Supply chain management (SCM) refers to the planning, implementation, and control of the operations of the company’s supply chain within the context of its operations and management. The purpose of SCM is to streamline a company’s supply chain to increase efficiency and productivity.
During this era, companies are increasingly sourcing products and materials internationally due to globalization. Due to these developments, managing the process of the supply chain has become more challenging yet complex.
Supply chain management has many aspects, including transportation, warehousing, inventory management, and supplier relations. A company’s supply chain must be carefully planned and managed to ensure it runs smoothly and efficiently. Security is the most challenging KPI (key performance indicator), and making a secure supply chain management is the most challenging task. Let’s know what tools are available to make supply chain management more secure.
The following tools are the most effective for securing supply chain management.
According to stats, between January 2017 and July 2021, 32% of cyberattacks against supply chains resulted in data and information theft, internal process breaches, and loss of revenue to businesses. Corruption of the internal supply chain can cost you valuable data, client trust, and potential revenue. To protect your business from this attack, consider the example of secure supply chain (SCM) software.
Using a tool designed to answer your business’s needs, you can do a reverse search for supply chain software. You should answer a few questions about your operation to receive a personalized list of suggested items.
Security-rich SCM software:
Security systems such as encryption and data isolation can be applied to supply chain management software (SCM). Like many leading corporations and organizations today, SAP Supply Chain uses MFA and SSO, as well as role-based identification to control user access, along with monthly patches to protect against newly discovered flaws in the system.
Also, the error messages highlighted in this report offer recommendations to safeguard the system’s integrity. Automated auditing is a system of verification that identifies suspects and publishes evidence of their misconduct.
Unleashed:
Unleashed‘s cloud-based security keeps company information current each day. If a server crashes, it can restore lost information via a safe backup copy. TLS protocol encrypts communication across networks to help thwart attackers from obtaining sensitive data. Role-based access gives transactional privileges to employees who need to log in to just the necessary resources to complete a task. At the same time, account lockout automatically locks a user’s account after too many failed attempts.
SAS Supply Chain:
SAS actively encourages external penetration testers to discover potential vulnerabilities in its software and rectifies them before releasing the product to the public. Data is encrypted both in transmission and at rest, and single sign-on helps users gain instant access to the features they need without leaving the system vulnerable.
Mobile network connections for system administrators will need to be whitelisted, allowing them to allow devices to access the system from their mobile phones.
Zoho Inventory:
Zoho Inventory uses Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to secure data at rest and in transit; all connections to the Zoho servers require Transport Layer Security (TLS 1.2 and 1.3) encryption. Additionally, your company s data is isolated from hindering other organizations from accidentally or not knowingly obtaining data. Regarding access controls, Zoho Inventory ensures your enterprise s information is not accessible to others.
Other ways to secure supply chain management.
The traditional supply chain is under attack as never before. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, global trade has been disrupted, and just-in-time inventory systems have been exposed as vulnerable. Companies are trying to secure their supply chains without causing further disruptions.
Putting all your eggs in one basket is a poor strategy. But, diversifying your supplier base is a better option. Look for suppliers in different geographical regions so you can still source materials from elsewhere if a natural disaster or political unrest hits one region.
Another way to secure your supply chain is to build inventories of key components and raw materials. This will buffer against short-term disruptions and give you time to find alternative suppliers if needed.
To protect your supply chain, you need to think beyond the basics of physical security. Here are three additional methods to consider.
- Use data analytics to identify risks and vulnerabilities. By analyzing data from past events, you can better predict where and when future disruptions are likely to occur. This information can help you plan alternative routes and make other contingency plans.
- Develop relationships with suppliers upstream from you in the supply chain. Working together allows you to identify potential problems early and find solutions before they cause disruptions.
- Create a culture of preparedness within your organization. Employees should know what to do during a disruption, and everyone should know the importance of supply chain security. Whenever disruptions occur, you can minimize their impact by being prepared.
Human error leads to most data breaches (CISCO is a recent example), even when security software is in place. Inform your staff about the importance of computer security, and implement new countermeasures against phishing, smishing attempts, and other types of computer fraud. You also need to install the latest upgrades and patches. Also, consider the above options to secure your business’s supply chain management.
Final Thoughts
Suppose you are still confused about the options that can be the best way to secure the supply chain system. In that case, you should contact a reliable supply chain solutions that provide end-to-end transportation and logistics solutions to streamline and enhance internal client operations. Also make sure that the service provider leverages integrated operating systems that consistently use best practices to operate without incident, even in high-risk circumstances.
