Y2K spells delays for Johnson & Johnson

Two North American companies are already feeling the impact of the millennium bug over a month ahead of its strike date.

In the US, healthcare company, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has filed a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stating that it could experience a 10-day disruption to its business due to the bug. The company said problems will arise if too many of its key suppliers and customers are not yet year 2000 compliant.

Jeff Leebaw, director of corporate communications at J&J said this is purely a case of scare mongering. He insisted: "All companies have to place a report with the SEC but focus has been placed on us." Describing this situation as a worse case scenario, Leebaw did admit that contingency plans are in place for any mishaps that may take place.

Meanwhile, in Montreal, Canada, firefighters have blamed the city's authorities for one of their fire stations burning down due to Y2K testing. Systems were turned off for a 48-hour period so that they could be updated for the year 2000. However, breaker switches in some stations were not turned back on, giving no warning of a small fire that started in a station kitchen.

Robin Guenier, executive director at Taskforce 2000, said these are good examples of what can happen if the process isn't thought through properly. "People need to forget about the actual date change because as this proves it's happening now and it will happen after midnight 2000 as well," he said.

He advised companies not to relax once testing is complete because more problems may arise.