Operations and logistics managers are having to deal with greater disruption to supply chains as the recession continues to take its toll on businesses, new research has shown.
According to a study by the Business Continuity Institute (BCI) and supported by Zurich Insurance, supply chain has failure has increased by 35 per cent over the past year.
The manufacturing industry has been worst hit by the downturn, with firms in this sector reporting a 58 per cent rise in disruption.
The report cited the ongoing recession and the financial failure of suppliers as the leading cause of these problems, with IT and telecoms disruption and swine flu also playing a role.
This has resulted in loss of productivity and revenue, as well as a delay in product availability.
Lyndon Bird, international and technical director at the BCI, told Logisticsmanager.com: "The economic recession, in particular, is exposing vulnerabilities and dependencies through supplier insolvencies, reduced capacity and the tightness of credit markets."
The findings come after J Paul Dittmann, former supply chain executive at Whirlpool, told SupplyChainDigest that effective risk management is more important than ever during the recession.
He said firms that continue with business as usual are "playing dice with their future".
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