Is making changes to your Supply Chain (SC) a crucial issue?
Research of the British Standard Institution, a global evaluator, mentioned that the increase of terrorism, corruption, labour exploitation and natural disaster should be highly considered before making changes to your Supply Chain (SC). Best practices and better adaptation to global circumstances should be your priorities to maintain stability.
Several significant concerns in SC risk from 2018, some of them prevailing in 2019, are: Poor working conditions that led as the top labour violation recorded last year, labour strikes most frequently disrupting manufacturing operations, and food, beverage and metal most stolen worldwide.
Which are the challenges impacting our SC in 2019?
Cybersecurity standstill as a predominant crusade for each person involved in the SC. Therefore, the security and resources of a high-speed-integrated world linked by the Internet of Things (IoT), is an up-and-coming challenge that SC expert must embark on in 2019 and beyond!
Risks to moving operations into Africa – the US-China trade disagreement provoked the decision to move into Africa. Professional reports bring to light the possible-ever-increasing threat of terrorism in African countries, where many terror clashes take place daily, even more critical than those in Asia. If your company SC has the intention to relocate to Africa, you must better take into a count not only such terrorism risks but corruption among security and customs staffs.
CTPAT Minimum Security Criteria - Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism in the USA is urgently revising new criteria for certification to cope with the escalating risk experiences on the operative background. Enterprises will have to embark on intense struggles to accomplish SC security and diminish potential-arising risks.
Migration still embodies critical risk - Massive movement, escalating around the world, signifies conflict caused by reduced local economic conditions and lack of jobs. Migrants affairs register recently a high per cent given the urgent need for incomes to support their families; as a result, enterprises must deal with both security and corporate social responsibility risk as well. Refugees caused by labour abuses are travelling from Central to North America, Southeast Asia and Africa and from the Middle East to Europe.
Brazil is reporting signs of deterioration due to the budget cuts of resources available to carry out inspections, boosting migrant-labour abuses. Constant alerts that show these problematic conditions will appear all through 2019; therefore, businesses must invest in assessing what the risk of migrant labourer exploitation means for their SC.
Tense policy changes due to new governments
Brazil, India, the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Mexico included, recently changed their governments, compelling new political ideologies and transforming the social and economic panorama in their countries.
Mexican president’s initiatives are focusing mainly to end corruption, stop organised crime, cargo theft and oil theft in the country. The implications of such actions might bring consequences for many business stability, affecting businesses in the coming year, particularly in-transit cargo theft.
The Brazilian president’s policy embarked on efforts which might originate risks for several industries running operations in Brazil, mainly concerning the ethnic territories, rights of workers. The recommendations from experts suggest taking more effective actions on business partners in Brazil, to fill up spaces deserted by the government’s exclusion of many supervisory prerequisites.
The negotiations on the Brexit are still on the go, arising uncertainty throughout the supply chains operating within and across the United Kingdom and the European Union.
India’s in-progress elections this month could originate a change on government policies, affecting the global SCs, as new proposals were not completed accepted by workers that gave rise to strikes demanding for low fuel prices and better wages. It’s expected abrupt disturbances and significant fluctuations in the governance of the country.
Intellectual property protection and the moving of significant facilities for a host of businesses are originating the USA-China trade dispute. Natural disasters, child labour, and forced labour are considerably widespread. So, enterprises looking to establishing at other Southeast Asian countries should consider the costs of fares compared to the cost of increasing risks to their SC.
Summing up: to prevent threats to business stability, you most maintained best practices in your company and better adapt to global circumstances.
