Our hearts go out to the folks in Japan as they are in the midst of crisis with 3 events all caused by mother nature.
Natural disaster has historically been the most frequent cause for supply chain disruption. The current crisis in Japan is significant for many manufactures. Electronic components are the biggest challenged commodity types. Customers want answers now and suppliers are bombarded with the question "what is the supply impact?". Unfortunately, the answers are incomplete given the reality of a crisis still in process. Most manufactures had inventory in transit or stock to cover them through March. April is a different story with a lot of uncertainty. We should expect at the very minimum there will be reduced supply of at least 1-2 weeks for anything produced in Japan. The direct impact of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear facility damage is not the only contributor. How about the human distress, reduced productivity, absenteeism, power outages throughout the country, exit of people, damage to logistic lines and infrastructure.
Alternate supplies can be used where qualifications are already complete or on less technical product which has low risk from design or source changes. These alternatives should be considered as we continue to work with Japanese suppliers through full recovery and clarity.
Natural disaster has historically been the most frequent cause for supply chain disruption. The current crisis in Japan is significant for many manufactures. Electronic components are the biggest challenged commodity types. Customers want answers now and suppliers are bombarded with the question "what is the supply impact?". Unfortunately, the answers are incomplete given the reality of a crisis still in process. Most manufactures had inventory in transit or stock to cover them through March. April is a different story with a lot of uncertainty. We should expect at the very minimum there will be reduced supply of at least 1-2 weeks for anything produced in Japan. The direct impact of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear facility damage is not the only contributor. How about the human distress, reduced productivity, absenteeism, power outages throughout the country, exit of people, damage to logistic lines and infrastructure.
Alternate supplies can be used where qualifications are already complete or on less technical product which has low risk from design or source changes. These alternatives should be considered as we continue to work with Japanese suppliers through full recovery and clarity.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_13/b4221018714000.htm?chan=magazine+channel_11_13+-+japan+crisis_japan+crisis+sr
