A key factor that is increasing the risk exposure of a supply chain disruption is the increasing propensity of companies to outsource processes to global suppliers. The complexity associated with multiple hand-offs in global supply chains increases the probability of disruptions. As the number of hand-offs required to ship products through multiple carriers, multiple ports and multiple government checkpoints increases, so does the probability of poor communication, human error and missed shipments. We have successfully outsourced production of our products to China, for example. Unfortunately, we now recognize that we do not have the processes in place to manage risk associated with this supply chain effectively.
Source: Inside Supply Management