As extreme weather impacts global supply chains, industries must keep resources moving. Be it the flow of goods, electricity, communications or oil and gas, today's governments, global manufacturers, aid relief organizations and insurance firms are worried sick over supply chain disruptions. And it's easy to see why.

The recent occurrence of faulty ignition switches in General Motors cars should serve as a wakeup call to companies that lack good visibility into their global supply chains. But most have failed to implement adequate supply-chain risk-management programs that could head off such problems.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and Consumer Product Safety Commission investigators have seized more than 200,000 toy dolls arriving from China due to high levels of phthalates, a group of banned chemical compounds.

UK retailers lost more than £400m ($603m) last year as a result of fraudulent "goods lost in transit" (GLIT), with the average cost estimated at over £40, or about $60. Now, 90 percent of retailers believe growing numbers of fake GLIT claims pose a serious threat. This is an ongoing problem and highlights a new form of theft: "digital shoplifting".

Everyone talks about risk in the supply chain, but the increasing complexity of it makes identifying and mitigating risks difficult. In fact, almost half of executives are afraid that their supply chain risk management is only somewhat effective or has no impact at all, according to a recent survey from Deloitte.

Today's supply chain is reliant on a complex network involving the movement of goods, services, funds and information across a range of parties worldwide. This makes the supply chain vulnerable to not only cyber-attacks and disruptions, but also cyber espionage.