Christchurch Earthquake Response and Image Gallery

TransNet and TE get letters of thanks from Prime Minister John Key and Orion

 
After the quake, the call came in from Orion that they needed Raychem Cable Accessories and they needed them now!  We pulled our kitting team together and devoted all the resources we had to ensuring the kits were built, checked and dispatched right away.  The first obstacle was finding a way to get the gear from Auckland to Christchurch – we let our operations team sort that and sort it they did, driving the gear out to Auckland airport to make one of only a small number of flights able to accommodate our freight in those hours immediately after.

With the large variety of kits we have in stock it was easy to put together the initial goods needed without causing any delay to supply of our other customers and to date, we have managed to keep supply to our other customers unaffected.  The TransNet kit room hasn’t even been open for 12months, but already they have proven the first class service we demand of them.  It’s a blessing we operate a system where we have the most common kits in stock on the shelf leaving only special kits to be manufactured on request.

In the days since the quake we have also been flat out doing what we can to assist Orion and their contractors.  We have air freighted in a number of 66kV joints from overseas in record time.  This would not have been possible without local technical expertise in accessing the cable and ensuring we got products suitable to fix the damage.  Tyco Electronics Energy Division donated all of these 66kV joints as part of their relief efforts for the region.  We have had amazing support from Tyco Electronics staff in Australia and their customers as well.  A very special thanks to CitiPower in Melbourne and ETSA Utilities in Adelaide for allowing us to pull inventory from their strategic network spares.  DHL Global who have pulled out all the stops to get the product direct into Christchurch overnight – their support is exceptional. 

We understand that due to the nature of this disaster, demand is going to increase as the Network discovers just what the scale of the destruction is, and the teams at TransNet and Tyco Electronics would like them to know we are right here, willing to do what we can to ease the burden.  While our Christchurch based staff are collecting inventory from the airport at all hours of the day and night and delivering it to the depot, our Auckland kit room is working until 2am most nights ensuring the requirements of Christchurch are met and making sure shelves are restocked for uninterrupted supply to the rest of our customers. 

Along with our team on the ground in Christchurch, we have a mobile kitting room there too.  This will enable Orion, their contractor Connetics and the many other contractors who have sent teams in, to simply – get on with it.  They have the added support of Raychem specialists on site around the clock, technical specialists from both TransNet and Tyco Electronics are on a roster, the support is going to be solid and ongoing for as long as it’s needed.  Not only can we assist with inventory but if needed our team are able to assist engineers and field staff to determine what is required in each location.

We know the days, weeks and months ahead are going to be desperate for the people of Canterbury and our thoughts are with them all.  “As we all focus our efforts on the tragedy that has affected so many lives in CHCH, the main thing TransNet can do is try to aid the restoration of power. We are mindful however of our day to day business and customers. At this stage none of our other customers have been affected by the extra ordinary effort going into helping Christchurch recover, however we are sure you will understand if we have to prioritise inventory allocation if the need does arise.  We would not do so without communication with our customers first.  We don’t foresee there being any issues at this stage due to the large inventory we hold and the support of Tyco Electronics who have already been air freighting goods to support us, TE have also globally placed NZ requirements for stock to the highest priority within their organization and generously donated the 66kV kits already in Christchurch.” Says Spencer Winn, Managing Director, TransNet NZ Ltd.