Just-in-time manufacturing techniques, under which components are delivered to factories for assembly into larger components or final products only as needed, are key to eliminating the cost of carrying inventories of those components. To work properly, just-in-time manufacturing requires careful control of supply chains.
IT supply chains can be precarious in the best of times. But a natural or man-made disaster can snap otherwise efficient supply chains, resulting in shortages and price spikes that could disrupt an entire industry.
The IT industry has already experienced such breaks in the past few years, including the impact of Thailand floods on the hard-drive industry and the impact of a Japanese earthquake on supply of a variety of key components.
How precarious is the global IT supply chain? Here are some of the potential disasters and several examples of real disasters that did impact IT production.