Supply Chain Conference in Prague

10th September 2007 by Gail Van Den Bos

At the recent Global Food Safety Summit inPrague, a number of key messages emerged. These included the importance of effective risk assessments across all of the supply network, of the need to have processes in place to prevent emergencies (product recalls, security incidents), and also to be prepared to respond if the worst happens. Whilst the forum was for the food industry with representatives present from many major food groups and service delivery organisations, it was clear that the issues facing the food supply chain are also common to supply chains in other sectors.  At the top of these is globalisation: where the supply network behind a product can extend to many countries. One product may have 100’s of component parts across all of its raw materials, supplied from across the world.  An example was given at the Food Summit of a chicken based product that contained ingredients supplied from 40 countries.  Companies need to understand where raw materials are being sourced from, and who is involved with manufacturing various components: this can be very complex.  And there is a real difficulty in some chains in knowing who is actually supplying the various items. Where have the raw materials come from? Who has made them? What standards are being used? Do they know if the customer for the end product has any particular requirements? Are these being met? How do we know and is the information reliable?  If the customer for the finished product doesn’t know the real extent of the supply chain this is a real risk to their business, to their reputation and, especially, there may be risks to the consumer. This poses a dilemma for supply chains: how to keep track on exactly where all components of a product are coming from, as each part and its origin may have a different set of risks for the supply, delivery and use of the end product. To identify risks and decide how to manage these can require complex appraisals of the supply chain. And it requires ongoing awareness of all sources of supply and whether standards and requirements are being met, to give assurance that the final product will be safe, reliable and to the required specification. A key messages of the

Prague summit was “you don’t know what’s happening if you’re on the other side of the world”, and there was the realisation that vigilance is needed to keep track of who is really involved with your product.

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