Your supply chain is essentially a set of successive contractual arrangements designed to provide you with goods and services that you either use internally or pass on to your customers. This is typically a controlled process, best described as a network with contract conditions and oversight so that your organisation can retain control over the quality of the product you are sourcing.
Can you imagine a world without timber products? If you look around right now, you’ll probably see a multitude of items that are the result of the timber industry. Just for starters, imagine life without wood or paper. Furniture, labels, receipts, calendars, doors, the frame of your home, even books. The truth is, without the timber industry our lives would be very different, and not in a good way.
There is often some confusion about the difference between the traditional supply chain and what has come to be known as a “value chain”. In reality, the two usually overlap and can even be the same “chain”. The difference lies in the high-level view of the process, but it can be argued in most cases – if not all – that a supply chain that isn’t also a value chain is a sign of poor business practices.
Today we look at creating a value chain for business, and how effective auditing is just as important as ownership for each link in the chain.
The global online economy is a huge game changer for both consumers and businesses, but not always in a good way. When auditing is performed well throughout the supply chain, everyone wins. When there’s a breakdown in this process, however, losers abound.
A lack of proper compliance standards and systems is always a problem for any business. That’s no great secret. Non-compliant players in a supply chain can cause lowered quality in products, confusion and/or mistrust from the consumer base, delays in inventory deliveries, and more.
While all of these are important and major issues that can – and do – negatively affect business results, none of them elicit the same level of concern and need for immediate action that another three-word issue can: food safety concerns.
This article warns about the business and health dangers than can arise from poor supply chain compliance standards.
Your supply chain is a huge part of, and more often than not a necessity to, your business. Unfortunately, it can also be a huge liability for your business if your suppliers aren’t vetted properly and if you don’t ensure compliance throughout your supply chain.
Thorough vendor risk management, then, must be a vital component of your compliance strategy.
This article explains ways in which retail compliance officers can reduce potential problems in their supply chain.