Preparing for Disruptions Through Early Detection

Unexpected events — ranging from extreme weather to product contamination — can easily disrupt businesses in today’s complex, interconnected global economy. The good news? A company can substantially increase its resilience by improving its ability to detect — and respond to — disruptions quickly.

Yossi Sheffi

FALL 2015

In 2008, the Black Thunder mine in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin — the largest coal mining complex in the United States, owned by St. Louis, Missouri-based Arch Coal Inc. — planned to install a massive new conveyer tube to move coal to a silo for loading trains. When David Freeman, vice president of engineering at BNSF Railway Co. at the time, heard of the mine’s plans, he wanted ...