How To Fix Supply Chain Insecurity

One of the most important parts of any business operation is ensuring that your supply chain remains secure. Whether you are a multinational business or operating on a local scale, supply chains are the backbone of your success as a company.

In recent years, criminals and bad actors have exploited weak points in supply chains, causing data loss, countless disruptions, and billions of pounds in damages. It’s never been more important to keep your supply chain safe and secure – especially when it comes to anti-counterfeiting.

What Causes Supply Chain Insecurity?

Modern supply chains can be incredibly complex, consisting of hundreds or thousands of parties or components. But if one link fails, so does the whole chain. Delays and other disruptions have a knock-on effect, causing the delicate ecosystem to come grinding to a halt.

Supply chain insecurity can result from a number of factors, including staff shortages, international trade relations, environmental, social and governance issues (ESG), and economic instability.

Unexpected Supply Chain Disruptions

Many potential vulnerabilities in your supply chain can also come from unexpected disruptions. The effects of climate change have resulted in a rise in freak weather events – wide-scale flooding, tropical cyclones, and other natural disasters increase as the temperature of the planet continues to rise, which all pose serious challenges to global supply chains and transportation systems.

Another source of potential disruption is the increasing threat of cyber attacks. Alongside physical supply chain protections, many businesses utilise digital technologies to keep their operations running smoothly. As many workplaces make the shift over to public or private sector cloud networks, they rely more heavily on the IT security systems of their cloud providers, rather than taking active measures to improve their own cyber security. If companies fail to enforce effective digital security, it can lead to a complete breakdown of their supply chain, as was seen in the 2020 SolarWinds software attack.

Where Do Counterfeits Fit Into This?

Across all industries, the presence of counterfeit products causes serious problems for suppliers and distributors. These issues are only exacerbated by existing risks, such as product shortages, like those seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the global shortage of computer chips resulted in a sharp increase in counterfeits, showing how quickly illegal sellers responded to the demand during the crisis, and how easy it was for supply chain protections to be overwhelmed without proper management and resources.

Instances such as this show the impact that national and international organised criminal groups can have on the supply chain. Counterfeiters are becoming increasingly sophisticated, have more resources at their disposal, and are producing higher quantities of fake products than ever before. Without proper supply chain management and effective protection measures in place, businesses risk their supply chains being exploited by criminals.

How To Protect Your Supply Chain

In order to protect your supply chain, consider adopting a multi-pronged approach. Providing end-to-end visibility helps make sure that quality products make it to market, and improve transport infrastructure and communications across your supply chain to minimise disruption risks. Ensure that your digital systems are protected, and take a proactive attitude to cyber security. Developing a risk management strategy might sound daunting at first, but identifying potential weak points in your supply chain can save you thousands in case something goes wrong.

That being said, it’s important to remember that having a robust supply chain doesn’t automatically mean your business is protected from counterfeits. The best way to ensure counterfeiters don’t exploit your products is to choose a solution that provides 100% protection against fakes and forgeries – that’s where Quantum Base comes in.

Our Q-ID® Optical tags allow for product history tracking, real-time authentication and easy integration into existing product manufacturing processes. Find out more about our anti-counterfeit solutions today, and help us build a world without fakes.