Your supply chain is the lifeline of your business, but it also can be a significant vulnerability during a hurricane or a natural catastrophe or other event such as a cyber-attack, strike or delay. With hurricane season underway, it might be a good time to review your supply chain to understand critical dependencies and identify alternate sources in the event of a failure.
Although this year’s forecast is for a below-average hurricane season, it only takes one major storm to significantly disrupt your suppliers and ultimately your operations. Potential loss of revenue, market share and clients are some of the ways businesses are affected by a supply chain disruption. For example, during Hurricane Katrina, which hit 10 years ago this summer, wide swaths of critical infrastructure –including ports and harbor facilities –were severely damaged, disrupting many organizations’ supply chains, regardless of whether they were in the storm’s path, causing economic losses in the billions. More recently, Superstorm Sandy’s impact was far-reaching to both direct businesses and their supply chains. Many businesses found they were not adequately prepared or experienced operating in the storm’s aftermath.