Sidenor 2020 Corporate Report

12 Corporate Report 2020 | About us 2020 achievements JANUARY   Sidenor aims at being a driving force in Corporate Social Responsibility, encouraging its suppliers towards environmental, ethical and social improvement. For this purpose, in 2020, based on the new supplier portal, we required all our suppliers to endorse Sidenor’s RSC requirements: this protocol is necessary in order to be a supplier of the Company. Likewise, we required all suppliers to approve the Company’s Code of Ethics. Such a step reflects the Management’s objective to strengthen the ethical norms and principles as well as to foster a working environment in which integrity, respect and equity are promoted. FEBRUARY   We participate in the Basque Eco Design Meeting, an event which addresses the latest eco design and circular economy developments, sharing some of the sustainability achievements we accomplished by incorporating new methodologies in the design of components and revision of manufacturing processes. At Sidenor, apart from including eco design in all process and product development phases, we are a pioneer company in Spain in this respect, as we are able to calculate the environmental footprint of the products’ life cycle by means of a certified system. MARCH   Sidenor’s first protocol of action against COVID-19 is approved on March 10th, before the entry into force of the state of emergency on March 14th. It specifies the first hygienic and organisational measures aiming at creating the safest working environment possible.   We establish the processing conditions of low-density steels within the framework of the COFADEN cooperation project, as part of the strategy which consists in reducing the weight of vehicle components in order to decrease consumption and emissions. By alloying light elements, we can reduce the density of these steels by 15%. APRIL   We reaffirm our commitment to all our workers and go on adopting all measures necessary to guarantee their health. This implied a high amount of management effort, as we sought to obtain the means necessary to safe work (massive purchase of masks, gels and other necessary equipment) at a time in which protective materials were not available in the market. MAY   With the aim to strengthen our financial position in the current situation of uncertainty, we contract long-term ICO loans and ensure the renewal of working capital lines.   We launch the talent management project at