Japan’s devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident have served as a wake-up call across the world to show just how fragile global supply can be. With almost 9% of the world’s economic output coming from Japan, these events have had a direct impact on many companies that rely on Japan for manufacturing parts, and have caused countless disruptions across the global supply chain.

For example, it has been reported that Apple was facing tight supplies on the lithium-ion batteries used in its iPods. The bottleneck was traced to Kureha, a relatively obscure Japanese chemicals manufacturer which had to shut down its factory near Iwaki following the disaster. Although the company’s factory had remained intact, it was the damage to the ports that was creating the blockage in the supply chain.

How does a company that outsources its production deal with unexpected events ranging from Japan’s catastrophic earthquake and tsunami to unprecedented floods in Australia or an Icelandic volcano? Until recently, many corporations entrusted their supply chain operations to middle level management. The chief purchasing officer, if he/she existed, usually reported to the CFO, CIO or COO. CEOs had relatively little exposure and experience in dealing directly with supply chains. Often, the purchasing officers paid more attention to cost and product quality than to the risk factors in sourcing. The earthquake in Japan is changing all of that since many global supply chains have been disrupted to varying degrees.

The global supply chain is the natural outgrowth of a rational attempt to remain “asset light,” in other words, focusing on a company’s core competencies and outsourcing the rest by taking advantage of low-cost sourcing. No one questions the value of the concept or of just-in-time manufacturing, but it is increasingly apparent that the approach works best when the