Ensuring Supply Chain Visibility – More Than a Voluntary Measure

In the past few weeks, we have seen several headlines exposing the deficiencies in our supply chain. A recent article in the NY Times, “Exploding Pagers Deliver Supply Chain Warning,” highlighted the devastating consequences of these deficiencies. The supply chain is a complex process with a lot of layers including multiple suppliers, global networks, and disparate solutions.

The logistics industry has been working on improving the security of the components of critical supply chains for decades now. And we continue to improve and innovate, with ever better systems coming online to track, monitor, authenticate, and provide a real-time reliable “digital thread” from the creation of an item through consumption/retirement of an item. The newer applications, like the one LocatorX offers, provide assurances to the manufacturer and end user that the product, and all parts used to create the final product, are genuine and have not deviated during the manufacturing or delivery process. They provide all interested parties with the confidence of knowing the product's and the parts' journey including what parts are in each product or item, where those parts were manufactured, who handled the parts along the journey, when they were installed, etc.  This is all accomplished through data delivered to users when needed and at a reasonable cost. Through AI and applied machine learning we can quickly flag suspicious assets and identify vulnerabilities in the process.    

I have spent over 35 years in the aerospace and defense industry prior to coming to LocatorX. I have experienced first-hand the daily challenges organizations deal with when it comes to supply chain complexities.

One improvement that has been suggested in the past to add more supply chain security and visibility is to re-shore the manufacturing of sensitive systems and components. While this option provides some additional security and assurances, it will be at significant cost that will take years to accomplish.  There are more cost-effective and immediate solutions that deliver results and can fix the broken supply chain available today. In addition to re-shore, Congress and the Administration should consider these options to have an immediate impact on the supply chain today.

I feel strongly that if the Department of Defense and other government agencies, along with Congress better educate themselves on the modern and innovative supply chain solutions that are available now, we can quickly combat the issue of counterfeits and lack of visibility in the supply chain. As the CEO of one of the providers of these supply chain solutions, I can say with some pride and assurance that they will be impressed as to what is feasible and doable today.

‍