@Risk

World leaders are meeting in Seoul this week to discuss nuclear security concerns, including the growing threat of radioactive material in the global scrap metal supply chain.

According to a recent article at Bloomberg Businessweek, industries around the world are confronting the impact of loose nuclear (i.e., radioactive) material in an international scrap-metal market worth at least $140 billion. From the article:

Radioactive items used to power medical, military and industrial hardware are melted down and used in goods, driving up company costs as they withdraw tainted products and threatening the public’s health . . . Abandoned medical scanners, food-processing devices and mining equipment containing radioactive metals such as cesium-137 and cobalt-60 are picked up by scrap collectors, sold to recyclers and melted down by foundries, the IAEA (United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency) says.

The problem made headlines earlier this year when retailer Bed Bath & Beyond had to recall a metal tissue holder from its shelves after the item was found to be slightly radioactive.  A Bed Bath & Beyond truck loaded with the tissue holders reportedly set off a surveillance monitor in California. (more…)

Any business is vulnerable to a data breach. However, for the second year in a row, the information security firm Trustwave has found companies in the food and beverage industry are the most at risk from cybercriminals.

Why? According to the newly released Trustwave 2012 Global Security Report, industries with franchise and chain store models are top targets primarily because franchises often use the same IT systems across stores. Once cybercriminals compromise a system in one location, they likely can duplicate the attack in multiple locations. In fact, more than one third of Trustwave SpiderLabs 2011 investigations occurred in a franchise business, and the report predicts this number will rise in 2012.

Here are a few more key findings from the 2012 report: (more…)

Business executives around the world continue to worry about market volatility and economic uncertainty, however most feel their companies are better prepared to handle these challenges than they were during the economic slowdown of 2008-09, according to new research from Capgemini Consulting.

The study, which surveyed 350 supply chain executives from leading companies across Europe, the US, Latin America and Asia-Pacific, found that:

• Familiar business challenges persist. Market volatility (52 percent) and the economic downturn (39 percent) are the biggest business challenges currently faced by respondents. Just 17 percent feel optimistic about the outlook for the economy in 2012.
• Leaders are focused on supply chains. Two-thirds (67 percent) of respondents said they have implemented measures to improve visibility and control within the supply chain, and 59 percent have taken steps to increase flexibility within supply chain operations. As Capgemini points out, companies that have taken these measures should expect to have a head start on their competitors in 2012 as they will be able to measure and adapt their supply chains more easily. (more…)

Last week at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention presented new research that reveals two emerging –and disturbing –trends:

• Foodborne disease outbreaks caused by imported food appeared to rise in 2009 and 2010, and
• Nearly half of the outbreaks implicated foods imported from areas which had not been associated with outbreaks previously.

An earlier report from the Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS) found that US food imports grew from $41 billion in 1998 to $78 billion in 2007, and that much of that growth occurred in fruit and vegetables, seafood and processed food products.

All told, researchers now estimate that about 16 percent of all the food Americans eat is imported, including up to 85 percent of the seafood and depending on the time of year, as much as 60 percent of fresh produce.

The CDC’s recent study reviewed outbreaks reported to its Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System from 2005-2010 for implicated foods that were imported into the US. During that five-year period, 39 outbreaks and 2,348 illnesses were linked to imported food from 15 countries. Of those outbreaks: (more…)

Has your company spent the last few years adjusting to a “new normal?”

For many firms, the answer to that question is an unequivocal “yes.”

Without a doubt, pressures from the global economy have transformed business practices throughout the enterprise, and recently released key issues research from The Hackett Group confirmed that many large companies are adapting to a new status quo characterized by increased volatility and uncertainty in:

• demand,
• cost of raw materials and energy, and
• availability of talent.

In fact, nearly one in five companies in The Hackett Group’s 2012 study said they expect to see 25 percent or more volatility in these areas over the next two to three years.

How will companies adapt? The research shows that many companies are focusing on: (more…)