@Risk

Over the past few years, most global companies have intensified their focus enterprise-wide risk management (ERM).

Unfortunately, though, a new survey by the Zurich Financial Services Group (Zurich) found that only a small fraction of business executives are confident in how their organizations are managing risk.

Here are a few of the key findings from the study. Among the 1,419 business executives surveyed: (more…)

The International Telecommunication Union estimates that 90 percent of the global population is now covered by a 2G mobile cellular network. (Half that, or 45 percent, is covered by 3G.)

But, of course, that global population is on land. If you’re out on the open seas, it’s a different story.  Not surprisingly, the oceans are the last “white spot” for the mobile communication industry to connect.

Earlier this month, Maersk Line, the largest shipping company in the world, announced that it is taking steps to change all that.  The company has appointed Ericsson to introduce end-to-end systems integration and deployment of mobile and satellite communication to the entire Maersk Line fleet.

More specifically, over the next two years Maersk Line will outfit 400 of its 500+ container vessels with Ericsson antennas and GSM base stations. Upgrades to the remaining vessels will be made soon after.

It’s an important step, because as Ericsson points out, mobile communication provides opportunities for the shipping industry to upgrade several essential processes.  For example, until now, Maersk Line’s high-tech modern container ships have been equipped with satellite connectivity primarily intended to support communication for vital shipboard functions.  But Ericsson says its new integrated maritime mobile and very-small-aperture terminal (VSAT) satellite solution will allow Maersk Line to better address: (more…)

The US Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) has proposed a set of recommended best practices to help the pharmaceutical industry improve supply chain integrity and reduce risks of counterfeit or mishandled medicines.

Improvements like these are long overdue. As I reported last spring, research from PwC concluded that many pharmaceutical supply chains have suffered from what amounts to benign neglect. As a result, they are inefficient, under-utilized and ill-equipped to cope with new medicines, cost pressures and health reform expectations.

Sure, in today’s global economy relationships between suppliers and other business entities are often opaque and difficult to track, but clearly, it’s time for the pharmaceutical industry to step up to better ensure that medicines can be traced back to their original manufacturer, are not adulterated or counterfeited and are transported to their intended destination with their quality intact.

Too many companies have discovered the hard way that “willful blindness” only increases their culpability in the eyes of Federal agents, regulators who now are cracking down on businesses that aren’t compliant with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

Don’t take that kind of risk. Resolve that this is the year to start better managing your multiple supplier master databases as you monitor and mitigate supplier risk in a global operating arena.

“There is incentive for all players in the pharmaceutical industry—large and small companies, regulators and standards-setting bodies—to come to some agreement on hotbutton issues such as track and trace technology and, at the larger level, to codify what constitutes a solid, universal approach to global supply chain integrity,” said Praveen Tyle, Ph.D., chief science officer for USP.

USP’s proposed standard covers four main areas: (more…)

Economic uncertainty in the EU is leading European manufacturers to scale-back operations, investment projections and optimism.

In fact, recently released Q3 ’11 results of the MFGWatch Quarterly Survey of North American & EMEA Manufactures show that:

• Only about one-third (35 percent) of the European supply-side manufacturers polled reported business growth in Q3’ 11 –that’s down from 44 percent in Q2.
• About the same amount (34 percent) of suppliers said their businesses have contracted –that’s nearly double the 18 percent who reported contraction in Q2.
• Buy-side manufacturers in Europe aren’t faring any better. Sourcing manufacturers in the EU reported growth in their businesses fell from 44 percent to 27 percent in Q3’11. Buy-side manufacturers indicating contraction rose from 16 percent to 30 percent over the same period.

In addition, the survey found that both buy-side and supplier manufacturers in Europe are hiring less and laying off more employees. Among supply-side manufacturers, 13 percent fewer added jobs, while another 13 percent more shed jobs (20 percent, up from 3 percent in Q2’11). Sourcing manufacturers also saw employment dwindle – with 27 percent adding jobs (down from 31 percent) and 18 percent decreasing payroll (up from 9 percent in Q2’11).

What’s more, as MFGWatch points out, perhaps the most telling results that point to the worsening European economic conditions are: (more…)

Several materials used in the manufacture of clean energy technologies such as wind turbines, electric vehicles, solar cells and energy-efficient lighting are at risk of supply disruptions in the short term, according to a new report released by the US Department of Energy (DOE).

The 2011 Critical Materials Strategy is DOE’s second report on this topic and provides an update to last year’s analysis. After its analysis, the DOE has concluded that:

• Supply challenges for five rare earth elements (REEs) (dysprosium, neodymium, terbium, europium and yttrium) may affect clean energy technology deployment in the years ahead.
• The risks of supply disruptions in the short term will generally decrease in the medium and long term.

The report also includes a discussion of DOE’s strategy to address these critical materials challenges. DOES says its strategy rests on three pillars: (more…)