Superstorms, fires, droughts and other extreme events driven by climate change are already straining the industry’s supply chain — and it could get a lot worse.
Drifting wildfire smoke made for blazing sunrises and sunsets this summer in Minnesota, where electronics manufacturer Nortech Systems has been replacing air handling equipment to ensure particle filtration and the ability to operate in more extreme temperatures.
“I had days where I jumped in the car, and I drove up to Bemidji and [the smoke] got steadily worse,” CEO Jay Miller said. “I’m thinking about not only small particles of particulate matter in very sensitive boards that we’re manufacturing, I’m also thinking about my employees that have asthma. … I can put them in a good environment for eight hours a day, but how are they going to be the rest of the time? That’s worrisome.”
Medical device companies are increasingly focusing on the risk climate change poses to their businesses, supply chains and the health and safety of their employees and patients.
“All the major companies are building climate contingency plans and thinking about business interruption,” said Brian Johnson, president of the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council (MassMEDIC). “The last five years have been an extraordinary wake-up call. … I have yet to see a region that is immune to impacts from climate.”
For years before COVID-19, we’ve known that a global pandemic was a matter of when, not if. We face the same certainty on climate change. In fact, climate change-related events on two separate continents are already partly to blame for the global semiconductor shortage.