2Sustain

By Chris Hazen
Director for Asia of WSP Environment & Energy 

Everybody is looking to cut costs these days as economic uncertainty continues to loom.  At the same time, many conversations about Asia-Pacific supply chains will often link cost reductions to risk reductions, which can be a tough pair of objectives to marry.  Tainted milk and lead-paint toys are still fresh in people’s minds.  Yet to stay competitive at the cash register, brands and retailers can’t afford to ignore the need to lower prices.

How can these risks be better managed to the benefit of all parties without impacting the cost of getting the products to market?  If products aren’t competitive in the market, that can kill their profitability even more quickly than non-compliance.

(more…)

Supply chain risk continues to be a hot topic among business executives –and for good reason. The current economic downturn, combined with an increasingly complex global business and regulatory environment, has created an atmosphere where most firms are feeling more vulnerable than ever to uncertainty in their supply chains. If you’d like some numbers to back up that claim, consider this: According to an Ernst & Young LLP poll conducted in January 2009, 67% of companies said they would be adversely affected if one of their top three suppliers failed. I wouldn’t be surprised if that percentage has creeped even higher now, indicating that supply chain risk is emerging as a significant top priority.

“Supplier risk is an order of magnitude greater than it has been in decades,” says Mark Short, Partner, Ernst & Young LLP TAS. “Companies are faced with deteriorating cash and credit conditions, and at the same time, an increasingly complex, integrated supply chain.”

(more…)

Combine the current economic downturn with the increasingly complex global business and regulatory environment, and it’s no surprise that businesses today are feeling more vulnerable than ever to supply chain risk. In fact, I’m hearing from a growing chorus of corporate executives who now consider supply chain risk management the number one priority for their CPOs.

(more…)