Supply chain risk assessments can help middle-market manufacturers provide critical information to secure supply chain insurance.

For example, supply chain exposures can be insured by a property policy for interrupting a manufacturer's business because contracted materials did not arrive or arrived late, said Jeffrey Beauman, FM Global's Johnston, R.I.-based vice president and manager of all-risk underwriting.

Business interruption or time element coverage “is designed to help the client achieve the similar financial results they would have had if they were operating their business except for the fire that happened or the earthquake or flood,” Mr. Beauman he said.

The insurance typically covers a loss from a first-tier supplier, he said.

As supply chain risks often involve multiple tiers, FM Global provides what it calls contingent time element extended coverage that can be extended to multiple tiers of suppliers.

Risk assessments help identify events that can disrupt a manufacturer's operations, rank them on a probability and severity basis, and then determine which risk-transfer solution works best, said Cal Beyer, head of commercial manufacturing for Zurich North America in Edina, Minn.

Zurich provides all-risk supply chain insurance with limits up to $100 million on a named supplier basis, he said.

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“Capacity is not generally the issue,” Mr. Beyer said. “It would be the availability of underwriting information and access to the key decision-makers to have an understanding of the operation to properly underwrite those exposures.”

Risk assessments also can help manufacturers know which exposures may be excluded from coverage, such as civil authority and ingress/egress, said Jill Dalton, partner in charge of Dempsey Partners L.L.C.'s New York office.

“Wording can vary dramatically from policy to policy,” Ms. Dalton said. “People who are placing that kind of coverage need to carefully look at the exposures and compare that with the coverage to make sure it's a good fit.”