Category Archives: Supply Chain

Appointments, News, Supply Chain, Sustainability

Vizibl Appoints Industry Heavyweight Jim Massey to Strategic Advisory Board to Enhance its Sustainability Services

Jim Massey will lead Vizibl’s Strategic Advisory Board to help it develop its industry-leading SaaS technology, enabling enterprises to realise a more sustainable future

Vizibl, the leading SaaS platform for Supplier Collaboration & Innovation, today announced the appointment of Jim Massey, a social entrepreneur and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) executive, to lead Vizibl’s Strategic Advisory Board. As a senior Strategic Advisor, Jim will provide high quality, objective, peer-to-peer advice that will assist Vizibl in developing its sustainability solutions and services.

A recognised and celebrated sustainability evangelist, Jim joins Vizibl with nearly 25 years’ experience in the ESG, sustainability, and compliance sectors. Jim has held leadership roles at MedImmune and AstraZeneca, where he served as Vice President of ESG, Sustainability, Ethics and Compliance. He subsequently became a Senior Advisor at Route 2, before moving into his current full-time role as Chief Sustainability Officer at biopharmaceutical company, Zai Lab.

Commenting on his appointment, Jim says: “Organisations need technology partners that help them to challenge the environmental, social and governance status quo, and to think differently about how to use sustainability as a business enabler. I’m excited about working with my fellow advisors to help Vizibl to drive that change forward through its innovative and visionary solution stack, while helping it to meet its short and long-term goals.”

Mark Perera, CEO of Vizibl, adds: “Jim will be a great asset to the Vizibl team. His experience, passion and drive for ESG initiatives is second to none – he understands the value and importance of embedding sustainability within the fabric of an organisation and its supply chain. Enterprise organisations are rapidly realising that Supplier Collaboration is no longer a ‘nice to have’, it is business critical, and they simply cannot tackle their Scope 3 climate commitments in isolation. We’re thrilled to welcome Jim as an advisor and his vast body of experience will deliver value to both the Vizibl business and the customers we serve.”

Jim will be a keynote speaker at Vizibl’s ‘The Decade of our Lives’ virtual event on Wednesday, 1st December, where he will join fellow experts to address how enterprise organisations, and vendors within their supply chain ecosystems, can take a collaborative approach towards tackling Scope 3 emissions, turning ambition into action to reduce their overall environmental impact. Register here.

Cybersecurity, Logistics, News, Supply Chain

2022 Predictions: Supply Chain Cyber Attacks to Increase and Ransom Demands by Hackers to Break Records

With 1 out 61 organizations impacted by ransomware each week, Check Point Research (CPR) issues its 2022 Cyber Security Predictions, stating that supply chain cyberattacks will become more common and proliferate next year.

  • Expect ransom demanded by hackers to break records next year. In May 2021, US insurance giant paid $40 million in ransom to hackers.
  • Mobile malware attacks will increase, as mobile wallets and mobile payment platforms are used more frequently
  • Cryptocurrency is anticipated to become a focal point for cyber attacks

Today, Check Point Software released its cyber security predictions for 2022, detailing the key challenges that organizations will face over the next year.

 

Why Supply Chain Attacks?

CPR believes that supply chain attacks will become more common and governments will begin to establish regulations to address these attacks and protect networks. They will also look into collaborating with the private sectors as well as other countries to identify and target more threat groups operating on a global and regional scale.

Supply chain attackers take advantage of a lack of monitoring within an organization’s environment. They can be used to perform any type of cyber-attack, such as data breaches and malware infections. The well-known SolarWinds supply chain attack stands out in 2021 due to its scale and influence, but other sophisticated supply chain attacks have occurred such as Codecov in April, and most recently, Kaseya.  Kaseya provides software for Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and the REvil ransomware gang exploited the company to infect over 1,000 customers with ransomware.  The group demanded a ransom of $70 million to provide decryption keys for all affected customers.

