Supply Chain Integrity: Protecting Our Blind Spots

Research on supply chain risk and resilience has focused a lot on accidental disruptions, caused for example by an earthquake or the fire at a supplier’s plant. A sometimes overlooked element of supply chain risk management are disruptions that are caused by malicious intent, for example fraud. Indeed, due to their complexity, modern supply chain systems have become vulnerable to deliberate harm. A recently published report by Zurich Insurance Group and SICPA, titled Supply Chain Integrity: Protecting Companies’ Blind Spots, is focused on such types of risk. The authors argue that “companies can increase their ability to safeguard against deliberate supply-chain ‘infiltration,’ such as that caused by counterfeit or tampered products”. In their study, they “offer numerous recommendations and examples gathered in interviews with government and industry experts, enforcement specialists, risk managers and executives at large corporations”. I believe this report makes an important contribution to widen our understanding of supply chain risk and resilience.