Lauterach, Wien - 23.08.2005 00:00:00
Thunderstorms: Gebrüder Weiss System Down for Several Hours
A large part of the PC network at Gebrüder Weiss crashed and was down for serveral hours
A large part of the PC network at Gebrüder Weiss, the logistics organisation based in Vorarlberg, crashed at 1.45 on Tuesday morning and was down for serveral hours as a direct result of thunderstorms in the west of Austria. The two main Vorarlberg data transmission cables run along separate routes through the narrow valley near Pians in Tirol. A large flow of debris destroyed these two cables. A power cut in the Inntal meant that the emergency transmission link could not be put into operation via the radio link system. The result: Over 5,000 shipments in Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria could only be delivered with considerable time delays in some cases. All systems have been operating normally once again since 11.45 a.m. on Tuesday.
The group very much regrets the system crash and asks customers for their understanding in the case of any inconvenience caused, said Wolfgang Niessner, Chairman of the GW Management Board, in a statement on tuesday afternoon. It was nevertheless unforeseeable that a data system equipped with two safety mechanisms would be hit by the breakdown of both back-up systems at the same time. Niessner added:"I would like to express my thanks to our employees in the individual branches and to our partner, the Telekom Austria, for the highly dedicated and proactive way in which they dealt with these circumstances!"This difficult situation was overcome above all by improvisation. Walter Konzett, GW Product Manager, described the hectic hours on Tuesday morning: "Via the Internet our employees in the individual branches were able to retrieve the most important shipment data from the servers in Vorarlberg using their notebooks; the delivery orders were written by hand in some cases. The enormous hard work of our teams meant that we were able to keep the processing of shipments on track to some degree. Though we will only be able to deliver some of the shipments by tomorrow - in those places where the traffic situation allows."
100 Locations Worldwide
The Gebrüder Weiss group employs a total of 3,500 staff in over 100 branch locations worldwide. The Austria company with headquarters based in Lauterach generated a turnover of 708 million euro in the last financial year.
Gebrüder Weiss GmbH
Bundesstraße 110, A 6923 Lauterach
press@gw-world.com
T +43.5574.696.2165
F +43.5.9006.2173
www.gw-world.com
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