Lean manufacturing and just-in-time processing are great business strategies that can put a strain on your supply chain. Supply chain and supply chain management is a critical element of operations management for any large company to succeed and remain competitive in the global marketplace. The supply chain is one of many critical elements to maximize value for the end customer and requires careful management to minimize external impacts. If a company relies on another company to supply the raw materials needed for its production line, the impacts on this other company could impact its supply chain. Optimizing performance requires careful risk management. As a company expands into global markets and global suppliers, this risk and management challenge multiplies. The global nature of the company could impact important activities such as transportation, funds transfers, suppliers, distributors, accounting and information sharing. Supply chain disruption can significantly reduce revenue, reduce market share, increase costs and threaten production. A major disruption would have clear impacts on the bottom line, but could have further intangible impacts on the company's credibility if products are not delivered on time. Global Supply Chain Management Outsourcing labor and materials to a global market can significantly lengthen the supply chain structure. This can have both positive and negative effects. Looking at different countries offers the opportunity to access different markets and find the lowest possible production costs. Many companies also embraced Toyota Motor Corp.'s model of just-in-time inventory and other lean manufacturing techniques that emphasized speed and cost reduction (Bosman, 2006... half of paper... expected to react to the unexpected. Implementing good contingency plans along with a solid PDCA cycle is a great step towards success for a company in the global market. Works CitedBosman, R. (2006). FMGlobal: www.fmglobal.com Burnson, P. (2011, April 19). Retrieved April 20, 2011, from Supply Chain Management Review: http://www .scmr.com/aarticles/supply_chain_risk_mitigation_moves_to_the_c-level_suite/Chu, J. ( 2011, April 18) Japan Supply Chain Ripple Effects Retrieved April 20, 2011, fromPHSYORG.com: http://www.physorg.com/news/. 2011-04-japan-chain-ripple-effects.htmlHeizer, J. &. (2011 Operations Management Tenth Edition, Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA: Prentice Hall)..