IN WAREHOUSING the most obvious element of risk management is internal and external security surveillance, and an effective entry/exit control system.
But, according to Lynda Longmore, head of customer service and PR at Cargo Service Center (CSC), to try to beat the organised criminal syndicates in the business of cargo theft, you must back this up with cyber-security in your documentation track.
No matter how good your electronic and physical surveillance and access control, she told FTW, their effectiveness can be blunted unless your paperwork path has its own checks and controls.
Handling cargo for the airlines, CSC operates a connecting link between the carriers' aircraft and the landside. Our area of immediate responsibility is from the air side door of our warehouse, until the cargo leaves on the landside, said Longmore. We have to ensure that every part of this move is fully-controlled.
The primary essence is a careful check of the incoming cargo against the customs release documents - and a note of any irregularities. And, said Longmore, as it bodily moves into our premises, the checked receipt data also enters our computer system.
And, as it wends its electronic way from data capture to the point of release, this system has to have effective security firewalls to ensure its safe passage.
We also have to overcome the possible human error element, said Longmore. Everyone working on the computer system has to be identifiable. With individual sign-in codes, for example, entries made by the data capture people can be traced.
CSC's accredited security company authorises the cargo releases against correct customs documentation. Within this system, said Longmore, we have to ensure that the documentation that is handed over for release is scrutinised by trained security and confirmed to be correct - otherwise our risk management will fail.
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