Going into 2022 we will see an increase in data breaches that will be larger scale. These breaches will also have the potential to cost organizations and governments more to recover. In May 2021, US insurance giant paid $40 million in ransom to hackers. This was a record, and we can expect ransom demanded by attackers to increase in 2022.

 

Full List of Predictions

  • Misinformation campaigns will return and advent of fake news 2.0. In 2022, cyber groups will continue to leverage these types of fake news campaigns to execute various phishing attacks and scams.
  • Cyber-cold war to intensify. Improved infrastructure and technological capabilities will enable terrorists groups and political activists to further their agendas and carry out more sophisticated, widespread attacks. Cyber-attacks will increasingly be used as proxy conflicts to destabilize activities globally.
  • Supply chain cyber-attacks continue to grow, and governments will address the challenge. Supply chain attackers take advantage of a lack of monitoring within an organization’s environment.
  • Data breaches will be larger scale and costlier. We can expect ransom demanded by attackers to increase in 2022. Going into 2022 we will see an increase in data breaches that will be larger scale. These breaches will also have the potential to cost organizations and governments more to recover.
  • Mobile malware attacks are to increase. As mobile wallets and mobile payment platforms are used more frequently, cybercriminals will evolve and adapt their techniques to exploit the growing reliance on mobile devices.
  • Cryptocurrency to become a focal point for cyberattacks globally. As reports of stolen crypto wallets triggered by free airdropped NFTs become more frequent, Check Point Research (CPR) investigated OpenSea and proved it was possible to steal crypto wallets of users by leveraging critical security. In 2022, we can expect to see an increase in cryptocurrency related attacks.
  • Attackers to leverage vulnerabilities in microservices to launch large scale attacks. With microservices becoming the leading method for application development, and microservices architecture being embraced by Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), attackers are using vulnerabilities found in microservices, to launch their attacks. We can also expect to see large-scale attacks targeting CSPs.
  • Attackers to weaponize deepfake technologies. Threat actors will use deepfake social engineering attacks to gain permissions and access sensitive data.
  • Penetration tools continue to grow. Hackers will increasingly use penetration tools to customize attacks in real time and to live and work within victim networks.

 

Maya Horowitz, VP Research at Check Point Software at Check Point Software, comments:

“In 2021, cyber criminals adapted their attack strategy to exploit vaccination mandates, elections and the shift to hybrid working, to target organizations’ supply chains and networks to achieve maximum disruption. The sophistication and scale of cyber-attacks will continue to break records and we can expect a huge increase in the number of ransomware and mobile attacks. Looking ahead, organizations should remain aware of the risks and ensure that they have the appropriate solutions in place to prevent, without disrupting the normal business flow, the majority of attacks including the most advanced ones. To stay ahead of threats, organizations must be proactive and leave no part of their attack surface unprotected or unmonitored, or they risk becoming the next victim of sophisticated, targeted attacks.”

Logistics, News, Supply Chain

Vizibl Launches Innovation Hub at COLLABORATE 2021 Summit

New Innovation Hub platform powers organisations to drive sustainable growth and increase competitive advantage post pandemic

Vizibl, the leading SaaS platform for Supplier Collaboration and Innovation, today announced its new Innovation Hub. This helps organisations unlock the value of their supplier ecosystems to source ideas, launch new initiatives, and manage the projects that turn ideas into outcomes and deliver on key business goals.

The Innovation Hub enables businesses to source ideas externally through Opportunity Capture Forms. This is important as externally sourced ideas account for around 60% of enterprise innovation, and enjoy a 40% faster time to market, per McKinsey research. These Opportunity Capture Forms allow suppliers and partners to submit project ideas to address business needs or respond to specific ‘problem statements’ posed by the business.

With this, contributors are given a framework for their creativity, encouraging proposals of more mature initiatives. This speeds up their journey to fully realise innovation projects, delivering value back to the business in a shorter time.

