Tight inventory control is key

“Security not only involves
every step in the movement of
goods,” says Bob Garbett, MD
of Professional Risk and Asset
Management, “but also requires
close examination and proactive
action in those areas which do not
involve the actual transportation.”
An example of this, he added,
was that employee theft reported
in a 2007 document from the giant
US supermarket chain, Walmart,
exceeded loss from shoplifting by a
whopping 50%.
“A gang armed with guns can
easily steal thousands. A gang
armed with pens can just as easily
steal millions – and the prison
terms are shorter,” said Garbett.
“The rate at which companies
have suffered losses illustrates the
size of the problem,” he added.
“Property loss of stock and fixed
assets in Africa and the Middle
East occurred in a staggering 46%
of companies compared to 28% in
North America.”
And cargo theft is on the
increase.
It occurs across a range of freight
forwarding and storage operations
but, according to Garbett, the
greatest risk is during ground truck
transportation or when vehicles are
in the process of being loaded or
unloaded.
“The losses to owners and
insurers are very large,” he said,
“with worldwide costs estimated to
exceed US$30-billion per year. It
is interesting that much cargo theft
remains unreported – largely due
to the fact that the precise point
of disappearance of cargo in the
supply chain cannot be pin-pointed.
“The illegal sale of stolen cargo
undercuts prices in legitimate
businesses and also affects small
businesses with limited stock that
operate on a just-in-time basis.”
Strategies for reducing cargo
theft vary from one situation
to another – and even from one
product to another.
“The costs of implementing some
of the more sophisticated targethardening
security controls – such
as increased security manpower,
cameras and radio frequency
detector (RFD) – may be too
high for some freight forwarding
companies.
“However, tight inventory
controls are within the region of
most small businesses.”