A bulletin from Aon UK in London notes that “financial failure poses the greatest risk to global supply chains,” according to 75 percent of the companies who participated in Aon’s “2009 Risk in 21st Century Supply Chains survey.” 19 percent of respondents also cited pandemics as a growing concern, while physical damage at a supplier’s facility and data security decreased by 10 percent (to 43 percent) and 14 percent (to 29 percent) respectively from 2008.
“The perception of increased risk, particularly financial exposure, is not necessarily borne out by experience with 7 percent facing losses related to financial failure of suppliers,” said Aon. “Although this is significant, the most commonly reported disruptions are due to physical incidents at own sites (14 percent) and incidents at suppliers (12 percent).”
The report highlighted the following:
__ Prime drivers for taking supply chain risk management seriously are shifting. The credit crunch is a key factor (30 percent) as corporate governance (down 18 percent to 58 percent), best practice (down 24 percent to 52 percent) and performance improvement (down 16 percent to 55 percent) have slipped down the agenda. Hence risk management is no longer something companies feel obliged to do by external pressure but is now seen as more urgent and vital for business survival.
— 85 percent see suppliers and third parties as introducing more risk into supply chain than previously (up 14 percent) but rather worryingly only 15 percent reporting they have a complete understanding of supplier exposures.
Alex Hindson, head of ERM at Aon, noted: “It’s time to let go of past certainties as the supply chain threat is very real. This is illustrated by 15 percent more companies making risk management a priority for 2009 (42 percent in total), with accountability being raised up the organization to Board and CEO level. This implies organizations are investing to become more risk aware. Companies must start looking for early warning signs with creditors and debtors to help react effectively and in a timely manner to potential supply chain failures.”
Ends
The report may be accessed at: http://img.en25.com/Web/AON/Aon_Risk_in_21stCen_SupplyChains_09.pdf
Source: Aon – www.aon.com
Topics Aon
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