Supply-chain risk and continuity planning

We trace the group's supply chain from supplier to customer and find where a single failure would stop it: one provider, one port, one supplier, one system or one person. We price each exposure in lost sales, extra cost and cash, and write a continuity plan for the exposures that matter.

The plans carry triggers, owners and the cash needed to carry the group through, and the board and the operations lead invoke them.

• A supply chain map showing every supplier, provider, route and system, with dependencies.
• A risk register with likelihood, impact in currency, and owner for each exposure.
• Continuity plans for the top exposures, with triggers, actions, alternates and decision rights.
• A liquidity stress view showing the cash needed to hold through each scenario.
• A test calendar for the plans and a board report on their readiness.

• Revenue riding on a single supplier, provider or route is measured, so the board sees its exposure as a share.
• Time to restore the order flow is tested under each scenario, and the board sees the result for each.
• Your cash headroom is stated against the severest scenario, so the board knows how long the group holds.
• Every exposure on the register has a written plan and an owner.
• Plans are rehearsed, and the number tested in the past year is on the board report.

Groups plan for growth and assume continuity. Dependence builds quietly: a single provider holds most stock, one supplier makes the best seller, and a handful of staff know how the system runs. The first time the group learns the cost of a failure is the day it occurs.

• One provider holds most of your stock and no tested alternative exists.
• A key product comes from a single supplier in a single country.
• Cash would not cover a quarter of reduced sales.
• Only one or two staff know how to run the order process.
• A lender has asked for your continuity arrangements and none are written.

Chairmen and chief executives of importers, retailers, distributors and manufacturers that depend on a few suppliers, a single warehouse or a single route, and boards asked by lenders or insurers how the group would respond to disruption.

Qasim Abbas has answered for treasury above USD 50M at group level, and continuity is a cash question as much as a logistics one. Your plan includes the liquidity view that tells the board how long the group holds.

We build the map from the group's systems and its ledger, including Xero, QuickBooks and NetSuite. See how fees work.

How many plans does a group need?

A handful covers the exposures that carry the most cost. The register lists the rest and why each is accepted.

Can lenders see the plans?

Yes, whenever the board chooses. Lenders and insurers ask for evidence of continuity arrangements, and the plans and test record answer that.

Tell us the disruption your board fears most. At a private briefing with the Managing Partner we set out where the map starts.