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 Tokyo region, such as Canon and Rico, 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 Kagoshima 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.
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.”
