When Supply Chains Fail to Supply
While choosing what to accompany my morning coffee, I came across an article titled “Will the coronavirus pandemic finally kill off global supply chains?” In journalism, Betteridge’s law of headlines states that any headline ending in a question mark can be answered with no.
Weak links in global supply chains
But there is sound reasoning for the editor to use such a title. Weak links in global supply chains surface all the time. Over the past year, we had multiple examples exposing their vulnerabilities:
- Chip shortage crippled 169 industries, affecting tech, home appliances, and car manufacturing.
- Compromised vendor security led to several personal data leaks.
- Storms disrupted chemical raw material deliveries for months.
- Limited oxygen supply left Indian hospitals powerless.
- A tangled transportation network caused skyrocketing shipping costs and major delivery disruptions.
Supply chains as risk absorbers
Today, supply chains absorb inflation anxieties, geopolitical stress, climate implications, and health crises. As a result, their operators face risks such as financial penalties, legal costs, reputational damage, loss of consumer confidence, and loss of business value.
I believe in third-party risk management as one of the keys to avoiding these implications. Alternatively, the ability of supply chain operators to keep vendors at arm’s length.
Knowing precisely who resides within the supply chain, tracking the most recent developments around vendors, and ensuring continuous auditing of different nodes (instead of only during onboarding or in yearly cycles), is now possible thanks to the power of AI and platforms like Owlin.
How Owlin enhances supply chain visibility
Our technology uncovers hidden layers of supply chains, providing real-time insights on even the most distant emerging market vendors. Learn more in our dedicated whitepaper.
A testament to Owlin’s capabilities is its recent recognition as one of the best third-party risk management solutions for financial institutions by Chartis Research, the leading provider of research and analysis on the global market for risk technology. In its “GRC Solutions, 2021: Market Update and Vendor Landscape” publication, Chartis ranks Owlin in the top-right quadrant, where we are joined by leading providers of 3PRM solutions like PwC, IHS Markit, and IBM. This comes on top of our “The Best Data Analytics Provider” award from Waters Technology’s 2021 rankings.
So, do you have complete visibility over your supply chain, and are you aware of the potential risks, dangers, or disruptions that might occur? Have you ensured transparent 360-degree coverage of Tier 2 and Tier 3 vendors? Or is there work to be done?
In any case, we would love to hear from you!
