14 DAY TRIAL // The Thailand floods have been making the news lately, the consequences extending to the IT sector as much as anywhere else, but Microchip, for one, is not suffering too much.
Indeed, while Western Digital and Seagate, directly or indirectly, have to face the prospect of product and component shortages, Microchip doesn't.
This because, unlike them, its factories were in a zone where the waters did not wreak havoc, so its operations were not disrupted.
Also, the Bangkok primary international airport remains open and functional, so shipping and receiving products works just fine.
Granted, some subcontractors were hit hard, like HANA Semiconductor, located north of Bangkok and mostly submerged and won't manage to get back online for several months at best.
“The contingency plans that Microchip developed over the years have been put to good use, and the fact that we are continuing to operate as normally as one can under the circumstances is no accident,” said Ganesh Moorthy, Microchip’s COO.
“Rather, it is a testament to the preparation, thoughtfulness and hard work of our team in Thailand.”
The danger of flooding for Microchip itself exists, of course, but it is a far away threat still, since the factories are 50 miles east of Bangkok.
“Our highest priority remains the safety of our 3000+ Thailand employees and their families,” Moorthy added.
“While a majority of our employees live outside the areas expected to flood, we already have more than 200 employees who are affected. That number will unfortunately go up in the coming days, and we are doing everything we can to help our employees who are affected or at risk of being affected.”
For those who want to learn more of what has been going on, we already wrote of how Seagate's potential difficulties and Western Digital's rather serious predicament. At least the destruction wasn't even close to the earthquake and Tsunamis that struck Japan on March 10.