Getting back on track Japan: it's impossible to predict the exact time of an earthquake, tsunami or nuclear event. But companies can protect themselves and their employees if they plan--well in advance--for the unthinkable. The disasters so bravely faced by Japan earlier this year have lessons for every business.

• Author: Kroll, Karen M.
• Position: Business Continuity - Company overview

Just 48 hours after a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck the Li northeast coast of Japan on March 11, 2011, the estimated 200 Japan-based employees of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, along with employees at the company's 10 tier-one suppliers in the country, were back on the job.

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While most are located south of Tokyo and were spared the worst of the disaster's impact, they still had to deal with disruptions to transportation systems, ongoing electrical outages and port closures.

"We were so impressed, given the devastation, on how focused our employees and our suppliers' employees were on meeting our needs," says Kent Fisher, vice president of supply chain management with the Chicago-based aerospace firm. The suppliers provide structural components, such as parts of the fuselage and interior, for all of Boeing's planes.

"The biggest challenge wasn't a, specific problem, but uncertainty about the infrastructure, such as electric power and shipping," says Fisher. The parts coming from Japan are large enough that they're shipped across the Pacific, so the port closures likely would mean lays for the parts still in the factories. To stay abreast of the situation, Fisher initiated daily calls between his team and Boeing's onsite leader in Japan. At the end of his workday, his Japanese counterpart sent an email updating Fisher on new developments.

In addition, Boeing is linked electronically with its suppliers' production operations, so it can see where its parts are in their processes. The number of parts coming from each supplier is fairly low--less than about 100 per month--allowing Boeing a fairly clear understanding of where each part is in the production process.

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Even so, Boeing employees on both sides of the Pacific worked nearly around the clock the first few weeks after the earthquake. Most of their time was spent analyzing and resolving uncertainties, Fisher says.

For instance, if Tokyo's ports remained closed indefinitely, could the parts be shipped from a different port? A refinery that supplied solvent used in the production process was destroyed; did the plants have adequate inventory they could use in the short term?

"We spent a lot of time identifying mitigation plans," Fisher says.

As it turned out, the ports reopened quickly enough that it wasn't necessary to implement many of the mitigating steps. Even so, the tight communication links between Boeing and its suppliers enabled the company to quickly identify issues that could have escalated.

In addition, Boeing learned just how dedicated its employees and suppliers are. "We think our Japanese partners are great, but the lengths to which they went was incredible," says Fisher. As a result of efforts by both Boeing and its suppliers' employees, there was no impact to its customers as a result of the earthquake, he notes.

Developing a Disaster-Continuity Plan

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