If you’re been following Panjiva, namely their blog, their press releases (sign up at your own risk), or their twitter feed, you know that they’ve been preaching doom and gloom for months where global trade and supplier viability is concerned. Well, this has been backed up by a recent CPO Agenda survey, summarized in their recent article on balancing the cost-risk equation, that found that nearly half of the respondents have already experienced the bankruptcy of at least one key supplier since the year started and that over three quarters are (very) concerned about the prospect of other key suppliers going out of business before the year is over.
In plain English, if you haven’t lost a key supplier yet, it’s just a matter of time before you do. The only question is, will you know which one before the shipment fails to arrive and the line goes dead?