Page 20 - Sphere No.29 (Jun 2011)

18 Sphere 29
Hutchison Global
Communications quickly
re-routes international
telecommunications
through its diversified
network after Japan’s
devastating earthquake
and tsunami in March.
Snowed out
Business in Europe was further disrupted last
year by an unusually early blast of severe winter
weather. November snows in the UK were the
deepest since 1965. December 2010 was the
coldest since records began a hundred years
earlier, with overnight temperatures as low as
minus 10 or minus 20 degrees Celsius.
3 UK had to close its Executive Offices in
Glasgow early one particularly frigid November
afternoon so that employees could travel home
safely and avoid the dual risks of heavy snow and
ice deposits on the roads. Days later, direct sales
employees in Glasgow were also sent home early,
leaving back-up teams fielding customer calls
from the warmer climes of Asia.
Snows in the UK also took their toll on HWL-
owned health and beauty retailer Superdrug,
disrupting its supply chain. “But close communica-
tion between logistics, stores and operations
teams ensured that deliveries were made
immediately when stores were accessible,
including weekend deliveries,” said Steve Zandi,
Supply Chain and Logistics Director of Superdrug.
Over 8,000 kilometres away, in northern
China, last winter’s extreme cold damaged some
Watsons’ skincare and drinks products. “They
were frozen during transportation from our ware-
houses and some product packages were cracked,”
said Jim Jeffery, General Manager - Supply Chain,
Logistics of Watsons China. Liquid products are
now packed around a thermal tank surrounded
by blankets during extra-cold snaps, resulting in
fewer losses.
Undersea challenge
For Hutchison Global Communications (HGC)
the biggest operational challenge posed by
nature in recent times came from under the sea.
The epicentre of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake
off the northeast coast of Japan in March this year
was perilously close to submarine telecommunica-
tions cables carrying busy traffic between Hong
Kong, Mainland China, Japan, South Korea and
the US.
As the scale of the earthquake and tsunami
tragedy became apparent, HGC’s first duty
was to safeguard international communications.