Safe Secure Supply Chains

Add comment June 19th, 2006 David Bush - Iasta

I found the recent article “Advocate for a Safe, Secure Supply Chain” in Inside Supply Management to be right on target. One of the key points of the article was that the prevention of any incident that may cause a supply chain disruption is critical in today’s marketplace where brand reputation often spells the difference between success and disaster for many manufacturers. See my recent posts on “Hard Times Make Lean CPG Manufacturers” and “Total Value Management” for some insight on how damaging supply chain disruptions can be.

The article quotes Theo Fletcher of IBM who says that “the implementation of security processes and practices allows the company to reach a level of consistency in all of its import activity and provides a level of predictability that is nearly impossible to attain in today’s marketplace” and that the industry as a whole should drive security programs.

Supply chain security should not be regarded as a cost of doing business but as an opportunity to truly drive efficiency and consistency in import activities. When all supply chain partners are able to import the same way in all countries where they do business, it drives efficiencies for all parties and drives a competitive advantage.

Companies should consider an active role in voluntary government programs such as the US Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), Canada’s Partners in Protection Program, and the World Customs Organization (WCO) Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade. It will help ensure that the supply chain is secure on an end-to-end basis.

The benefits of compliance combined with asset visibility and tracking technologies is that not only can you expect time-definite and controlled chain of custody conveyances across the supply chain, but also higher levels of predictability with the flow of materials, making it much easier to forecast supply and demand imbalances, which you can expect to be minimized through the adherence to secure supply chain policies.

Entry Filed under: General, Global Supply Issues/Risk, Suppliers