SECURITY\\\


The biggest risk to goods in the supply chain is complacency, warns Thorsten Neumann, Europe,


Middle East and


Africa region chairman of the Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA). Average losses in the supply chain having increased year on year since 2010, and what the criminals are actually stealing is becoming more varied, he says. “Ten years ago it was mobile


phones and computer chips, but among the top cargo crimes in 2014 was a trailer-load of Parmesan cheese, worth about €1 million,” Neumann explains. “It’s anything that criminals can turn into money.”


Until recently, selling a large


quantity of a niche product was difficult, and goods for which there was no market tended not to be stolen, but now food, pharmaceuticals, clothing and even metals are all vulnerable. Online marketplaces have made disposal of goods relatively easy and risk-free, and goods stolen in Europe can be sold on the other side of the world. So just because the goods


a company deals in are ‘low value’ doesn’t mean that they cannot be stolen, Neumann says. Often, the real cost of a theft


is not just the replacement cost of the goods themselves – if a


consignment fails to arrive and shelves go empty of X-boxes or the latest iPads as a result, the loss of customer goodwill and company reputation can be incalculable. Supply chain crime is


becoming more the province of sophisticated, professional criminals rather than petty pilferers. There is also evidence to suggest that crimes are becoming more brutal, with weapons and violence more likely to be used. At the same time, criminals are making increased use of insider information; around 70% of all supply chain crimes, Neumann estimates.


Criminals also tend to target


Issue 2 2015 - Freight Business Journal


41 Chips or cheese – it’s all bread to the criminals


different parts of the supply chain. Sometimes trucks on the road are the most vulnerable; at other time it’s warehouses, or parking areas. One positive development is the network developed by the European Secure Parking Organisation. While there are still gaps in coverage, the network has grown to the extent that, with careful planning of road movements, there is now really no excuse for using an insecure parking area. This may all sound like doom


and gloom, but there are plenty of things companies can do to protect themselves, Neumann continues. One of the most steps a firm can make is to


sign up for TAPA membership. Statistics show that companies that become TAPA-registered reduce their losses on average by 40% in the first year alone, and their insurance premiums also decrease as a result of those reduced losses. TAPA is taking steps to sign up


more companies and terminals, having seen a 10% increase in the number of registered sites in the EMEA region to 635 in the last year and with the number of registered firms now standing at around 300. (EMEA is the organisation’s biggest region.) A working group is working on the detail of a self-certification scheme


to help companies achieve the entry-level ‘C’ level More blackboard than black ops Most of us in fondly imagine that


Civvy Street military


logistics is controlled by laser beams from space, and money is no object. But Giles Peeters, defence director at situational command and control provider, Track24, says that the reality is much more whiteboard and marker pen. The ‘Loggies’ are to some extent the poor relation within most militaries and their importance is often undervalued, says Peeters, who spent 19 years in the forces. Most


militaries operate to


very tight budgets these days and there is no money available for elaborate track and trace systems. Moreover, security concerns and tightly controlled procurement policies can make it impossible for military logicians to get their hands on the sorts of advanced supply chain management systems that commercial operators are beginning to take for granted these days. Often, the limited number


of companies allowed to deal direct with the military add large mark-ups to commercial systems, putting them beyond their means - contrary to popular opinion, it is not a case of ‘money is no object’ in most countries, at least as far as the Loggies are concerned. With the primitive tracking


systems currently available, stuff does go missing, or get stolen, in theatres of


conflict - often parts that are very critical to the success of operations, for example helicopter parts in operational war theatres. Track24 has seen an


opportunity to bring military logistics into the 21st Century, bringing commercial standards of track and trace and automation – but maintaining high levels of security. Nothing horrifies the military mind more than the thought that information on the whereabouts of supplies and kit could be somewhere on the Cloud. There are three main


technologies used for tracking purposes, and each has its advantages and limitations, Peeters continues. Cellular (GPRS/GSM) has the advantage that antennae can be small and, because the signals can pass through matter, can be fitted inside the container. But it is also very easy to jam - “you can buy a $50 device to do that in a local market” - and that is something the military have to think about. Mobile phone- based systems may be cheap, at first sight, but what is the cost of losing a helicopter engine? Yes, the data can be


encrypted, but it does still give away location and direction of travel information to the ill- intentioned. How do you think the Somali pirates were able to find and chase down merchant


ships so easily and sometimes hundreds of miles from the shore line?


