Lessons Learned from the 2011 Earthquakes

Donna Monkhouse

We all remember the Great East Japan and New Zealand Christchurch earthquakes that reverberated through the World News headlines in 2011 and whose devastating impact both socially and economically was widely reported on. 

The widespread destabilisation of supply chains that followed in its aftermath prompted extensive discussion on supply chain resilience.   Did the “just in time” approach that many organisations seem to have adopted prove its worth or do organisations need to go back to having buffer stocks in place in order to be able to ride such tempestuous storms? 

A lot of organisations' supply chains were heavily impacted by the earthquakes.  But the question is what lessons have they learned and how has the impact of “then” changed the way they deal with disruptions “now”?  What changes, if any, have they made to their supply chain strategy? 

Research

The BCI have followed up with some of these organisations to find out just what changes they have made, if any, to the way they deal with major and minor disruptions as a result of lessons learned.  The resulting report that has just been released summarises the key outcomes of the survey.   The report looks at things like the recovery process; the time it took for organisations to get back up and running; and whether they have since reviewed their supply chain strategy.  The report ends with some interesting observations and conclusions that provide some insightful food for thought.   You can take a look at it here

Live Debate

There is also a live webinar running on Wednesday, 20^th March 2012 as part of Business Continuity Awareness Week 2012 that takes a look at lessons learned from earthquakes, in particular with reference to mitigation measures and the impact on non-structural elements.  Follow this link to register to attend (attendance is free).