your articlegot mebackto thoughts "Why all the companies choose countries with the lowest labor cost per hour" really maybe my question sounds silly to executive managers and to the most of the readers here ,but when I heard about one disaster to a particular area in the world cause such damage to all the productive chain thoughts like the above come to me.
In my opinions, many manufacturers were aware of that situation and even though their preventive actions didn't work, they are not ready to live their Thai manufacturing plants just yet. If they move to some "flood free" areas, they might as well face other realities there. No place seems to be 100% safe.
i guess you got the point very well. its up to the OEMs to make up their mind i guess, and the consumers to really understand what is at stake here. if the natural risks of the Thailand area is worth it in the long run, as opposed to the regulations and laws of anyother place, then by all means.
however, with the wave of natural disasters that appear to be on the increase, i think long term measures may have to be considered.
So far the OEMs have not talked about pulling out of Thailand. Notably the Japanese firms are standing by their Thai partners. I suppose the question behind the question you are asking is: can we really defend against this sort of thing? We're talking about vast sections of Bangkok being under two meters of water. Certainly, as in the US in Katrina, or Japan earlier this year, we can argue that natural disasters are really made by humans. That is, there are natural events -- a rainy year, an earthquake -- but what makes them disasters is humanity's inability to manage our relationship to these inevitable events. But Bangkok is a very, very old place, and the modern forces acting on it are very chaotic. It's probably fair to say that one shouldn't put a sensitive electronics factory in a floodplain. I suppose the question is, would you pay 1% more (or whatever the number is) for one built in a factory with better safeguards, working under more stringent laws, etc? If the disk drive industry were to calculate disaster risk against wage savings in, say, five countries, what would they find?
We are looking at these floods in the light of the electronics supply chain, but is the supply chain, and OEMs in the area going to do anything to help prevent things like this from happening in the future?
First was Japan, now Thailand, God knows where else.
On the case of Japan, there was alot of talk about emergency relief systems and the likes, is any such issue being discussed or looked into in the Thailand case?
The fact that the rising waters have come to an almost complete stop is good for Thailand and its people. The fact that parts of Thailand are still covered with almost 7 feet of water is still a big issue. Thailand is a low lying country and this could take a long time to just drain the existing water, not to mention any new rains. It will be very interesting to see how hard the electronics sector is it, and which companies feel it the worse. Like you said, I have a feeling it will be the smaller companies who hurt the most. Could this be a major event that causes some people to convert to tablets because of rising costs in laptops?
It is worldwide recognized that region is at ranking top for electronics and many manufactures have invested there for improving their supply chain and the business, as consequence. Despite this picture, steps ahead in preventing similar disasters are ever achieved. Is it only a personal opinion?
Thai floodings will ceratainly impact the electronic supply chain with the most effect on disk drive supplies. But I wonder if this situation will be enough to make manufacturers leave the country.
Marc, as you mention at the end of this article... Monsoon season starts again in May.
So does it really make sense for a lot of these companies to rebuild operations in Thailand if they may face the same problems possibly just a few months from now?
Thailand isn't going to stop flooding. There is little guarantee that this situation won't happen again. So why re-invest?
Do you anticipate that some companies will cut their losses and leave Thailand completely? If so, do you see a mass exodus or will the majority stick things out?
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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