Extending risk management along the supply chain

DNA SUPPLY Chains believes in viewing supply chain management and risk management as integral to one another, neither being a complete solution when offered to a client independently. “Risk management encompasses the principles and application of risk identification, evaluation, risk finance and risk control of the entire supply chain. It therefore stands to reason that the way in which a supply chain is managed will always manifest in the increase or reduction of evidenced and potential risks,” says DNA’s Denise Claassen. Through encouraging collaboration between its supply chain managers, risk managers, cargo owners and all the parties involved in the supply chain, DNA creates a “one stop buy” for its clients, she said. According to Victor Vaz, joint managing director of Eikos Risk Applications and DNA’s risk partner, this is an evolutionary process that extends the conventional idea of risk management into areas that affect other aspects of customers’ business, including trade facilitation, foreign exchange and export credit insurance. “The next 12 to 18 months should witness the birth of a risk management revolution, which will embrace the true merger of financial and insurance instruments. The economic and process management benefits that will stem from this initiative will alter the risk management industry forever,” he said.