Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Supply chains swapped pandemic impacts for new risks in 2023

Sphera risk report tracks changes in finance, weather, and corporate governance.

sphera Screenshot 2024-03-05 at 3.58.08 PM.png

Corporate supply chains swapped one set of challenges for another in 2023, as pandemic impacts moved into the rearview mirror, only to be replaced by a range of other risks like inflation and rising interest rates, natural hazard events, and ESG-related risks such as human rights violations and labor practices, a report says.

The analysis comes from a “Supply Chain Risk Report” produced by Sphera, a Chicago-based provider of environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance and risk management software, data, and consulting services.


The report is based on data from Sphera's Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) software, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to scan on a monthly basis more than 15 billion reputable news articles, commercial and government data sources, and 1 million customer and supplier sites around the world. 

The report identified challenges in finance, weather, and corporate governance:

  • more than one-third (36%) of the financial risk notifications warned of worsening revenue and growth outlook, tied to high inflation rates in the EU and U.S. that eroded suppliers' purchasing power, with insolvency under self-administration going up 23% and bankruptcies increasing 42%.
  • natural hazard events hit supply chains hard in 2023 with warnings for tornadoes climbing by 45%, hailstorm warnings increasing by 26%, and tropical cyclone warnings going up by 6%. Those events particularly affected industries such as agriculture, energy, and transportation
  • ESG-related risks in supply chains continued to rise in 2023, with indicator messages for the category rising 6% in volume as human rights notifications increased 12%, labor practice issues rose 13%, and ESG-related issues related to violations of environmental practices went up 1%.

"Risk exposure is dynamic, and constantly evolving supply chain risks cause ever-increasing market volatility,” Paul Marushka, Sphera's CEO and president, said in a release. “By optimizing the supply chain composition and diversifying suppliers, companies can better manage the uncertainty that comes with supply chain disruptions. To do this, organizations need a solution that provides actionable insights for proactive risk monitoring that enables them to get ahead of disruptive events.”

 

 

 

Recent

More Stories

reagan national DCA airport photo

Reagan National airport plans to reopen today after deadly crash

All flights remained grounded this morning at Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport (DCA) following the deadly mid-air crash last night between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter.

In a statement, DCA airport officials said they would open the facility again today for flights after planes were grounded for more than 12 hours. “Reagan National airport will resume flight operations at 11:00am. All airport roads and terminals are open. Some flights have been delayed or cancelled, so passengers are encouraged to check with their airline for specific flight information,” the facility said in a social media post.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

Jump Start 25 conference opens in Atlanta

Jump Start 25 conference opens in Atlanta

Artificial intelligence (AI) and the economy were hot topics on the opening day of SMC3 Jump Start 25, a less-than-truckload (LTL)-focused supply chain event taking place in Atlanta this week. The three-day event kicked off Monday morning to record attendance, with more than 700 people registered, according to conference planners.

The event opened with a keynote presentation from AI futurist Zack Kass, former head of go to market for OpenAI. He talked about the evolution of AI as well as real-world applications of the technology, furthering his mission to demystify AI and make it accessible and understandable to people everywhere. Kass is a speaker and consultant who works with businesses and governments around the world.

Keep ReadingShow less
trends in robotics

IFR: five trends will drive robot growth through 2025

As the global market value of industrial robot installations passes its all-time high of $16.5 billion, five trends will continue to drive its growth through 2025, according to a forecast from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).

That is important because the increased use of robots has the potential to significantly reduce the impact of labor shortages in manufacturing, IFR said. That will happen when robots automate dirty, dull, dangerous or delicate tasks – such as visual quality inspection, hazardous painting, or heavy lifting—thus freeing up human workers to focus on more interesting and higher-value tasks.

Keep ReadingShow less
graphic of cargo in motion

Disruption events to global supply chains rose 38% over 2023

Overall disruptions to global supply chains in 2024 increased 38% from the previous year, thanks largely to the top five drivers of supply chain disruptions for the year: factory fires, labor disruption, business sale, leadership transition, and mergers & acquisitions, according to a study from Resilinc.

Factory fires maintained their position as the number one disruption for the sixth consecutive year, with 2,299 disruption alerts issued. Fortunately, this number is down 20% from the previous year and has declined 36% from the record high in 2022, according to California-based Resilinc, a provider of supply chain resiliency solutions.

Keep ReadingShow less
chart of cargo theft in 2024

Cargo theft activity set new highs in 2024

Cargo theft activity across the United States and Canada reached unprecedented levels in 2024, with 3,625 reported incidents representing a stark 27% increase from 2023, according to an annual analysis from CargoNet.

The estimated average value per theft also rose, reaching $202,364, up from $187,895 in 2023. And the increase was persistent, as each quarter of 2024 surpassed previous records set in 2023.

Keep ReadingShow less