Zurich Insurance Partnership Tackles Supply Chain Risk

Insurance firm Zurich is introducing a new supply chain risk management service in conjunction with riskmethods, reports in Global Banking and Finance Review said Thursday (March 7).

Through the partnership, Zurich Insurance Group will provide corporate customers with riskmethods’ supply chain risk identification and management technologies. The company provides risk mitigation tools for vendor, cyber, natural disaster and human capital-related risks, reports noted, facilitating real-time data visibility across a range of sources for businesses to assess their supply chains’ exposure.

“We are committed to offering our customers solutions that go beyond risk transfer,” Zurich Global Head of Property and Energy Rob Kuchinski said in a statement. “This new offering is a great example of how Zurich is focused on customers’ needs by combining the highly complementary skill sets of our own risk engineers and scientists with the state-of-the-art artificial intelligence services available through riskmethods.”

In another statement, riskmethods Founder and Managing Director Heiko Schwarz noted, “Combining riskmethods’ cutting-edge technology for identifying potential supply disruptions with the renowned risk expertise of Zurich … is an invaluable way for enterprises to protect their brand, revenues and profits.”

Earlier research by Zurich found that late payments are a significant risk companies face in their supply chains, with 53 percent of late payments owed to small businesses in the U.K. coming from larger corporates. The average value of late payments for each small to medium-size business (SMB) is estimated to be $21,000, the company said.

Other supply chain risks stem from ongoing trade disputes between the U.S. and China. Last October, Bain & Company published analysis that found Chinese organizations are turning to more sophisticated merger and acquisition strategies to mitigate trade risk with the U.S., for example.

In an interview with PYMNTS last year, Catherine Beare, senior director, supply chain assurance at quality assurance provider Intertek, explained how vendors in the supply chain can play a larger role in risk mitigation.

“Risk management is about identifying, assessing and controlling risk from an operational level and making decisions to balance the benefits,” she said.