Sourcing from low-cost locations can bring obvious benefits but also exposes a business to hidden risks.
  从低成本地区采购能够带来明显的好处，但也会让业务面临隐藏的风险。

  Managers should carry out a full audit of the supply chain (however long) to identify vulnerable links - then address those weaknesses. The supply chain, though outsourced, is still your responsibility and should be treated as part of your organisation and production process.管理人员应全面审核  供应链（无论它有多长），以找出其中的薄弱环节，然后解决这些弱点。尽管已经外包出去，但供应链仍然是你的责任，应当作为自己组织和生产过程的一部分来对待。

  When Nissan arrived in the UK it installed permanent supplier development teams at its suppliers to ensure all aspects of the supply chain met its own high standards. In the context of global sourcing, direct involvement with the supplier may well be preferable to dealing at arms length through an agent. Working with suppliers on quality assurance programmes - which is costly in terms of management time - can also help reduce the risk of disrupted supplies.
  当日产(Nissan)进入英国时，它在供应商处建立了永久的供应商发展团队，以确保供应链的方方面面都能符合自己的高标准。就全球采购来看，通过中介打交道，也许还不如直接与供应商合作。在质量保证计划方面与供应商合作会耗费大量管理时间，但可能有助于降低供应中断的风险。

  To minimise risks, managers need to bring a much more detailed eye to bear on the supply chain. When the process is left to chance, companies may pay a high price. 
  要想将风险最小化，管理人员需要更为仔细地审视供应链。如果存在侥幸心理，企业可能要付出高昂的代价。

  The writer is a professor of marketing and logistics at Cranfield School of Management
  作者是克兰菲尔德管理学院(Cranfield School of Management)营销及物流教授

  THE EXECUTIVE/高管
  帕梅拉•勒普克(Pamela Lopker)

  The tough reality of global business is that manufacturers must continually improve quality throughout the supply chain to meet global standards or risk going out of business.
  全球商业面临的严峻现实是，制造商必须持续提高供应链各个环节的质量，以达到全球标准，否则就面临被淘汰的可能。

  The good news is that quality can be improved. Lean technologies give managers, workers and suppliers much greater visibility and control over the supply chain. They also help deal with risks ranging from the political to the financial, as well as natural disasters and cyber attacks.
  好消息是，质量是可以提高的。精益技术让管理人员、工人和供应商能够更好地审视和控制供应链。它们还有助于应对从政治到金融等各种风险，以及自然灾害和网络攻击。

  Small or medium-sized producers lack the resources to deploy the same processes as their larger rivals, yet in order to sell to global retailers they must meet the same mandates and rules. The solution is the next generation of lean manufacturing, which is built on open standards, collaboration and automation.
  中小型生产商缺乏资源，无力部署与规模更大的对手相同的过程，但为了在全球销售产品，它们必须符合同样的要求和规定。解决方案是建立在开放标准、协同和自动化基础上的下一代精益制造业。

  Added value and efficient production is becoming a core objective for China's small and medium-sized producers. The supply chain processes that yield such results need to be crisp and fluid.
  附加值和高效率生产正成为中国中小型生产商的核心目标。要想产生这些绩效，供应链过程必须保持活力和流动性。

  The writer is president and chairman of QAD, a California-based enterprise software company
  作者是加州企业软件公司QAD总裁兼董事长