Mexico may be a tourism Mecca with more than 25 million visitors annually, but it’s also become a haven for supply chain risk. From drug smuggling and kidnappings to extortion and much worse, the level of risk has risen significantly over the past year. For U.S. businesses, America’s south of the border neighbor is both a competitive advantage and a liability.

For supply chain managers, securing shipping operations has become an overwhelming task and in some cases, routine deliveries go through multiple levels of security checks. Cross border smuggling has been an ongoing problem for years, but it seems that the trade has become more violent recently. That leads into a bigger issue: employee safety. A large part of the workforce at American companies in Mexico is made up of U.S. citizens. With the rising crime, ensuring employee safety in the short term coupled with recruiting the best and the brightest in the long term is a constant battle.

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Don’t count all your eggs until they’re hatched. That seems to be the sentiment as the nationwide egg recall continues to grow. Now expanded to 17 states covering half a billion eggs, the days of sunny side up may become a distant memory for the hypochondriac in us. Recalls involving food tend to have a significant and lingering negative impact because you are what you eat, and the last thing anyone needs is to be sick.

As with any recall, it’s important to locate the source. But, as we’ve seen time and again, this is not only difficult but usually too late since most of the food has already been consumed. And if history is our guide, the source may likely never be determined. Once again, this brings up the question for businesses—have we learned anything?

Food recalls are nothing new and yet, when one does happen, businesses react like this is the first time for everything. I can already map it out—the initial blame falls on the FDA for lack...

We’re near the end of summer (although I don’t think San Francisco ever broke 70 degrees) and if the events of the past year are any indication, some of us may have learned a few things. Here are my observations:

• No matter how prepared you think are, you aren’t. British Petroleum is a prime example of a company having a crisis plan on paper, but exhibiting little experience in the actual execution.

• The concept of control is a worthy, yet unrealistic goal. You can anticipate issues that may impact your supply chain, but ultimately, you control very little when it comes to external factors. Iceland’s Mt. Eyjafjallajokull volcanic eruption disrupted air travel and commerce for weeks, and for the most part, there was nothing anyone could’ve have done. Companies may have alternate shipping routes and plans, but chances are most didn’t have volcanic eruption in their crisis management manuals.

• What’s old is new again or something like that. Cargo theft has been on the

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Like today’s economy, we all know the state of our supply chains are changing. Along with it comes a degree of uncertainty, and how we act and react will either bring success or failure. If you believe the pundits, the economy is quickly losing steam. For supply chain managers, this is a vulnerable time where volatility and risk are just around the corner.

SC Digest published results from a survey of supply chain executives that identify five supply chain challenges. Without going into detail on those challenges since many of us face those each day, the overall themes focus on pricing volatility, the lack of tightly integrated customer and partner networks, and an a growing list of risk management issues. What’s worth considering are the proactive initiative that companies can implement. These initiatives can be whittled down to two words: focus and empowerment.

It sounds simple, but accuracy and visibility continue to be the name of the game....

The Bay Area tends to be a lively place when it comes to culture, sports and public policy. So it must be quite the story when it involves counterfeiting which is what happened today. Apparently, several shops located in Fisherman’s Wharf were raided over the past few days for selling counterfeit retail items including purses and sunglasses valued at $100 million. While yet another cautionary tale of the vulnerabilities of the supply chain and the credibility of partners, the story highlights the other willing party in this mess—the consumer.

Store owners who knowingly sell counterfeited brand items are no doubt part of the problem since this impacts the bottom line of the real companies behind the brand names. Because counterfeit items are cheaply made, a bigger and longer term issue is for the consumer who unknowingly buys these items assuming they’re legitimate. Poor quality can damage the brand loyalty and reputation. But what about the consumers who knowingly...