The Fine Print Risk of Lean

Is lean manufacturing risky?  Perhaps, especially when it's implemented in a superficial manner.  But Cisco apparently believes it is also one of innumerable risks to its future performance.  "Innumerable" being the operative word, as it listed along with every possible calamity.  Of course it's pretty much the typical safe harbor statements found in any financial report, and one of the ridiculous consequences of a regulation that requires all potential risks be disclosed.  Of course the easy way to comply with that regulation is to brainstorm every possible risk, just in case, thereby making the statement a meaningless waste of ink.  Here's Cisco's:

This release may be deemed to contain forward-looking statements, which are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding future events (such as our vision of the Internet, our entry into new and adjacent markets, our expansion plans, the power of our business model, and our ability to take advantage of market transitions and drive toward our long-term growth objectives) and the future financial performance of Cisco that involve risks and uncertainties. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future events or results due to a variety of factors, including: business and economic conditions and growth trends in the networking industry, our customer markets and various geographic regions; global economic conditions and uncertainties in the geopolitical environment; overall information technology spending; the growth and evolution of the Internet and levels of capital spending on Internet-based systems; variations in customer demand for products and services, including sales to the service provider market and other customer markets; the timing of orders and manufacturing and customer lead times; changes in customer order patterns or customer mix; insufficient, excess or obsolete inventory; variability of component costs; variations in sales channels, product costs or mix of products sold; our ability to successfully acquire businesses and technologies and to successfully integrate and operate these acquired businesses and technologies; increased competition in our product and service markets; dependence on the introduction and market acceptance of new product offerings and standards; rapid technological and market change; manufacturing and sourcing risks, including risks related to our lean manufacturing model; product defects and returns; litigation involving patents, intellectual property, antitrust, shareholder and other matters, and governmental investigations; natural catastrophic events; a pandemic or epidemic; our ability to achieve the benefits anticipated from our investments in sales and engineering activities; our ability to recruit and retain key personnel; our ability to manage financial risk; risks related to the global nature of our operations, including our operations in emerging markets; currency fluctuations and other international factors; potential volatility in operating results; and other factors listed in Cisco's most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. The financial information contained in this release should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in Cisco's most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, as each may be amended from time to time. Cisco's results of operations for the three and twelve months ended July 26, 2008 are not necessarily indicative of Cisco's operating results for any future periods. Any projections in this release are based on limited information currently available to Cisco, which is subject to change. Although any such projections and the factors influencing them will likely change, Cisco will not necessarily update the information, since Cisco will only provide guidance at certain points during the year. Such information speaks only as of the date of this release.

Yes one paragraph, and I highlighted the lean statement in red for your convenience.  Just a few words ahead of "natural catastrophic events" and "pandemics and epidemics." 

I guess it's time to hunker down in a cave.

Comments

[Tom]

All that's missing is, in the old Latin, "anus protectus".

[martinb]

"Readers are cautioned that predictions are difficult, especially about the future."

Too simple?