The threat from organized criminals is increasing and becoming more violent
As more and more high value goods are manufactured abroad risk managers are being urged to carefully consider all the inherent risks associated with their supply chain and to plan accordingly.
According to the European Union, the theft of high value, high risk products moving in supply chains in Europe costs businesses in excess of €8.2bn a year. The threat from organized criminals is increasing and becoming more violent.
Against this background John Carroll of Chartis Insurance told a conference workshop that high value theft attractive goods are increasingly transported around the globe. He said, “It’s important for risk managers to consider how best to work with all parties in their supply chain. This means reviewing all exposures with the manufacturer, the freight forwarder and the distributor to evaluate and control the risks. Furthermore effective business continuity planning which takes account of geographical and supplier risks is essential if they are to ensure goods arrive both on time and in a sellable condition.”
John Carroll and Nick Tilley of Chartis Insurance UK Limited together with Mark Jones of Deutsche Post DHL discussed loss control and risk management associated with transporting high value goods to market. Illustrating their views with case studies they highlighted the value of business continuity planning, enterprise risk management and risk transfer with a particular focus on Warehouse security risks and road haulage transit risks.
One risk manager who has vast experience of the issues is who looked in detail at how developing trends like how temperature or dust sensitive goods were adding complexity to the problem. He commented, “The challenge is not simply one of increasing complexity but also resilience within the supply chain is stretched given the unwillingness to hold high stock levels coupled with a growing unwillingness to pay for risk transfer.”
