Logistics provider DHL has announced the launch of Resilience360, its new risk management solution.

Intended to reduce disruption across the supply chain, DHL states it will provide customers and users with visibility of its end-to-end supply chain operations and help them avoid production stops and lost sales, particularly in the event of an unforeseen disruption to services.

A recent report from the lharrington group, called ‘The Resilience Supply Chain’, highlighted the need for providers to build upon resiliency in their operations, not just risk management. As international commerce operations become ever-more complicated, such systems will be vital in ensuring competition and smooth-running of automlogistics flows remain top priorities according to the findings.

By building a ‘risk profile’ and assessing potential areas of disruption or hazard, DHL said that its Resilience360 solution will link information on natural disasters, theft, geopolitical and other risks with a customer’s global manufacturing and distribution footprint. 

This risk management tool has been developed through the examination of four main areas of supply chain risk: operations, hazards, socio-political and natural disaster risks. With the ability to map the entire supply chain of a customer, the tool provides real-time visibility of risks by working collaboratively with partners to provide options for immediate recovery.

DHL’s chief commercial officer, Bill Meahl, commented: “We understand that supply chains are the lifeblood of our customers’ businesses, and create solutions like DHL Resilience360 to help them meet today's challenges and anticipate tomorrow’s. 

“You can’t eliminate risks or prevent them from happening, but you can manage them to help minimise the negative impact on your business," he continued. "With the right tools, you can even capitalise on disruptions and disasters by having the correct measures in place to respond quickly and effectively when competitors can’t.”

The president of lharrington group, Lisa Harrington, who commissioned and carried out the findings for the recent report, said: “Tellingly, no companies in any sector have reached Stage 4 maturity in the four stage resilience maturity model. And companies which continue to ignore or lag behind in addressing supply chain unpredictability and vulnerability do so at critical risk to their bottom lines, and shareholder or customer confidence.

“Companies should build cost-effective flexibility and contingency into their logistics so that they can respond, redirect resources and adopt alternative strategies when a disruption occurs, and ideally capture sales and market share from competitor companies suffering the same disruptions. The most successful companies operate an interconnected web of trading partners which embraces the four pillars of supply chain resilience: visibility, flexibility, collaboration and control.”