Japanese companies react to Tsunami disaster

The effect of the closure of many plants and factories in the areas devastated by the tsunami is already being felt globally.

RELATED ARTICLES: Putzmeister concrete pump helps cool Japan plant | Robot leads efforts to cool Japanese nuke plant | Caterpillar worried about Japan supply chain

It was hard not to be struck by a mixture of amazement, shock and sadness when footage of the Japanese tsunami disaster was shown on TV screens this month.

If ever a reminder was needed of nature’s potency, here was it.

Unstoppable and unforgiveable, relentlessly ripping through Japan’s northeasterm heartland.

Capturing the terrible moment when a bank of water tore over a riverside and through a town, one video on constructionweekonline showed a family huddled on safe ground as their town was decimated below. The sight of two children crying told the human tragedy that was unfolding.

Story continues below

Advertisement

FEATURED COMMENT Please click here to comment on this article

While the human cost of the tsunami is unimaginable, there has also been a huge toll paid on industry in the country. It is estimated that the damage from the quake will cost up to $309 billion to repair, and the vehicle and machine makers of Japan are sure to be paying their own heavy price.

Hitachi had six of its production facilities damaged by the tsunami. Five of those facilities are based in the Hitachinaka-shi, Ibaraki Prefecture, while a sixth, Hitachi Automotive Systems is in Fukushima, the town at the centre of the nuclear crisis gripping the north of Japan.

Fellow manufacturer Komatsu had some of its branches extensively damaged by the tsunami and like HCM one of its first concerns was for its missing employees.

“There are a few employees of Komatsu whose safety we are working to confirm,” it said distressingly in the aftermath.

Although the bulk of the damage was done during the earthquake and tsunami, the company knows it faces an attritional few weeks and months.

“We are striving to restore operation at the damaged plants.

However, because of the repeated aftershocks, blackouts and disrupted water supply, it has been difficult to restore the plants to full functionality,” said Komatsu’s Dave Grzelak.

He also revealed that the Fukushima plant reactor failure was making repair work particularly difficult at its nearby facility.

“Even once the Komatsu plants are operational, there are other issues to overcome. Shipment of equipment has been delayed because roads and harbour facilities from and near our plants have been severely damaged. Gasoline shortages and rolling electrical blackouts that affect trains make it difficult-to-impossible for employees to get to work.”

According to Daiwa Securities Group the effect of the closure of many plants and factories in the areas devastated by the tsunami is already being felt globally.

In a report on the disaster, it warned that the global supply of lithium-ion batteries and electronic components, products manufactured by, among others, Hitachi, Sanyo and Sony could be drastically affected.

With Japan accounting for almost 40% of the world’s electronics and audio-visual components, it could take up to three months for output to recover fully, the report said.

Such shortages in the supply chain could harm vehicle and machine production, not just the electronics industry.

Cat CEO Doug Oberhelman said last month that his company has set up a team to study its effect on the supply of components such as hydraulic pumps and engines.

“It is too early to say what the impact is on our supply chain,” Oberhelman said. “I don’t think there is any question that there will be an impact on the world economy. That part of the world is critical to the auto industry and parts of the industry.But I think that the impact will be short-lived on the global scale.”