Sealed and secured

“What does ‘black box’ technology give you” Obviously it protects against illegal entry into the container. But companies are also developing the ability to read everything that goes into the container so they get the complete manifest ” which can be forwarded to anybody, whether receiver or law enforcer.

“This improves logistics and supply chain efficiency, because people can have intelligence on what is in the box and where it is at any one point. ” It is important to emphasise that security does not mean slowing down the supply chain, he says. “It should actually enhance transparency of the supply chain. Port operators are obviously concerned about what is in the box ” but generally, the port operator is only the facilitator in the supply chain and doesn”t open the box to check.

“If you can confirm by technology what goes into the box at point of stuffing, then seal the box with technology which, if tampered with, sets off an alarm and advance warnings, and not open that seal until it arrives with the importer, then you have end-to-end supply chain security. ” But like Securewest, Mr Fairnie says technology is not the complete answer to securing the global supply chain. “It has to be combined with people and processes ” that means educating and training people appropriately and instilling standard procedures that are being defined in ISO 28000 (Supply Chain Security Management Systems). “