If terrorists attack the United States again, they not only could kill innocent civilians – they also could wreak havoc on the economy by disrupting corporate supply chains.
That was a major concern raised at an international conference on port security held last Monday and Tuesday at the University of Rhode Island, where speakers from industry and academia warned there are many more hurdles than potential solutions.
Rhode Island business boosts efficiency and sustainability with Rhode Island Energy
Hexagon, a global technology and software company, develops products that combine sensor, software and autonomous…
Learn More
The conference, on URI’s Kingston campus, was held in conjunction with a meeting of the Global U8 Consortium, formed two years ago by URI and universities from seven other countries to combine resources to better understand and improve global trade.
A panel on Tuesday focused on a key part of that effort: the global supply chain.
Douglas N. Hales, a business professor at URI, led a discussion of the costs and regulatory factors involved in integrating new technology into the many corporate and public supply chains to secure and monitor cargo and protect it from the terrorist threat.
Hales noted that terrorism has changed the dynamics of global trade.
“The contest is different,” he said. “It’s now between businesses and decentralized paramilitary units unified by an ideology – so that’s a different paradigm.”
Yet companies are reluctant to add expenses to their operations, said Edward J. Langhoff, director of supply-chain solutions for Blue Bell, Pa.-based Unisys Corp. Other issues in the adoption of new technologies include rallying multiple countries around a standardized approach and differing regulatory climates, he said.
Unisys ran into all these issues when it took part in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s “Operation Safe Commerce,” a program established by Congress in 2002 to test new ways of improving security at international ports.
“When we participated in Operation Safe Commerce,” Langhoff said, “the first question we always got from shipping companies when we asked them to test our devices [for free] in their trade lanes was, ‘What’s in it for me?’ And that’s a fair and realistic question.”
Panelists also talked about using radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology to seal and track large containers through the supply chain.
The RFID systems send radio signals to report when a container is broken into. However, adoption of the technology hinges, in part, on finding ways to deliver a return on investment to companies that buy the devices.
Companies such as Unisys want Congress to pass the “GreenLane Maritime Cargo Security Act,” which, among other things, would give businesses incentives to adopt technology that improves port security.
A key provision of GreenLane, Langhoff said, would establish an expedited screening process for containers from companies adhering to the act, quickening their shipping process and bringing a return on investment.
Still, Langhoff said, the federal government walks a “fine line” on this issue. “The U.S. needs to lead this effort, but can’t supervise.”
With companies seeking workers to help navigate the complexities of global trade, Hales said, URI has established programs in supply-chain management for undergraduate and graduate students. “Every firm and company that we have contacted has expressed interest in hiring graduates with supply-chain management experience,” he noted.
Seaports are major pieces of the supply chain. About $1 trillion worth of shipments pass through U.S. ports each year, according to the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs. More than 11 million foreign containers arrived at U.S. ports during the 2005 fiscal year, which ended last Sept. 30, and that number is projected to grow by 10 percent each year.
