What CrowdStrike Tells Us About the Supply Chain Risk Landscape

After observing the fallout of a botched CrowdStrike software update last week, supply chain and logistics managers can add global IT crises to the growing list of things they have to worry about (if they weren’t already).

The impact of CrowdStrike on global supply chains 

Air freight was hit particularly hard with the Global Trade Review reporting that Air France KLM Cargo and Lufthansa Cargo were among the major carriers impacted.

In the UK, container ports at Felixstowe and Tilbury were forced to temporarily halt landside operations, pouring fuel on the fire of already strained port congestion levels. Maersk also reported operations at some of their terminals were interrupted. Similar disruptions were seen at ports in Los Angeles, Houston, New York and Gdansk. 

While most container ports were back online within a few hours, air freight has been slower to recover and the ripple effects of the incident continue to be felt across the complex network of actors involved in global supply chains. 

Navigating a new supply chain risk landscape 

Following what Fortune has described as the “worst IT catastrophe ever”, supply chain and logistics professionals will be contemplating how best to protect their operations against this type of disruption.

Preventing global IT disruptions is far outside the sphere of influence of supply chain teams. Investing in real-time freight visibility solutions, however, can pay dividends. Visibility tools provide a trusted backup freight tracking data source to help you gain situational awareness and navigate the recovery process when carrier portals are down. 

In times of crisis, real-time freight visibility solutions (like Beacon) can help you quickly get answers to essential questions including: 

• How many active shipments are being transported with impacted carriers?
• How many shipments are currently stuck at disrupted ports? 
• What specific SKUs and POs are at risk? 
• Have my goods started moving again? 
• What are the new ETAs?

Protect yourself against the next CrowdStrike

Start your Beacon free trial to gain real-time insight into freight movements or book a call with one of our supply chain visibility experts.