Bolstered supply chain security for industry and government
Globalisation and modern technology have contributed to the complexity and instability of international trade and logistics. Supply chain barriers such as cross-border bureaucracy and checks hold back global trade. Supply chain visibility and reuse of trade information along the entire chain can successfully tackle such hurdles. With this in mind, the EU-funded CASSANDRA (Common assessment and analysis of risk in global supply chains) project set out to enhance supply chain visibility and business operations as well as government cross-border security inspections. Work began with mapping of the supply chain, namely trends in global supply chain management and existing methods in risk management and supply chain visibility. Project partners used advanced information technology (IT) innovations to develop a data pipeline to share secure and reliable data across the entire supply chain. This data-sharing concept enables open, flexible and standardised communication among all supply chain partners. IT interfaces that support customs and businesses for transparency in supply chains and risk management were successfully integrated. The data pipeline was demonstrated with case studies for three global trade lanes involving Africa, China, the EU and the United States. The project team created a risk-based approach (RBA) that allows for piggybacking on business and chain controls. With piggybacking, businesses can share supply chain data for risk management, and the same data can be optimally reused for governmental purposes. The RBA led to a practical handbook on risk analysis that targets industry. CASSANDRA demonstrated the feasibility of improved supply chain visibility and security. Companies can reduce administrative and planning errors along the supply chain, while public authorities can use data more efficiently and therefore improve overall effectiveness.
Keywords
Supply chain, border control, trade regulations, international trade, risk management
