It was exactly 47 minutes until midnight on May 4 –“the day the night sky fell” on Jackson, Tennessee, as headlines would later declare. A major storm causing devastation across West Tennessee had spawned tornadoes killing 11 area residents, tearing apart Jackson’s historic downtown and striking DENSO joint venture TBDN just as the second shift had ended. The company, formerly Purodenso, produces air filters, oil filters, air induction systems and fuel filtration systems.

Company officials immediately began assessing the worst of the storm – not just to the plant, but also to the lives of their 401 associates and 23 temps. No one was injured, but at least 10 percent of associates, they would discover, suffered damage to their homes, some losing their homes altogether. Few had electricity. Associates who still had a house were facing lost food and water supplies. With backup generators supporting TBDN, crews scurried to minimize water damage to equipment and inventory since the tornado had struck the shipping dock, causing significant roof damage.

TBDN Human Resources Manager John Beal formed an effort to reach associates and determine disaster relief needed. Associates Helping Associates (AHA), a standing committee, became the nucleus of a major search-and-help effort, which eventually included volunteers from DENSO Manufacturing Tennessee’s HR Department (DMTN), located in Maryville, several hundred miles away.

Other groups from DMTN’s Facilities Department and Machinery and Tools Division (M&T) also drove the 5.5 hours across the state to assist with the recovery of TBDN’s facility. Their efforts ranged from helping to dry machines and resetting robots to assisting with stabilizing the roof and preventing further plant and equipment
damage from the weather.

Back at TBDN, 69 percent of first shift associates were able to work by the second day after the Jackson disaster. Power was available to 60 percent of the machinery and 25 percent of the machines were producing. The following day, production was 100 percent, and with help from other DENSO locations and customers, all deliveries could be made. Food was catered to those on duty, as HR and anyone else able to help cleaned a place to feed associates.

Back-up generators remained the power source for two weeks. While building repairs were proceeding, materials were in short supply. It would be a month before the roof could be completed. The shipping area was walled off to keep out water from non-stop rain.

Meanwhile, donations of money, food, water, clothing, furniture and appliances began arriving from many DENSO locations (for two weeks, DMTN utilized trucks that are part of the North American Integrated Logistics System providing daily supply runs to carry critical donations quickly). TBDN’s parent companies—Toyoda Boshoku Corp. and DENSO, through its North America Foundation in Southfield, Mich.—jointly presented their companies’ donations of $50,000 each to the Jackson chapter of the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

TBDN President Steve Suzuki said he and his associates were very surprised at the level of donations and “moved to tears” by the warm support. HR Manager John Beal added: “I want to express our appreciation for all the concern and assistance from the DENSO North America group companies. Your thoughts, prayers, and donations were greatly appreciated by our associates, in particular those who were severely affected by the tornado.” At least 11 associates lost their homes or had severe damage.

By mid-June, there were still two associates unable to return to work due to the tornado’s impact. “We have allowed any associate who had severe or moderate impact to take personal leave, if necessary, to get their lives back in order,” continued Beal. “Finding places to live has been one of the biggest challenges for our associates and others in the community. Affordable rental properties in the Jackson area are always difficult to fi nd. TBDN has provided direct monetary assistance to our associates with the most need to try and help them replace personal belongings, repair homes, pay for deductibles, etc.”

Jackson’s Red Cross director said that the disaster’s effects would be “long-term and the needs of families affected on-going.” On August 12, several country music stars—led by Vince Gill, Amy Grant and Darryl Worley—performed a benefi t concert in Jackson called Storm Aid.

Beal said everyone at TBDN is assessing lessons learned from such a disaster: “From an HR and company perspective, we found that we needed to build redundancy into some of our systems and processes so we can access information in the event of power loss or loss of our computer system/network.

“Fortunately, none of our computer operations were damaged,” he continued. “As soon as we had power restored by generators, it was possible to use these within about 24 hours of the storm. However, prior to the restoration of power, our Production Control Department had to construct manual spreadsheets to continue functioning and get product scheduled for delivery.

“There is a long list of things we determined, as a company, that we need to develop to be better prepared for a future emergency; however, we did a lot of things right and we are building on those,” he concluded.

Gary Reynolds (left) from DMTN’s Machinery & Tools Division and David Coleman from Logistics in the Starter/Alternator Division help transfer associate tornado relief donations to waiting trucks en route to TBDN. Trucks carried DMTN associate donations daily for two weeks. DMTN's volunteers A week after DMTN’s volunteers returned home from TBDN, a similar storm threatened Knoxville, Tenn. about 20 miles from the facility and home to many DMTN associates. Associate Relations’ Paula Bender, one of nine volunteers at TBDN, traveled home to Knoxville the night of May 15 to fi nd that a tornado had blown a tree through her own house. “Compared to what I saw in Jackson, it didn’t seem like much. After all, I still had a house. So many of them did not. How they handled their problems left a lasting impression. I will always remember them and what they endured.” She and the other DMTN HR group members – Heather Stalvey from Associate Relations and Sherry Winchester from Compensation and Benefi ts – were amazed that their fellow associates victimized by the Jackson tornadoes never asked for help and tried to direct all money and other donations to “those who really needed it.” The Other DMTN Volunteers: Facilities —John Faulkner and Steve Seagle Machinery & Tools Division —Chris Brinley, Eric Cutshaw, Hiro Masuo and Dave Stadel