ABSTRACT
After looking at the many risks, threats, and obstacles which can be found in the supply chain, we need to look at the many ways we can use prevention, technology, and awareness to build an efficient and effective system for each business unit to have the best chance to succeed against the known and the unexpected. The U. S. Government released the first information on a national strategy for global supply chain security on January 23, 2012. In this strategy, the government wrote about undertaking a number of efforts to strengthen the global supply chain including legislative requirements (regulation) and a number of strategic efforts with a specific security focus, where they footnoted fourteen different laws and acts which have been passed since 2002. Although I believe it is beneficial to have a strategic government program, this macro vision of the plans leaves most of us who work in the industry wanting more information concerning the operational grassroots working on the implementation. In looking at the government’s “path forward” bullet points, as part of their aligning federal activities, I would suggest they consider sponsoring or participating in cargo theft task forces, assisting the set-up
and financing of such task forces in those parts of the country where the volume of cargo crime justifies the investment. I believe that if the government worked at the grassroots level from the domestic side out, they would understand risk and threats better than ever, which goes to the second point of refining their understanding of threats and risks associated with the supply chain. I believe that they should also closely look at the national strategy proposed by the National Cargo Theft Task Force (NCTTF) and incorporate some of those proposals into their plan. The NCTTF plan seeks many things which would work in concert with the government’s plan and provide a more direct support to the industry from an operational level.
