"Today, with the context and reality of globalization, organizations are finding that the supply chain is infinitely more complex than it was twenty or thirty years ago," Jason Dea, director of product marketing at environmental health and safety service provider Intelex, said. "Components and parts are coming from all over the world and from multiple vendors and third-party contractors from each domain. By nature, it is a system that is very stressed."

Since Sony released the first commercial lithium-ion battery in 1991 this technology has become the standard for most portable electronic devices, especially laptops, digital cameras, and smartphones.

Twenty years later, in 2011, lithium-ion batteries represented two-thirds of all portable rechargeable battery sales in Japan. According to a recent report by IDtechEX, the lithium-ion battery sector will be a $160bn market by 2025.

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