23 October 2006 | Paul Snell

A large number of companies still have no contingency plan to deal with disruption to their supply chains, a survey has revealed.

According to The Fourth Annual Global Survey of Supply Chain Progress, published last week by Computer Sciences Corporation, 44 per cent of firms have no written contingency plan. Only 37 per cent thought their company paid enough attention to supply chain security.

The report asked why senior management is not more demanding in this area, given recent global issues such as terrorism and natural disasters.

It also identified a "disturbing trend" - that the number of companies reviewing their supply chain annually had fallen by 13 per cent, from 56 per cent in 2005 to 43 per cent this year.

European companies were more likely to review their supply chains every year (56 per cent), compared with only 41 per cent of North American businesses. The survey said the lack of a review would lead to "ultimately poor results".

It also found that more firms (48 per cent) were investing in their supply chains to expand their company, rather than to reduce costs (32 per cent).

The research incorporated interviews with supply chain staff from 134 companies in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.

SMoct2006