Increasingly, governments and regulators are warning firms about hidden and unacceptable risks within supply chains. Now more than ever, firms need to know who they are buying from and selling to, as well as who their vendors and customers are buying from and selling to. Then there are the literal supply chains of logistics: Who is delivering raw materials to you? Who is delivering your goods to the customers and the marketplace?
What was once perceived as a simple bilateral relationship between buyer and seller or vendor and purchaser is no more, but just how far does a firm need to go down a supply chain? And how many chains are there? Retailers are commonly referenced in media allegations of manufacturers paying less than the minimum wage, exploiting children, even slave labor. Such allegations are bad for a company’s brand as well as its relationship with regulators.