RFID (radio-frequency


identification) is, in many ways, “a fantastic technology” says Peeters, particularly as it can be encrypted and is low cost, but it does have a very limited range. Satellites are used a lot by


the military, and commercial organisations too. Advantages are that they can communicate anywhere in the world, the data is encrypted and security is better because, unlike mobile phones, devices are not continually ‘polling’ (sending a signal to the network so that it knows where it is, which is how all such devices work). It is possible to jam satellite devices, but it is much harder than with mobile phones because


devices that transmit to satellites send their signals skyward, making them far less easy to intercept and jam. Satellite systems are


often held up as being expensive compared with GSM/GPRS


but, echoing


other contributors to this report, Peeters says this is not necessarily the case. Depending on the number of containers and transmitters involved, transmission costs could be around $20 a month, or even lower. The


satellite’s main


disadvantage is that it needs ‘line of sight’ to the antenna. In order words, if the antenna is behind a solid object – such as another container - the satellite signal will not get through to it. It also has higher power needs than a mobile phone based device; this isn’t an insuperable problem, though “it means that


devices are bigger than we would like” explains Peeters. Another disadvantage is that,


because of the requirement for line of sight, traditionally the device has to sit on top of the container, where it can easily be levered off – and it highlights that the container contains a valuable or ‘interesting’ cargo. That said, the latest low orbit


satellites used by the Iridium have greatly reduced the ‘line of sight’ problem. So each system has its


strengths and weaknesses – but what if they can be combined together to provide a complete turnkey monitoring solution for military cargo on the move? For example, a container underneath a stack could communicate through RFID with one on top, so if anyone interferes with its doors, an alert can still be sent by satellite. Containers could also communicate with a satellite transmitter on board the ship.


Antennae could be made much smaller and more discrete. This is what Track24 is


working on the moment, and it hopes to make a further announcement in the first quarter of 2015. An important aspect of Track24 is that, rather than the software as a service approach commonly taken, it can install its systems behind military firewalls – something that could be of interest for commercial firms – for whom Track24 also works - with sensitive goods such as pharmaceuticals or cash in transit. The Cloud is all very well,


says Peeters, but to a military person, the idea of having critical data sitting on an unknown server is a security risk. Track24’s approach, in contrast, is to establish a closed network behind the firewall and, as far as the data is concerned, walk away and let the military get on with it.


Containing the bomb problem


The EU-funded Fly-Bag project is developing a system that could bomb-proof cargo or passenger baggage containers on board planes. While most emphasis is, quite rightly, on preventing such devices getting on board aircraſt in the first place, scanning systems cannot absolutely guarantee that


nothing, ever will get smuggled on board – or that all undeclared Lithium batteries will always be detected prior to loading. The project is developing


new materials for cargo holds or containers that could,


to some


extent, contain any explosion or outbreak of fire. The project has


developed a textile-based freight and luggage container for narrow- body aircraſt holds which is now being tested. It uses a multilayer textile ‘blanket’ that can be used to line a ULDS, together with strengthened


flooring, closed


by a high-resistance, specially- designed zip.


of certification. “A lot of sites probably already to reach ‘C’ level,” Neumann explains. “So we’ve started a programme to make things easier for people who want to achieve this.” TAPA has published


new TSR and FSR security standards. It has also signed important partnerships with the EU’s TISPOL road policing programme, with the Europol European law enforcement agency


and the German


Ministry of Transport. TAPA is also putting a lot of


emphasis on training, alongside new technologies like RFID or GPS. At the end of the day, systems and IT are only as good as the people using them.


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