A Case Study on How a Business can Recover from a Hurricane
A week after Hurricane Ike hit, a large energy client called and asked if CMCI Founder Renee McNiel could come and meet with them. They were having some issues as the roof of their building had given way in the storm. They had water damage on no less than seven floors and were still discovering more destruction. It was clear the client needed help to recover from the hurricane.
When CMCI arrived, the client said that three floors had been flooded and CMCI would need to pack the belongings and remove the furniture immediately. The building had two floors where the team could stage belongings and furniture. McNiel said she was surprised at how much damage had been inflicted to buildings in downtown Houston.
Additionally, the client wanted the three, damaged floors cleared immediately, so that they could quickly begin remediation. As the rest of the City of Houston was having to deal with the same issue, CMCI quickly called the moving company utilized by this client and began discussing how to ensure there was enough manpower to begin a 24-hour response in order to meet the client’s needs. The moving company was on the fence about having enough staff for a 24-hour operation for a straight week. CMCI started calling other vendors to ensure the needed deadline could be met. The moving company was able to meet the need and provided the necessary manpower.
“As most of our other work was shut down in the wake of Hurricane Ike, it was easy to mobilize the CMCI team for this 24/7 operation,” McNiel said. “We were able to not only mobilize our staff but the moving company, as well. It helps to have great relationships!”
Once CMCI was in the building, they used radios and cell phones to communicate with each other, despite having to work through excess water in the offices. McNeil also put together a schedule of who was where and when, so everyone know his or her role and what was expected.
Additionally, the client wanted its staff to be able to return to work in small spaces until the floors could be remediated. This meant that CMCI needed to manage client and staff expectations upon their return to the office. They would not be able to have EVERYTHING in the temporary space. McNiel went to the client and explained that the employees could have some of their former office belongings, but the move consultants would have to determine which items could be delivered to the employees and communicate what those belongings would be so that they’d be prepared upon their return to the office. CMCI determined it would give the client’s employees whatever was on top of their desks (if it wasn’t destroyed) and their computers. The consultants packed, labeled and inventoried all other items. CMCI kept an inventory of everything, so that if the client needed anything, the consultants could easily find it. That situation soon came to pass. One employee needed to go on a work trip out of the country and her passport was in her desk. Fortunately, the consultants knew where these boxes were and easily found her passport.
Next, CMCI relocated employees’ desk items to the shell space for easy access. We loaded furniture in After placing the belongings, CMCI loaded in the furniture so that they could easily find boxes. Unfortunately, space ran out on the two shell floors of the building after just three days. However, the consultants expected this scenario and had additional space available with the moving company.
The client’s facilities team set up small desk areas by department. After another week, the small desking areas were ready. CMCI delivered the computers and each person’s boxes to their new areas. The consulting team remained on hand to assist the client in retrieving anything needed.
In the end, CMCI was able to meet the client’s need, allowing employees to get back to business as quickly as possible. In terms of lessons learned, McNiel explained that CMCI’s logistics experience very easily carried over to ensure fast, smooth and efficient service for this client. “We cleared the space RAPIDLY to ensure construction could begin quickly and get them back in business asap.” With CMCI onsite for 24/7 to clear the space, the team was able to accomplish this goal in less than four days. “It was remarkable,” McNiel concluded.
When you need a trusted advisor to help your business manage a move, even if you need to recover from a hurricane, contact CMCI.
