Supply chain issues are not new; however, global economic changes have brought supply chain risk management (aka vendor risk management) at the top of the agenda in recent years. With the demand to run lean in order to drive returns, businesses are ever more interconnected, outsourcing services, manufacturing, back-offices, help desks, IT and more. While it is easy to evaluate the commercial gain by utilizing external expertise on a needs basis rather then incurring ongoing fixed costs for doing so in-house, often very little attention is paid the lack of knowledge about or control over the vendors who supply the products and services, leaving your company vulnerable and exposed to supply chain risk.

If your answer is YES to any of the following questions, it would be prudent to have a formal supply chain risk management in place:

  1. Does your business rely heavily on outsourced products and services?
  2. Are you obligated by regulators and/or required under company policy to have knowledge across your supplier population?
  3. Are you aware that outsourcing your products and services to third parties also transfers additional risk that you no longer control or manage including but not limited to natural disasters, fires, political concerns, equipment failures and so on?
  4. Do you worry about not having in depth knowledge about risks posed by your supplier?
  5. Are you struggling to assess your vendors on a regular basis, spending cycles collecting data without the resources to perform proper risk assessments?
  6. Do you know that insurance coverage may not be sufficient to recover from supply chain disruption? Your business may never recover from lost credibility, reputation or market share.
  7. Would a lack of quick response to a supplier disruption have a critical effect on your business and bottom line?

Should any of the above sound familiar and be concerning you are not alone, many organizations face difficulties grappling with supplier risk management and it is almost an afterthought. Many of our clients have found themselves in similar situations and we have helped them overcome these concerns. Maclear can help you formalize and understand the risks posed by your suppliers. Maclear’s solution helps provide a 360-degree view of your supplier population enabling you to develop a risk-based mitigation strategy that suit your business obligations and requirements.  In addition to the solution and services many of Maclear’s clients also take advantage of our unique vendor risk management as a service whereby clients engage Maclear to perform supplier assessments and manage findings freeing up client resources to focus on managing and mitigating risks.

To learn more, request a demo, discuss a free trial proof of value or simply start a conversation drop a quick email to contact@maclear-grc.com.


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