MORE DISRUPTION AND CHANGE WILL ONCE AGAIN CHALLENGE THE RESILIENCE OF GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS


welcome 2 IN THE CHAIR


level of cooperation and support that has been so widely offered to help businesses and individuals through these troubling times.


Thank you to our friends at TAPA Americas for taking the time to remind us of all the support the Association has been able to give to its members throughout the pandemic. This is a welcome reminder of the value of our network.


It feels as though Covid has been a part of our personal and business lives forever but, of course, it’s just over a year since the World Health Organization declared coronavirus a global pandemic – and clearly it is going to be with us for some time to come.


We are seeing worrying reports of a possible third wave in some countries as well as vaccine shortages. TAPA has also received intelligence on criminals producing fake vaccines and targeting Covid-related supply chains.


Whilst we are obliged to deal with the ‘here and now’ aspects of the virus, businesses are also determined to be better prepared for any future global disruption on this scale. New research by business consultants Capgemini says two- thirds of companies in the consumer products and retail sectors predict their supply chain


strategies will ‘change significantly’ in the next three years as they adapt to lessons learned over the last 12 months and look to embed resiliency into their operations. For 65% of these businesses, this is going to mean investing in regionalising and localising their supplier bases.


In terms of supply chain security, where goods originate from is largely irrelevant because cargo criminals are transnational and will simply relocate their activities to wherever they see the biggest potential opportunities. But, of course, this will create a lot of work for supply chain security professionals in ensuring new operations in new geographies are as resilient as possible.


To this end, the advantage we all have is that we are members of the world’s biggest supply chain resilience and security Association, and we have a unique pool of industry colleagues and partners we can call upon when we need help and advice. One of the encouraging aspects of the last year has been the high


‘One of the encouraging aspects of the last year has been the high degree of cooperation and support that has been so widely offered to help businesses and individuals through these troubling times.’


As if Covid wasn’t enough to challenge global supply chains, as this issue goes to press, a 400-metre megaship with 20,000 containers onboard is stuck in the Suez Canel, blocking one of the key lanes for Asia-Europe trade. With over $9 billion of goods a day normally transiting through the canal, this is causing even more disruption which will last for some time, even after the Canal reopens.


Within 72 hours, a queue of some 150 other ships is reported to have formed and the delays will only add to the severe shortages of containers around the world, and especially in Asia. What this means in terms of contingency planning and any subsequent risks we will need to mitigate will become clear in the coming days and weeks.


So, the uncertainty and disruption facing supply chains is not going to go away any time soon, and this is highly likely to result in a rise in cargo crime. If nothing else, we will see more significant tests of the resilience of our supply chains and business continuity plans.


Let’s stick together and help each other through this.


LINA LI Chair TAPA APAC


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