Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c1310IR // #c1310Synthesis

"In my time, I never had a tier-one supplier ever shut us down. It was always the tier-two and tier-three suppliers that shut us down because we didn’t have good visibility down there and never saw it coming."

— In our words · Source: Digital Impact (Steve Lucas)

[Use when]

You're assessing supply or vendor risk and only looking one level down.

[Why it matters]

Ford bought $90 billion a year in parts from suppliers. Risk hid where it couldn't see: its suppliers' suppliers. Fields would point a monitoring agent at their financial health and news.

Filed under situations:When you must decide and the facts aren’t inWhen a rival’s move changes your game

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