Upcoming functionality will allow users to capture these ideas from anywhere, including suppliers that aren’t using the platform. With the Vizibl Innovation Hub, companies can collaborate effectively with stakeholders and lines of business, manage new opportunities at scale, and clearly demonstrate the business impact of all collaborative innovation efforts.

Commenting on the new platform, Mark Perera, founder and CEO for Vizibl said: “The unprecedented nature of COVID-19 has forced companies, and industries, to rethink and transform their supply chain models and supplier ecosystems for good. The new Innovation Hub will allow organisations to drive sustainable business growth across their supplier ecosystems, whilst also increasing competitive advantage and market growth through supplier diversity. This will empower procurement teams with advanced collaboration and innovation capabilities that outperform their industry peers in both top and bottom-line performance, helping them to really add value and drive their procurement initiatives forward.”

Using Vizibl’s platform to gather ideas from suppliers means organisations can collaborate to launch initiatives that drive cost savings, productivity, business growth, and their sustainability agenda. Additionally, these initiatives can support organisational goals around supplier diversity by easily capturing opportunities to work with new suppliers from different communities. In addition to external opportunities, the Vizibl platform can be used to engage different functions within an organisation, allowing procurement teams to drive cross-functional business agendas internally.

Vizibl is taking a phased approach to releasing new features in the Innovation Hub roadmap in order to provide valuable tools to customers, sooner. There are several features that are already available, such as the standalone Opportunity Capture Forms, allowing procurement teams to receive all the information they need when existing suppliers submit ideas. Once an opportunity is accepted, Vizibl enables the easy transition from an idea into a fully-fledged project. The platform’s real-time dashboards enable procurement teams to see all potential supplier innovation initiatives, alongside reports that track the progress of approved opportunities and the value they are generating.

Over the next two iterations of the Innovation Hub, Vizibl will release an ‘Initiatives’ component, which allows organisations to automate the process of inviting suppliers to submit opportunities. The following version will allow idea capture from suppliers that aren’t yet working withVizibl, enabling their collaboration via a secure external submission portal.

The Innovation Hub platform is being announced at COLLABORATE 2021, which has a host of high-level industry speakers exploring the value of supplier ecosystems. Topics on the agenda include sustainability, innovation, social impact, and cost-savings. Highlight speakers at this one-day virtual summit include:

  • Marc Engel, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Unilever
  • Magali Anderson, Chief Sustainability and Innovation Officer, LafargeHolcim
  • Ninian Wilson, CEO, Vodafone Procurement Company
  • Cesare Guarini, Director Sustainability Procurement, Philip Morris
  • Louise Koch, Director of Global Social Impact, Dell
  • Justin Goldston, Professor and Co-Ordinator of Project and Supply Chain Management, Penn State University
  • Deborah Dull, Circular Economy Expert and Principal for Manufacturing Product Management, General Electric Digital
  • Karina Larsen, Former EMEA Supply Chain Head, Johnson & Johnson
  • Industry leaders from Santander, IBM, Novartis, Mars, & more

“We have a plethora of industry experts delivering thought provoking presentations and ideas, advice and direction to participants looking to change their supplier ecosystem, transform their supply chain models and drive sustainability and growth. Our COLLABORATE speakers will cover topical subjects such as resetting ecosystems, powering growth through supplier innovation, cost optimisation and supplier collaboration programmes; giving organisations the guidance they need to drive towards a more sustainable future,” concludes Perera.

Building on last year’s inaugural summit which attracted over 900 attendees, COLLABORATE is the world’s leading summit on supplier collaboration. This interactive event experience explores everything around supplier collaboration, delivering keynotes, actionable takeaways and online networking with industry visionaries and experts.

Industry News, News, Supply Chain

Vizibl Launches Vizibl Sustainability at its Inaugural COLLABORATE 2020 Summit

Vizibl, the leading SaaS platform for Supplier Collaboration, will be announcing Vizibl Sustainability, at its new virtual summit, COLLABORATE 2020. This new solution helps organisations align, engage and deliver on their sustainability programmes by collaborating more effectively with key suppliers throughout their global supply chain.

