WINNIPEG – A grain company president and member of a federal task force on the problems of computer systems and the year 2000 has warned of potential computer-related chaos in parts of the food business after Jan. 1, 2000 unless business leaders wake up to the problem.
“My own take on this is that it has the potential to be a very serious problem for a lot of medium and small companies in the sector,” said Cargill Ltd. president Kerry Hawkins last week.
“I think a lot of executives are just sitting on their hands on this one. It could be chaos. It could drive some companies out of business.”
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Making demands
He said Cargill is sending letters to all its customers and suppliers, asking for details of their preparations for 2000.
“We are telling them that if they will not be ready, we will have to reassess whether we want to continue doing business with them,” said Hawkins.
Most computer programs mark time using only the last two digits of the year and are designed for the 1900s. Each year, the date flips automatically to retain files.
At 2000, unless a change is made, it will revert to the year 1900 in its memory and many programs will crash. There is the spectre of computers unable to communicate, inventory lists disappearing, invoices and records becoming frozen.
Companies that invoice, order or keep records by computer may be unable to communicate with computers not in the same century. At least one airline has announced it will not fly Dec. 31, 1999 or Jan. 1, 2000 in case all airport computers are not compatible, said Hawkins.
“I think there could be chaos.”
The federal task force he was appointed to by industry minister John Manley has reported that “more than half of all Canadian firms are taking no action to prepare for anticipated computer malfunctions leading up to 2000.”
Jean Monty, task force chair and president of BCE Inc., said the country’s business community is sleepwalking to disaster. “Our competitiveness is at stake and time is running out.”
Representatives of most grain companies, the Canadian Wheat Board and CP Rail said their organizations have the issue in hand.
In fact, it has been an expense in the tens of millions of dollars for major grain companies to get ready for the millennium.
Alberta Wheat Pool president Alex Graham said the company’s $25 million switch of computer programs and purchase of new equipment would have happened anyway, but it will also prepare the company. “We have no worries about the year 2000.”
Cargill is spending between $3 million and $5 million on the issue. All companies say they have teams in place to identify programs that need fixing.
United Grain Growers president Ted Allan said his company will be ready but he suspects many others will not be.
“I can’t imagine everyone will be up to speed,” he said. “There will be problems but we hope it won’t be catastrophic and that we get by in the industry.”
