What are the biggest risks in extended supply chain?

Supply chains are increasingly complex and their interlinked, global nature makes them vulnerable to a range of risks. However, Modern business models are designed to have the most suitable supplier for each stage of manufacture. To support this, each organization needs to have trust and understanding of all of the manufacturing and supplier stages prior to theirs. This is not easy and needs significant oversight when contracts are being drawn up with an on-going audit by independent teams that you can trust. The recent equine DNA issue was about integrity of supply but organizations need to be also vigilant in the future about supply outage which can have just as many negative impacts on a business. Many companies have some form of a supply chain risk management programmes, but unfortunately they do not always get the results they need.

To be effective, companies should take a holistic and integrated approach to managing supply chain risk and go beyond traditional approaches. Because of the complex nature of today’s supply chains, disruptions will inevitably occur. True resilience means building in the ability to recover efficiently and decrease the impact of those events.  

Adding resilience to supply chain , the four important attributes that are critical to supply chain resilience are:1- Visibility: The ability to monitor supply chain events and patterns as they happen, which enables companies to proactively—and even pre-emptively—address problems.2-Flexibility: Being able to adapt to problems efficiently, without significantly increasing operational costs and make timely adjustments that limit the impact of disruptions.3-Collaboration: Having trust-based relationships that allow companies to work closely with supply chain partners to identify risk and avoid disruptions.4-Control: Having policies, monitoring capabilities and control mechanisms that help confirm that procedures and processes are actually followed.Refer to:Deloitte Ireland, 2013 , Risks in extended value chain greatest concern in supply chain management

Note: Deloitte Irelandhas a dedicated supply chain risk management team to help companies build a robust and resilient supply chain. The team works with clients to help prevent and mitigate the risks associated with the supply chain, including macro environment risks, extended value chain risks, operational risks and functional risks.

Agree with the reply given by Ghada  Eweda

Agree with experts answer ===============

Internal conspiracy, lack of transparant documention, poor communication, financial exposure

Information flow & funds are the two major concerns in an extended supply chain environment.

Proper technology and communications within each interval of a supply chain cycle can help avoid these risks in a timely manner.