Business Continuity Plan – Bianco Foster Group, LLC

May 28, 2018

Brazil Trucker Strike Paralyzes Economy Endangers Livestock

Rising fuel prices have brought the trucker strike in Brazil to its ninth day. Over the past year fuel prices have risen 50%. Drivers have parked their vehicles and refused to deliver food for both humans and livestock, medicine, and other essentials. President Michel Temer has called for national security forces to unblock roads and has called on local governors to do the same. Petrobras workers plan to strike later this week adding complications to the trucker strike. There are 20 billion chickens and 20 million pigs that are at risk of starvation with over 150 poultry and pork processing plants shut down according to trade group ABPA.

Strikes are a form of business interruption that need special attention. ISO 22301 requires that organizations address risks and opportunities relating to business continuity and business interruption events. Strikes can involve your own workforce, your suppliers, or you may a bystander. Assessing the risk of strikes in your business is essential, but you should not ignore third-party risk. What if livestock feed became unavailable for your farm? Would your delivery business be able to function if a trucker strike had blocked all the roads? Assessing risks caused by other parties or events such as a trucker strike or soaring fuel prices that could lead to protests should be part of your continuity plans. You could mitigate the risk by using your current plans for severe weather or pandemic disease since the outcomes of reduced ability to travel or available workforce would be the same. Transferring the risk is also a financial strategy. Does your business interruption insurance policy cover strikes? In many cases you will need to buy added coverage for losses caused by a strike among your workers or for strikes at elsewhere that affect your business. Your policy review should include replacement of perishable goods, damaged equipment, and other losses.

Performing a risk assessment of your supply chain and including events caused by unrelated third parties is a crucial step to avoiding a disaster or continuity of operations event. Assessing the entire supply chain or key suppliers can be a complex project. Our consultants can assist you with assessing your supply chain, economic risk, and other factors that may lead to a disruption in your business. Contact us today and setup an appointment to discuss how

April 22, 2018April 22, 2018

US Bans Component Makers From Selling Parts to ZTE

The US Commerce Department has prohibited component makers from selling to ZTE. The action has caused the stock of various component makers to drop. Acacia Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: ACIA) receives 30% of its total revenue from ZTE and saw its stock drop over 30%. Oclaro Inc (NASDAQ: OCLR), received 18% of its revenue from ZTE and experienced a drop of over 15%.

Implementing ISO 31000:2018 and assessing risk is one method of mitigating the effects of losing a supplier. Clause 6.4.2 tasks the organization with identifying uncertainties. Geopolitical activities would be indicators of emerging risks. The recent political change in the USA would need to be evaluated. Clause 6.5 discusses risk treatment. In this case diversification of the customer base to mitigate the loss of a single customer could be undertaken by the organizational leadership. Insurance against geopolitical events would also be a way of reducing the impact of losing customers.

Structural issues with the organization my continue for many years before a geopolitical event may disrupt your business. We recommend assessing risks and opportunities periodically during the business cycle and taking long and short term measures to exploit upside risk while minimizing downside risk.

December 17, 2017December 17, 2017

Power Outage Shuts Down Atlanta Airport

United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines discontinue service for remainder of day
Georgia Power believes failure related to underground fire damaging substations
Cause of blaze not known
Inbound flights delayed or diverted to surrounding airports

August 13, 2017

USGS warns of 8 California volcanoes

USGS has classified California volcano hazard zones
Very-high threat: Mount Shasta, Lassen Volcanic Center and Long Valley Volcanic Region
High threat: Clear Lake Volcanic Field, Medicine Lake Volcano and Salton Buttes
Moderate threat: Ubehebe Crater and Coso Volcanic Field

The International Volcanology Assembly is meeting August 14-18 with planned fieldtrips to some volcanic hot spots along with symposia covering a broad variety of volcanological fields with plenary speakers emphasizing integrative and intersecting themes. There will be much discussion over the very high threat volcanoes in the area.

The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in 2010 shut down European airspace for a week. The International Air Transport Association estimated that the impact was $200 million per day and the total loss for the industry was around $1.7 billion. Over 95,000 flights were cancelled during this time.

Can your business continue to function with air travel disruptions? Do you have alternate transportation available? These are questions that should be asked when establishing a Business Continuity Plan. California businesses should take this time to revise their list of BCP risks. An eruption could disrupt business travel and impact airlines and their supply chain.

If your small business does not have a Business Continuity Plan, now is a great time to get started. Contact us today to speak to one of our implementation specialists.

March 1, 2017

Oklahoma has same earthquake risk as California

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) forecast for 2017 says Oklahoma will face earthquake damage risk equal to California. The report is close to last year’s forecast which indicates a trend that is changing the region. The 2017 hazard model is the same as the 2016 report but includes an updated earthquake catalog. The 2016 forecast indicated a high hazard (greater than 1%) for Oklahoma-Kansas, the Raton basin (Colorado/New Mexico border) north Texas, north Arkansas, and the New Madrid seismic zone.

Experts believe hydraulic fracturing or fracking is responsible. Fracking involves injecting water and other chemicals at high pressure into the Earth to extract hydrocarbon resources.

The changes in the area are a reminder to risk managers that tornado is not the only major hazard. A Business Impact Analysis (BIA) is the first step in developing a complete Business Continuity Plan (BCP) that will prepare your small business for natural and manmade disasters. Our services team can provide BCP training and implementation to your company. Contact us today for a consultation.