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| Takashi Nishijima, President & CEO, Yokogawa Electric Corporation | Shuji Mori, CEO, Yokogawa Corporation of America |
We would like to express our sincere condolences to the people living and working in the coastal regions of Texas and Louisiana who have been affected by Hurricane Harvey. This tragic situation has been described as unprecedented in scale and scope, adversely impacting the lives of many including our customers, partners, and employees.
Our thoughts, prayers, condolences, and encouragements are with the hundreds of thousands of families who lost their homes, livelihoods, or health due to the severe flooding. These natural disasters create disruptions that affect everyone in ways large and small, and our thoughts are with those who now begin a challenging recovery process.
Like our customers and partners in the affected areas, Yokogawa’s immediate focus has been ensuring the safety and well-being of our employees and their families. Yokogawa provided extended leave and temporary residence for those employees who needed support. We will continue to lend support to employees with manpower and equipment to help them with the rebuilding process.
As a global automation supplier founded in Japan over a century ago, Yokogawa is not a stranger to natural disasters. In the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and flooding that devastated the Tohoku region, followed by the 2016 earthquake in Kumamoto, we learned how to respond in such emergency situations. In these events, Yokogawa provided support to customers and employees to safely and quickly return them to normal operations.
Our commitment to social responsibility and core values of gratitude, respect, and collaboration compel us to help those whose lives have been affected by Hurricane Harvey.
Yokogawa is responding globally to provide aid and support to our customers and local communities. Together, Yokogawa Electric Corporation and employees are contributing over $100,000 to the American Red Cross relief efforts. Many Yokogawa employees in the Gulf coast region are providing support to local shelters, food banks, and reconstruction efforts in addition to donating food, clothing, and basic necessities.
Yokogawa headquarters has activated our crisis management office to provide special support to our North American customers and employees for all recovery related needs.
Meanwhile, all Yokogawa offices in Houston, Sugar Land, Freeport, and Coldspring have resumed operations along with our Local Instrument Representatives, TechStar and BBP. We stand ready to help our customers diagnose, recover, and rebuild any affected instruments, controls, and operations.
In addition to Yokogawa's normal Technical Response Center operations, we have formed a dedicated crisis team for customers needing hurricane related assistance. This team is prepared to expedite requests related to deliveries, service, technical support, proposals, and sales. We have also made temporary office space available for some customers whose facilities are still inaccessible.
To accommodate deliveries associated with the recovery, we have increased capacity for our “quick ship program” from our Newnan, GA factory to support customers.
As affected areas begin the journey to recovery including hurricanes Irma and José, Yokogawa will monitor and support those affected as much as possible. Despite the loss and hardship during the past two weeks, we recognize the remarkable resiliency of the Gulf Coast people and are encouraged by the outpouring of global support to assist and uplift those who have been affected.