On May 3, 2021, a government-issued tornado warning was issued in the area of six factories and a distribution center for Fujifilm in Greenwood, SC. The government tornado warning resulted in a 47+ minute shutdown, where employees were moved into an emergency shelter immediately with no advance notice. Their decision to shut down was based on the warning and the company’s pre-planned process. But as it turns out, Fujifilm’s facilities were not in the path of a tornado, which resulted in a false alarm, an unnecessary shutdown, and a loss of productivity and business continuity.
As a result of this event, Susan Hendrix, Director of Emergency, Health, Safety, and Quality at Fujifilm, started looking around for a weather risk mitigation service to help them make the best weather-related decisions. Hendrix has been with Fujifilm for more than 30 years and is responsible for all facilities in North America. “I was very excited to learn about the AccuWeather For Business product and what they could do for us,” Hendrix said. The company now has 12 facilities monitored by AccuWeather For Business. Hendrix was a panelist during an AccuWeather For Business webinar discussing lessons learned in severe weather, in which she talked about her experience with AccuWeather’s SkyGuard Warnings.
On January 12, 2023, severe weather again moved through that same Greenwood, SC, campus. AccuWeather For Business issued a Reviewed Tornado Notification, indicating that a government tornado warning was issued for their area but that at the specific locations of their assets, Fujifilm's three factories and distribution centers, the threat of an imminent tornado was minimal since they were not in the path of the storm. Based on AccuWeather SkyGuardⓇ Warnings, Fujifilm made the decision not to enact their shutdown, and sheltering procedures, which resulted in zero minutes of shutdown time, and the company maintained business continuity. If Hendrix had relied solely on government warnings, it would have resulted in 40+ minutes of unnecessary shutdown time and loss of revenue.
In addition to the Reviewed Tornado Warning, Hendrix received a Storm Report from AccuWeather of damage in the area, triggering them to quickly initiate a property inspection.
One of the other services Hendrix finds very valuable is one-on-one consultations with meteorologists, who help her and her team make the best decisions based on severe weather.
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Be proactive with AccuWeather SkyGuard Warnings backed by Superior Accuracy™, which will deliver site-specific alerts and warnings well before severe weather hits, giving you more time to prepare.
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