As the credit crunch continues to bite, companies are not only anxiously monitoring their own financial health, but are also spending increasing amounts of time looking down the supply chain – first to asses the solvency of their outsourcing suppliers and then to form closer relationships with business partners. Some, however, argue that the companies with the most robust, risk-free supply chains are those that took measures to shore up their resilience long before the onset of the bad times.
Certainly, due diligence activity throughout the supply chain is increasing. “A good proportion of CPOs [chief procurement officers] or supply chain officers are focused on assessing supplier health right now,” says Narendra Mulani, managing director of the supply chain management practice at Accenture, the consultancy. “It’s one of the biggest issues.”
