Or that even seemingly unrelated natural disasters can put it on hold? Or that it’s not just unpredictable disasters, like the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull that can bring things to a halt? Even completely predictable events like floods, which occur fairly regularly in most regions over the course of decades, can have devastating effects well beyond the coastal areas.
Consider the recent flooding in Australia’s Queensland slate. It did more than just make coastal areas unusable. It also resulted in significantly increased coal output. BHP, the world’s biggest producer, minded most of its coal products in Australia’s Queensland’s Bowen Basin from three of the world’s largest coking coal mines — Goonyella Riverside, Blackwater and Peak Downs. As a result of the flooding, all three mines were temporarily out of commission and mining is still constrained. This has caused BHPs production of coal to fall 30%. All because of a little extra water. This is not something that would come to mind if you asked an average organization about its supply chain risks.
So do you know just how risky your supply chain is? If not, maybe it’s time you did an assessment.