Businesses in a number of industries are trying to adapt to a new reality. No longer can they count on reliable access to critical supplies, a fact prompting frantic phone calls, contingency planning and product redesigns.
For instance, film and television producers, along with the companies that support them, are scrambling to stock up on commercial-grade videotape. A major supplier, the Sony Corporation, closed its factories in Japan. Many studios say they face no shortage now, but there is a fear of a shortage — and that is all it takes to put companies on edge.
“Folks everywhere know there will be a shortage and are buying as much as they can,” said Thomas Engdahl, chief executive of Advanced Digital Services, which archives Hollywood shows and is among the many companies frantically calling videotape distributors. “It’s creating panic buying.”
Short of parts, automakers including General Motors have slowed or stopped production at some plants. Other manufacturers like Nokia, the Finnish cellphone maker, have said they expect disruptions.
But even companies that have maintained relatively normal operations have had to hustle. In San Jose, Calif., just hours after the earthquake, employees of Echelon, which sells smart meters that monitor electricity consumption, held an emergency meeting to discuss the potential effect on their supply chain. Identifying every supplier from Japan was the top priority, said Russell Harris, Echelon’s senior vice president for operations.
Echelon and the contractor that builds its smart meters quickly came up with a list of 25 suppliers that were responsible for more than 50 components. Within a few days, they had contacted each one and found, to their relief, that none of those factories had been damaged.
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