Supply chain risk has rarely been higher on the agenda and, as the crunch continues to bite, concern appears to be spreading.

Over on Business Finance, John Cummings in his post ‘Procurement’s time to shine’ examined the findings of a recent KPMG study involving almost 600 senior executives, and found that supply chain risk, and the associated problems of continuity of supply, were identified by nearly 70 per cent of respondents as the most pressing issue facing companies across the globe.

“As more and more companies in the West are relying on companies in the East to fulfil some aspect of their supply chain, the overall supply chain is becoming more complex,” said Samir Khushalani, principal in KPMG LLP’s Advisory Services.

“There are instabilities associated with some countries in the low-cost regions, and that risk had already been increasing.”

In the light of recent events, this risk has increased hugely, and the problem is unlikely to disappear any time soon. Global sourcing has often been a risky business and now, more than ever, companies across all sectors are looking to procurement to manage it effectively. The rewards have rarely been greater, but they still pale in comparison to the cost of failure.