The Disaster in Japan and the Photocopiers Industry

The disaster which has overtaken Japan is unprecedented in the country's modern history. Thousands of lives have been lost, huge populations displaced and large areas of the country rendered uninhabitable. Nor has Japan's photocopiers industry been spared nature's ravages. While the immediate response of all photocopiers manufacturers was to assist with the relief effort, with donations ranging from 50 to 300 million Japanese yen, companies also took urgent steps to assess the impact on their own operations, checking that all employees were safe and accounted for and surveying company sites for damage to buildings and plant equipment. Some of the larger manufacturers with operations in the Tokohu region, such as Canon and Ricoh, have been more affected than others. But the ongoing restrictions to power supply, significant transport issues and difficulties with raw materials and third-party parts supply, means the outlook for all photocopiers manufacturers is far from certain. Alloyed to this are the export implications of radiation emissions from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Already we see very stringent checks in place at US border control, so it will be critical to see how this aspect of the disaster plays out. Here we provide information on the contributions manufacturers have made to relief efforts, the impact the disaster has had on photocopier manufacturers and look ahead to the coming weeks and months.

Soon after news of the earthquake and tsunami broke, Japan's photocopiers industry collectively stepped forward making some very significant donations to the relief effort. Chief amongst these donors were Canon and Ricoh, each contributing 300 Japanese yen, Fujitsu, which contributed 100 million Japanese yen and Konica Minolta providing another 50 million Japanese yen.

Along with generous financial assistance, all manufacturers have been doing what they can in other ways. In company statements made soon after the disaster, all the major photocopiers manufacturers committed themselves to energy conservation measures. Ricoh's statement is fairly typical of the pledges that have been made,

"As a responsible corporate citizen, Ricoh will refrain from any unnecessary use of electricity such as neon signs, billboards and the like, for the foreseeable future. We fully intend to cooperate to the max. with the requests of the local power companies."

As well as reducing company energy usage, most photocopiers manufacturers are also leveraging their own corporate structures to assist the recovery efforts in whatever ways they can. Canon for instance has instructed all employees to reduce energy use in their own homes. Fujitsu has offered to restore IT systems in affected areas,

"Fujitsu is committed to restoring damaged IT systems in regions wit the highest priority placed on lifeline systems such as electric power, water, gas and police and fire departments."

Konica Minolta also pledged strong company support,

"Konica Minolta is willing to assist recovery and rebuilding efforts through the corporate activities of the entire group companies and efforts by their employees all over the world."

In terms of the impact on photocopiers manufacturers themselves, there has been serious and significant damage to some companies' operations but it is fair to say, none have been affected critically. Fairly soon after the disaster occurred, Konica Minolta was able to account for all employees and report that there had been no major damages to the company's sites in the Kanto region but that Konica's sales and distribution sites in Tokohu had sustained some damage.

The OKI Group reported shortly after the disaster that there had been no significant injuries to any company employees nor any serious damage to company property. OKI's Fukushima site which makes printers and consumables suffered light damage. On 16th March the company announced that operations had partially resumed and that an Earthquake Disaster Recovery Task Force has been established to survey the full extent of the damage and plan the most effective recovery.

Fujitsu has been able to resume operations as of 28/03 at almost all affected sites in the Iwate Prefecture, the Miyagi Prefecture and the Tochigi Prefecture. However, operations at the company's site in Fukushima where it manufacturers laptop PC's have been transferred elsewhere.

Various Ricoh operations in Tokohu, Kanto and Shyuoko were directly affected by the disaster with Tokohu operations worst hit. These include Tokohu Ricoh, Hozama Ricoh and Ricoh Optical Industries. Damage had been sustained to plant equipment and local infrastructure and production activities compromised. The company predicts it will take some time to return to full-scale operations. Even at sites not directly impacted by the disaster, production flow has been affected with the more general power and transport infrastructure issues.

The disaster that has taken place in Japan has claimed thousands of lives, wiped away vast areas of coastline and damaged buildings and infrastructure across the country. Fortunately for Japan's photocopiers manufacturers, no major production sites have been put out of action and most manufacturers have now at least partially restored operations in affected areas. What is likely to be the determining factor, in the medium-term at least, is the situation at Fukushima. When vital transport and IT infrastructure is replaced, which is already happening at quite an astonishing pace, questions about power supply and also radiation will remain. All photocopiers manufacturers are committed to what is effectively energy rationing at the present time and if this goes on indefinitely, it could have a very serious impact on overall production volumes going forward. If the situation at Fukushima does not improve, a vast exclusion zone will remain, meaning some manufacturing operations may need to be permanently relocated. If the situation there deteriorates, the exclusion zone may be enlarged, potentially encompassing even more manufacturing sites.

But there is considerable cause for optimism too. Japan's fortitude in the face of this tri-fold disaster has impressed the whole world and the rate at which damaged infrastructure is being repaired/replaced is truly astounding. Most production operations, as has been noted, have now been resumed and contingency plans have been put in place. If the power situation is monitored carefully and the best measures are taken, there is no reason to suppose medium to long-term production will be affected too gravely at all.

Falcon, as a major supplier of Canon photocopiers in the UK, including the award-winning imageRUNNER and imageRUNNER Advance photocopiers ranges wishes the people of Japan and the country's photocopiers manufacturers a full and speedy recovery.