iFACTS on - Supply chain

Strategic Risk, March 2009:

"In one industry after another, supply chains have been stretched farther than ever before - just when the lean, just-in-time production schedules have made the consequences of a break more severe....

Supply disruptions can reduce a company's revenue, cut into its market share, inflate costs, and threaten production and distribution. They can damage its credibility with investors and other stakeholders, impairing stock market performance and thereby driving up the cost of capital."

Many companies are struggling to control the supply chain in a systematic and efficient manner. It tends to be complicated and difficult to analyze, structure and identify all parts of the supply chain and were the risks are to be found. Another challenge is to keep the information updated and transparent for audit. On top of this many agree that there is a lack of "Risk management best practice".

iFACTS gives possibility to map and analyze the supply chain. The scope is identified and all business activities can be selected to be part of the scope.

The main tools in the iFACTS software to support Supply chain analysis:

• The Asset modules where processes and other business activities are documented and classified according to criticality.
• The Scope module to map all supply chain parts and activities.
• The Flowchart module to illustrate and present.
• The Risk module to perform risk assessments.
• The Event module to monitor nonconformities.

In the iFACTS concept, Supply chain management is fully integrated. A performance score is calculated from how well each organizational asset is managed in terms of requirement fulfillment, risk or nonconformities.

Each asset is mapped for dependency with other assets and activities, producing a dependency map with a keystroke away, identifying the scope, the critical lines and showing how resiliant the value chain is.