Brother

Brother Industries is a Japan-based producer of sewing machines, office equipment (including fax machines and printers), appliances, and telecommunications equipment with subsidiaries and sales worldwide.

Company History
Brother Industries began as a family-owned sewing machine company in 1934, after Masayoshi Yasui began mass-producing sewing machines for the Yasui Sewing Machine Company (est. 1908, renamed Yasui Brothers' Sewing Machine Company in 1925). Brother began exporting sewing machines after World War II, expanding its operations to the Americas and Europe and adding knitting machines and home appliances, and then business machines, machine tools, and telecommunication equipment to its product lines.

Historical Financial Information

 * Brother Industries Statement of Income (Last 5 Years)
 * Brother Industries Balance Sheet (Last 5 Years)

Business Strategy
According to Brother's corporate website:

"Our Reason for Being is to be a Company whose Products are Revolutionary-Exciting-Fun so that our Customers say;'That's Exactly What I Want!'"

"Our Management Goal is to be an Outstanding Company through our Superior Capability and Quick Response."

"Our Standard for Performance is to be always Professional and to do Our Best to embrace Change and Utilize it's Power."

Lobbying
Brother International reported spending a total of $60,000 in lobbying expenses hiring the firm Hogan & Hartson in 2002.

Corporate Accountability
Despite Brother's extensive documentation of its own corporate responsibility, the company has not as of May 2008 joined the [EICC].

Labor
Brother is a customer of Volex Cable Assembly Co., Ltd. "Volex is a global producer of electrical and optical fiber cable assemblies and power cords (plugs, cables and connectors)" which "operates offshore manufacturing facilities in Asia, Europe, and North and South America. In Asia, the Volex Group currently has three manufacturing facilities based in mainland China (in Zhongshan, Shenzhen, and Suzhou), and factories and/or offices in India, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. In total, the group manages over 30 production centers worldwide." According to a May 2008 Report published by SACOM and Bread for All, the Volex factory in Zhongshan City, China, found that the factory employs 1500-2000 workers, and that while workers' overtime still exceeded the monthly legal limit by up to 84 hours a month, this figure was less than up to 140 hours of mandatory overtime per month employees worked in 2006. In addition to work days that last a minimum of twelve hours (with two 45 minute breaks), workers are not given any days off during peak production times. Occupational health and safety are problems at the Volex plant, where workers' hands often become swollen and blistered from handling cables and are not given any sort of protective gloves. The past policy of deducting meal charges of 102 yuan per month from workers' wages whether or not they ate in the canteen is no longer in effect. Volex management reported that the EICC has been presented to workers in 2007, but as of the beginning of 2008 workers did not claim any knowledge of either its contents or their implementation.

Social Responsibility Initiatives

 * Brother Social Responsibility Website
 * Brother Group Social Responsibility Reports

Business Scope
As of 2007, Brother had 19 production facilities and 41 sales companies in 39 countries and regions.

Financial Information
Ticker Symbol: Main Exchanges: Investor Website:http://www.brother.com/en/investor/index.htm

Largest Shareholders



Production Facilities  
 * Brother Industries (U.S.A.) Inc.(Bartlett, Tennessee)
 * Brother Industries (U.K.) Ltd. (Wales, U.K)
 * GKK Plastics Ltd. (Wales, U.K)
 * Brother Industries (Slovakia) SRO (Krupina, Slovakia)
 * Brother Industries, Ltd. (Japan)
 * MIE Brother Precision Industries, Ltd (Japan)
 * Taiwan Brother Industries Ltd. (Taiwan)
 * Brother Industries Technology (M) SDN.BHD (Malaysia)
 * Zhuhai Brother Industries, Co., Ltd. (Guang Dong, China)
 * Xian Typical Brother Industries, Co., Ltd. (Xian, Shaanxi, China)
 * Brother Sewing Machine Xian Co., Ltd. (Xian, Shaanxi, China)
 * Brother Sewing Machine (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
 * Brother Industries (Shenzhen) Ltd. (Shenzhen, Chian)
 * Brother Industries (Vietnam) Ltd. (Hai Duong Province, Vietnam)
 * Brother Technology (Shenzhen) Ltd. (Shenzhen, China)

Board of Directors

 * Yoshihiro Yasui - Director & Chairman
 * Toshikazu Koike - Representative Director & President
 * Shigeki Ishikawa - Representative Director & Senior managing *Executive Officer
 * Yuji Furukawa - Representative Director & Senior managing *Executive Officer
 * Kobun Koike - Director & Managing Executive Officer
 * Haruyuki Niimi - Outside Director
 * Mizue Unno - Outside Director
 * Mitsuo Hirose - Outside Director

Contact Information
BROTHER INDUSTRIES, LTD. 15-1 Naeshiro-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8561 Telephone: 81-52-824-2511