructure company.

The MEDIPAL Group has created a Disaster Response Manual (for Natural Disasters) that contains specific content regarding envisioned disaster damage, preparatory measures, operations in the event of a natural disaster, emergency organization structures, and the like. In the event of an earthquake with a seismic intensity of 6 lower or above, the general manager of the Group's Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters will decide whether the Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters needs to be established based on reports from the secretariat chief on incurred or imminent damage and with reference to the manual. This headquarters rapidly confirms the safety of Group company employees and their families in the affected areas; the status of buildings, systems, and the like; the state of lifelines; and the situation with product supply systems. It also leads a range of response activities aimed at business continuity.
When there is an outbreak or spread of an infectious disease, a secretariat for the Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters is established based on the Disaster Response Manual (for Infectious Diseases) and information on the disease is gathered from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Japanese government agencies. Once the outbreak occurs in Japan and is expected to spread, the general manager of the Group’s Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters will decide whether the Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters needs to be established based on reports from the secretariat chief. To maintain a stable supply of pharmaceuticals and other products while ensuring the safety of customers and employees, the headquarters collects and centrally manages information on government policies and local conditions, and quickly and flexibly implements countermeasures against various anticipated situations.

Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters Established by MEDICEO CORPORATION for the case of Great East Japan Earthquake

A backup system has been established to enable coordination with other centers to take over distribution in the event that the one center is rendered incapable of supply due to a large-scale natural disaster, etc.

The MEDIPAL Group has gained experience in previous major natural disasters, including the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Kumamoto earthquakes, and has undertaken many initiatives to ensure stable supply when disaster strikes. Because Japan is a land of natural disasters, MEDIPAL must make full preparations for dealing with a wide range of disaster scenarios.

We are working to ensure distribution centers and other buildings are earthquake resistant with seismic isolation structures in order to prevent products from falling from shelves and becoming damaged during disasters, and to prevent our distribution facilities from becoming inoperative.

MEDIPAL's principal business locations, including the Head Office and distribution centers, are equipped with in-house electric power generators.

Based on our experience during times when gasoline was in short supply due to disasters, MEDIPAL's principal distribution centers are equipped with their own fuel supplies.

To prepare for times when public transportation and transportation networks are disrupted, motorcycles are kept in readiness at distribution centers and other locations. When roads to some areas are impassable for larger vehicles, motorcycles prove to be an important means of delivering pharmaceuticals.
In addition, to deal with traffic restrictions in the event of a large-scale disaster, we have completed advance registration of emergency vehicles to allow their passage under the Disaster Countermeasures Basic Act.

As part of preparations for a major disaster, the MEDIPAL Group has signed pharmaceutical supply contracts with local governments and will play an important role in regional plans for disaster preparedness.
The Group has also signed a disaster cooperation contract with Japan's Self-Defense Forces on pharmaceutical supply during a major disaster.

All of the MEDIPAL Group's main sites are equipped with stores of disaster supplies, as well as satellite mobile phones for emergency communications.

The MEDIPAL Group's systems and networks at all sites feature built-in redundancy so that operations can continue even if one system goes down. The main systems equipment is designed with seismic base isolation, and sited in data centers that feature high-security measures, continuous power supply and air-conditioning, plus the built-in redundancy.

We have introduced a system to check on the safety of employees and their families during emergencies, and are running regular training drills on the safety check process.

Safety Confirmation System (screen image)

Products can be inspected by scanning the delivery container label with a wireless device, thereby shortening the time that people are in contact when receiving products.

The MEDIPAL Group handles a variety of information, most notably the personal information of our clients. Managing and safeguarding this information is also the social responsibility for the MEDIPAL Group. Because of increasing threats to cybersecurity in recent years, including ransomware and supply chain attacks, so we are executing both physical and procedural measures to ensure rigorous information management, including measures to protect our hardware systems and a focus on training for employees who handle information.

As a standard for information management, the MEDIPAL Group has established a Group-wide Information Security Policy. To ensure rigorous information management, we have set up an Information Management Committee headed by the Chief Information Officer (Representative Director, President and CEO) and have investigated initiatives including stronger cybersecurity measures. We have also created an internal management system which has managers and personnel in charge of information management in each company and section.

The MEDIPAL Group considers the awareness of each and every employee who handles information to be the most critical element of information management. Accordingly, we conduct information security education twice a year through e-learning training and other formats to remind employees about information management and raise their awareness of security. We also periodically have employees carry out the “Information Security Oath,” which consists of key points of note regarding the handling of information in our internal network. In addition, we work to strengthen our information gathering capabilities related to information security and analyze its risk, drawing the attention of all employees to phishing emails and other methods of targeted attack as necessary, and ensuring thorough awareness of information security at all workplaces.

The MEDIPAL Group implements security measures to protect information and prevent its leakage, such as ensuring up-to-date antivirus programs on all devices connected to internal networks and countermeasures against unauthorized access, using biometric authentication and encrypting data on mobile computers. We also rigorously manage data access rights and reduce the risk of incidents from data leaks or falsification.

Our cyberterrorism countermeasures include identifying suspicious emails, blocking access to suspicious sites, using the latest antivirus software, and keeping all software updated to the most current versions. Furthermore, in order to deal with cases in which an attack breaks through these measures and attempts to steal data, we work with external security partners, which monitor our systems 24 hours a day, and also use counter-cyberterrorism software to prevent data leakage.