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.