Ford learns importance of supply chain oversight

   One of the hard lessons resulting from the triple disaster in Japan last spring is that companies did not have as diverse a supply base for components as they thought, Jenny Lin, senior economist for Ford Motor Co., said Wednesday.
   Car makers temporarily idled assembly plants in Japan, the United States and Europe when key components became scarce due to damage, power outages and transportation interruptions associated with the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.
   Ford discovered that large and small suppliers alike were all sourcing components from the same few companies in Japan. Ford and its suppliers didn’t know the ultimate source of many parts because each supply tier outsourced production further down the line, she said at an economic forum hosted by the National Association of Manufacturers in Washington.
   “So you really have to look deeper to find out where parts come from,” Lin said.  – Eric Kulisch