New York – Many CE production plants and facilities in Japan
were either damaged or closed in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and
tsunami that hit the nation.
Facilities were closed due to direct damage from the
disaster, efforts trying to locate and rescue employees, or from a lack of electrical
power because of nuclear power plant shutdowns.
Here, in alphabetical order, are statements from a variety
of companies issued on the web or sent to TWICE since
last Friday:
HTC:
Based in
Taiwan, HTC said the disaster “has not had a significant impact on its global
business to date.” Peter Chou, HTC CEO,
said, “HTC global supply chain and distribution channels remain unaffected and
operating as normal. We have a comprehensive business continuity strategy and
framework in place, which activates a secondary supply chain, in the event of a
crisis or natural disaster … HTC is also working closely with our global supply
chain and distribution channel partners to monitor the situation in Japan, and
will take any necessary steps to ensure that our operations remain business
unaffected.”
Kenwood:
The
company
and JVC Kenwood Car Electronics
have offices in Yokohama and Hachijoi, both outside the tsunami-devastated
areas of Japan. Offices there were “shaken up” but “largely undamaged,” said
U.S. senior VP Keith Lehmann. Hachijoi is north of Tokyo but inland in the
western central part of Japan. Yokohama is closer to Tokyo.
The “vast majority” of Kenwood products are produced in
Malaysia and China, and so production there won’t be interrupted, he said. Some
high-tech parts used by the offshore factories, such as semiconductors,
originate in Japan, but Lehmann didn’t know the degree to which supplies of
those parts have been affected. In any case, many of these parts are also
sourced offshore, and Kenwood could go to its offshore sources to pick up the
slack, he said.
Nikon:
The camera
company said its Sendai pro d-SLR factory in the Miyagi prefecture was damaged,
and operations have been halted as officials continue to assess the full extent
the disaster’s impact. The factory is used to produce Nikon’s professional
d-SLRs, including the D3x, D3s and D700 cameras.
The company group reported an undisclosed number of
employees were injured in the quake, but details were being withheld pending
further investigations into the safety of employees and their families. In the
meantime, the group has set up emergency headquarters for disaster control.
Also sustaining damage to facilities and/or equipment were
group companies, including Sendai Nikon Corporation, Miyagi Nikon Precision,
Zao-machi, Katta-gun, Tochigi Nikon Corporation, Tochigi Nikon Precision Co.
and other subsidiaries, including certain plants.
In a statement, the company said it is “endeavoring to
normalize our business as early as possible through our Business Continuity
Management teams established in each in-house company.”
Onkyo:
A spokesman
in the U.S. said its offices and facilities in Tokyo
and Osaka were not directly affected by the earthquake or tsunami.
Panasonic:
As of
11 a.m. local time Monday in Japan (10 p.m. Sunday EST in the U.S.), Panasonic
reported an update on its employees and operations.
Panasonic said there were minor injuries to the employees in
its AVC Networks Company Fukushima factory (manufacturing digital cameras); AVC
Networks Company Sendai factory (manufacturing optical pickups); Panasonic Electric
Works Co., Ltd. Koriyama factory (manufacturing electronic materials); and Sanyo
Electric Co., Ltd. Gunma factory (manufacturing washer/dryers, etc.).
Panasonic said in a statement that fires or major damage to
facilities have not been reported and that “we are suspending operations in the
factory affected by the earthquake and continuing to evaluate further details
of the damage.”
SanDisk:
The
epicenter of the earthquake was approximately 500 miles from Yokkaichi, in the
Mie prefecture, the location of the two Toshiba-SanDisk joint-venture
semiconductor manufacturing plants, Fab 3 and Fab 4. Both fabs were down for a
short period of time due to the earthquake and were back up and operational” as
of Friday morning, March 11. There were no injuries to SanDisk employees based
in Japan. SanDisk’s current assessment is that there has been minimal immediate
impact on wafer output due to the earthquake. SanDisk continues to assess the
situation for any potential future impact that may arise from issues related to
Japanese infrastructure and the supply chain.
Sharp:
Through
its U.S. operation, the company issued a statement expressing “deepest sympathy
to all the people affected by this earthquake. There are no extensive damages
to our buildings or production facilities in Japan including our plant located
in Yaita-city, Tochigi prefecture.” Its LCD panel production facilities located
in Sakai-city, Kameyama-city, Taki-cho and Tenri-city are operating normally.
Sony:
The company
issued the following update at 11 a.m. on Monday, Japan local time: “Operations at several Sony Corporation and
Sony Group sites and facilities have been affected by the Pacific Coast of
Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, and Sony is monitoring the status of each of
these sites on an ongoing basis, while also considering the most effective
recovery measures. Sony also has responded to reports of widespread power
outages by voluntarily suspending operations at several sites. No significant
injuries have been reported to employees working at any of these sites when the
earthquake or tsunami occurred.”
Manufacturing
operations have been suspended at the following affected production sites: Sony
Chemical & Information Device Corporation, Tagajyo plant (Miyagi prefecture)
where magnetic tapes and Blu-ray discs are manufactured; Tome plant,
Nakada/Toyosato sites (Miyagi prefecture), where optical devices, IC cards are
made; Sony Shiroishi Semiconductor in Miyagi prefecture; Sony Energy Devices
Corporation, Koriyama plant (Fukushima prefecture), a lithium-ion secondary batteries
facility; Sony Energy Devices Corporation, Motomiya plant (Fukushima prefecture),
also lithium-ion secondary batteries facility; Sony Manufacturing Systems
Corporation, Kuki plant (Saitama prefecture), which makes surface mounting
equipment; and Sony DADC Japan, Ibaraki facility (Ibaraki prefecture), which
makes CDs and DVDs.
In addition, Sony
Corporation Sendai Technology Center (Tagajyo, Miyagi prefecture) has ceased
operation due to earthquake damage. While certain production sites in Japan
other than those listed above have been moderately affected, there has been no
report of employee injury or facility damage, and operations continue. Possible
damage at other Sony Group companies in Japan is currently being reviewed.
Additionally, other plant operations have temporarily suspended operations on a
voluntary basis to assist with the alleviation of widespread power outages,
Sony said.
Toshiba
: The company closed for the day all of its facilities “in those areas with
power outages, other than its headquarters and those business operations
related to essential services,” Toshiba said in a statement.
It reported
Friday in a statement that there was no damage to its CE facilities or
to their employees.
In a statement on its site today ,the company said it would
cooperate with Tokyo Electric Power’s “request to cut electricity consumption
by operating those businesses related to provision of essential services
required to social and economic activities.”
Yamaha
: Tak Nakata, president
of Yamaha Corporation of America, who is currently in Hamamatsu, Japan, issued
the following statement: “On behalf of Yamaha, I wish to thank our business
partners in the United States for their thoughts and prayers in response to the
earthquake that impacted Japan and the Pacific basin.
“As far as we know, no Yamaha
employees have been injured as a result of this disaster. Also, there has been
no significant damage to our offices or factories. It is still too early to determine if this ongoing situation will
affect shipments due to the currently unknown impact on ports, vessels and
shipping lanes. We will provide
additional information just as soon as it is made available to Yamaha.” –
Reporting
by Steve Smith, Joseph Palenchar, Greg Tarr and Doug Olenick