This solution helps organisations – and vendors in their supply chains – accelerate sustainability initiatives through the implementation a tangible framework, enabling all parties to achieve the desired Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) objectives.

Reiterating Vizibl’s focus on achieving true sustainability for its customers, it’s also partnering with EcoVadis. Based on a rigorous methodology covering 21 criteria across four themes, EcoVadis’ rating and scorecards will enable organisations to benchmark and track supplier performance on environment, labour and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement. This innovation and resilience, fostered by sustainability, are how organisations and their supply chains will meet their future goals.

Both the launch of Vizibl Sustainability and Vizibl’s partnership with EcoVadis ensure organisations can go beyond simply monitoring supplier compliance, to actively collaborating with suppliers on initiatives to improve environmental, social and economic objectives.

If you would be interested in seeing the release under embargo please do contact me via ellen@c8consulting.co.uk, or for more information on Vizibl Sustainability, please click here

Procurement, Supply Chain

Welsh procurement specialist launches innovative scheme to help churches, schools, charities and care homes secure the PPE they need

A Welsh procurement specialist has launched a unique service to help churches, charities, schools, healthcare providers and other businesses in Wales and England to secure personal protective equipment (PPE) and hygiene and cleaning products in preparation for the easing of lockdown.

The business, which was established in 2009 by chief executive Rob Kissick and operations director Russell Stables, is working with clients including the Church of England, Church in Wales and a range of charities, schools and care homes to ensure they can source the PPE supplies they need.

There is no other company in Wales or the UK offering procurement services for PPE on this scale. Demand for its services that help businesses meet the challenges of COVID-19 has also meant it is one of the biggest recruiters in Wales at present. Since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, it has hired 20 new employees increasing the size of its workforce by more than 30 percent. While 2buy2 is a private sector, commercial company, it has a philosophy of making sustainable, but never excessive profits. It also gives 10 per cent of its net profits to charities chosen by its staff every year.

2buy2 will source and purchase PPE for organisations that sign up (by Wednesday June 17). Its innovative service will negotiate preferential prices by buying on behalf of all members (aggregation buying). It will also ensure equipment is quality-assured, ethically sourced and all procurement procedures are correctly followed.

2buy2’s procurement services and specialist advisers support many businesses in the procurement and negotiation of complex contracts as well as coordinating their procurement activities to generate greater buying power across a range of contracts and supplies including energy.

The COVID-19 crisis prompted 2buy2 to add PPE to its offering. It has partnered on the supply with Crown Agents, the well-respected UK-based international development company that helps governments around the world to increase prosperity, reduce poverty and improve health by providing consultancy, supply chain, financial services and training. Critically, this also means it can procure the PPE without impacting on the supply to the NHS.

2buy2 has a track record in this space. The company previously helped source PPE supplies for the UK Government as part of its role in the international response to the Ebola health crisis in West Africa in 2014-15. It also worked with Crown Agents on that project.

2buy2 will be making a range of PPE equipment as well as cleaning and hygiene products available to members. But because 2buy2 creates buying groups to get the best deals, it also works to firm deadlines on members signing up. The first deadline for this is 6pm on Wednesday June 17.

Rob Kissick, CEO, 2buy2, said:

“I am delighted that 2buy2 have been able to launch this response in order to help businesses and organisations of all types to support their collective needs for increased personal protective equipment (PPE) at this incredibly challenging time for everyone.

“Using our experience of running large procurement buying groups, and working in partnership with international procurement agents, Crown Agents, we are procuring supplies of PPE which support members without impacting on the supply to the NHS. Our buying group is available to churches, schools and colleges, charities, care homes, and the wider business sector as we seek to support the Welsh economy and cornerstones of society in preparing for re-opening in the coming weeks and months.

“2buy2 is supporting clients in the procurement of PPE by providing expertise in international sourcing and delivery of high quality, inspected goods.”

Businesses can sign up here: www.2buy2.com/covid-19-response