Controlling Supply Chain and Quality Risks: Who? What? When?

Another Friday, another week gone bye, and another series of alerts relative to product contamination and breakdowns in production and distribution quality standards.

This week’s headlines include the FDA confirming that multiple sources of listeria were found in a Texas food produce and food processing plant, and that Costco has recalled a specific brand of gouda cheese suspected of being contaminated with E. Coli bacteria. The Texas incident involving SanGar Fresh Produce dates back to January, and has been linked to four suspected deaths.  The Costco incident involves cheese produced by Bravo Farms, distributed within five U.S. states, and is preliminarily linked to an outbreak of E. coli infections within these same states.

When will it end, or will it end?  What toll will these events take on financial costs, consumer perceptions and brand equity?

Do not dismiss this as just one more blogger on a mission to create web eyeballs.  Supply Chain Matters has provided ample evidence of a discernable trend of breakdowns in quality and supply chain risk management.  Just click on Supply Chain Disruption or Supply Chain Risk Management in our Categories section on the right panel, and review for yourself.

The issues involved are many and varied.  Cost containment has taken a toll on oversight, adequate people, supplier monitoring and adherence to regulatory controls. Companies discover too-late that supply chain risk exists in many areas, and no one function has the empowerment to address systemic issues of quality and adequate controls.   Manufacturers such as  Johnson & Johnson have incurred millions of dollars in costs to respond to process breakdowns and consumer concerns. Government has attempted to step-up monitoring and enforcement, but some corporations claim government is over regulating, or that bigger government is not the answer.

This author has penned many observations and recommendations regarding this growing problem, and perhaps it will lead to a book on this topic.  In the meantime, firms need to wake-up and heighten awareness to quality, supply chain risk identification and mitigation. If government monitoring is not the answer, than determine what is, and get it done.

Bob Ferrari

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