The weakest links (TT Sep08 p32-33)

Supply chains are increasingly international and complex. As a result, the risks involved, which once consisted mainly of safely moving goods from A to B and optimising inventory levels, have grown more numerous and complex. European and US consumers have developed a taste for foreign goods and companies have outsourced more production to cut costs. But as supply chains have become more intricate and effective, so have the associated risks. Companies can reduce input costs, but it will often be at the price of increasing their exposure to possible disruption. Supply chain risk was not only a main feature on the schedule at this year’s ACT conference, but very much in focus when insurance and risk managers met in Edinburgh this summer for the annual gathering of their representative body, AIRMIC.