Message from the Chairman
Since our founding in 1995, Formosa Laboratories has not only grown into an internationally renowned API manufacturer, but also become a major source of supply for major pharmaceutical companies across the globe. Following our diversification into biopharmaceuticals and injectable pharmaceuticals in recent years, Formosa Laboratories’ growth trajectory serves as a testament to our unrelenting belief in quality, innovation, and sustainable development.
With our unwavering commitment to quality, we not only play a critical role in the global supply chain, but have also been heeding calls for concerns from the public on various issues such as energy conservation, carbon reduction, and labor rights. In 2023, Formosa Laboratories was awarded the ISO 14064-1 and ISO 14067 certifications following our adoption of green electricity generated using solar energy.
Owing to our firm belief that outstanding talents are the most crucial resource for a company, we carried out a comprehensive optimization of our pay structure and job ranking system in collaboration with human resource consulting company WTW. On top of that, we have been able to attract and nurture a more diverse range of professional talents through industry-academia collaboration programs, which has become the bedrock for our growth.
In the future, we will also introduce a wide array of new technologies and techniques such as artificial intelligence (AI), microfluidic process, in hopes of effectively reducing the carbon footprint of our products, lowering our operating costs, and thus enhancing our competitiveness in the market.
In light of challenges during the post-pandemic era, our top-performing respiratory agents have met the needs of the global market at a critical moment. This accomplishment not only highlights our ability to respond to the market and demonstrates our success in refining and enhancing our production efficiency, but also reflects our significant contributions to the healthcare sector.
As a sustainably responsible company, we at Formosa Laboratories endeavor to maintain a balanced development of the economy, society, and the environment with a positive and proactive attitude. We would like to express our utmost gratitude to all our customers, vendors, and partners. In the face of challenges in the coming year, we will continue to provide excellent products services in the spirit of innovation and sustainability, with a view to building a better future with our employees.
At the end of 2019, with the outbreak of COVID-19 in the world
Taiwan experienced a large-scale pandemic in mid to late May 2021. In order to ensure the normal operation and production of the Company, Formosa Laboratories immediately organized a pandemic prevention team and held regular meetings to comply with the pandemic prevention guidelines of the government health authorities. Specific pandemic prevention measures were formulated, including conducting comprehensive screening of employees, contractors, outsourced suppliers, and visitors on a weekly basis, mandatory wearing of masks upon entering the factory, hand sanitization, temperature measurement, completion of a health declaration form by incoming guests and contractors, manpower alternation and drills in each unit, conducting meetings via video to reduce the chance of cluster infections, incentivizing employees to receive vaccinations, and providing pandemic prevention dormitories for colleagues. Although at the end of April 2022, Taiwan's daily domestic cases exceeded 10,000 for the first time, under the well-planned pandemic prevention measures, the Company's operations, including production, were not greatly affected, and the Company still achieved outstanding results.
This 2022 Sustainability Report is the first report issued by Formosa Laboratories in response to the concerns of stakeholders regarding the sustainable development of the Company. In addition to following the latest version of the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) guidelines for reporting on sustainability content, we also appoint a third-party verification organization (SGS) to obtain AA1000 Type 1 moderate assurance to enhance the completeness and credibility of the report.
Formosa Laboratories has made sustainable development a company goal and incorporated into KPI in order to continue implementing energy conservation and carbon reduction, fulfilling corporate social responsibility, and strengthening corporate governance. In addition, the Company established a Sustainable Development Committee in May 2022, with myself as the convener of the committee, and the CEO as the advisory committee member, and the Vice President of the Engineering Department as the director committee member. The committee is divided into three executive teams: Sustainable Development Team, Social Welfare Team, and Corporate Governance Team.
In terms of environmental aspects, the Company has established a high-performance wastewater treatment plant and a Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer (RTO) based on the characteristics of the industry and the operational needs of the Company, improving the efficiency of VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) waste gas treatment to over 95%. A complete environmental management system has been established, continuously passing verifications such as ISO 14001, CNS 15506, and OHSAS 18001. Since 2018, the boiler fuel has been changed from heavy oil to natural gas to reduce emissions of SOx and NOx. In 2019, an energy-saving and carbon reduction plan was launched, including (1) rezone and utilize the entire plant's lighting, (2) replace traditional lighting fixtures with LED fixtures, (3) replace old chillers in the plant to improve equipment efficiency, (4) replace inverter air conditioners, (5) install inverter drives on the aeration tank blowers, and (6) implement energy-saving measures in cleanrooms: construction of solar power panels has begun in 2022 and is expected to be completed and operational by mid-2023.
Moreover, the waste reduction and recycling rate has reached 40.98% in 2022. After recycling and treating the process water in 2022, the reuse amount reaches 115,014 tons per year, accounting for 26.01% of the total annual water consumption.
As for social aspects
during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak, Formosa Laboratories immediately distributed 75% of the rubbing alcohol for pandemic prevention to community offices, public welfare organizations, or schools in the neighborhood, totaling more than 2,800 liters. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country, all employees of the Company have cooperated with various pandemic prevention measures, and so far, there have been no major injuries or interruptions in operation and production due to the pandemic. To strengthen early warning and health risk management capabilities, promote a culture of exercise among employees, organize club activities, conduct annual physical examination for employees, and provide incentives for receiving COVID-19 vaccinations. Formosa Laboratories also complies with the "Labor Standards Act" and other relevant labor laws, and has formulated the "Measures for Preventing Workplace Unlawful Infringement" to protect the labor rights, workplace safety, and job rights of employees, setting up female lactation rooms and unisex public toilet, providing a safe and secure workplace environment for employees.
In terms of human resource utilization or employment conditions, compensation, benefits, training, performance evaluation, and promotion opportunities, the Company handles them with an attitude of equality and fairness. Currently, female employees account for 28.5% of the total workforce Formosa Laboratories, and among the 16 senior managers at or above the first level, 6 are women, accounting for 37.5%. In addition, the Company has always been enthusiastic about participating in public welfare activities, such as sponsoring activities in neighboring countries, organizing two blood donation events every year, holding charity sales and donating all proceeds to public welfare organizations, mobilizing employees for beach cleaning activities, actively participating in river conservation and maintenance, and receiving the "River Adoption Excellence Award" from the Taoyuan City Government.
Regarding corporate governance, the Company complies with relevant laws and regulations of the competent authorities to carry out major information disclosure and various information reporting operations. In May 2022, a corporate governance director was appointed to provide assistance required for the Director of the Board's executive business, specifically enhancing the efficiency of the Board of Directors' operations.
Furthermore, we integrated the departments' current risk management methods to create the "Risk Management Policy and Procedures", which aim to evaluate alterations in multiple environmental risks, pinpoint potential hazards for the Company, devise plans to enhance risk management, and periodically review execution. The awareness of risks will be integrated into the Company's operations, and a business continuity plan (BCP) will be developed based on the risk level for the Company's continuous operation.
Looking ahead
Formosa Laboratories' pursuit is not only for the profitability of its core business, but also to meet the expectations of its shareholders. Moreover, we expect to be a part of global citizens. In addition to continuously enhancing corporate governance, we also increase investment in social and environmental aspects, such as talent cultivation and energy conservation. Formosa Laboratories aims to enhance the sustainable power that drives society forward through the disclosure of various information in its sustainability report, and become a corporate citizen with social influence, creating a better future for the next generation.
