In this time of much uncertainty, we want to reassure our valued Supply Wisdom subscribers and community by sharing specific details on the activation of our Business Continuity and resilience plans for the COVID-19 virus response.   

Please note that Supply Wisdom’s business is focused on real-time and continuous risk monitoring of locations and third parties. We first notified our customers of a potential health issue in China on January 2, 2020. Below is our BCM Plan led by Chief Evangelist and Chief Risk Officer, John Bree and supported by the Executive Leadership team. This information will be updated immediately as any key indicators change.  If you have any questions or need any further information, please don’t hesitate to reach out. 

What practices have you currently put into place to limit the exposure and spread of Covid-19 virus among the Supply Wisdom team? 

All Supply Wisdom team members are currently working remotely until further notice. No one has permission to approve or do business travel, unless approved by the Chief Risk Officer or the Chairman. All team members have laptops, internet access and secure access to our network. We have had NO reported cases of Covid-19 among our team. 

Does Supply Wisdom have a pandemic plan to respond to and recover from mass absenteeism events, such as the COVID-19? 

Yes. Supply Wisdom activated it’s BCM/ DR plan on January 2, 2020 and updated it again on March 7, 2020. All Supply Wisdom team members are currently working remotely. All team members have laptops, internet access and secure access to our network. We have had NO reported cases of Covid-19 among our team. We are currently equipped to manage our absenteeism at a level as high as 20% and have a bench of available resources that can be assigned if needed with no impact to our subscribers. 

In the event of mass absenteeism, has Supply Wisdom developed a plan on potentially scaling back ‘non-critical’ services that may be provided? 

Yes. Supply Wisdom has a contingency plan in place to mitigate any risk arising from mass absenteeism of team members. While we do not expect scaling down even ‘non-critical’ services at this point in time, we have prepared for all contingencies and will let our subscribers know well in advance in the event of scaling back or scaling down any part of the Supply Wisdom service.  

We are also prepared to manage our absenteeism at a level as high as 40% by scaling back on non-risk event “Info” level alerts.  Be assured this would not affect the negative risk event alerts and have no impact on risk monitoring. 

As part of the pandemic plan, does Supply Wisdom have strategies that include transferring work and remote work capabilities? 

Yes. Supply Wisdom has systems in place to seamlessly transfer work and enable remote work capabilities when required. We have already activated those systems as currently all of our team members are successfully working from home. We are tracking employees as they report in daily or more frequently if there are any changes in their health through our online team member attestation form. 

At this time, we are having no issues with and do not anticipate any disruptions to the delivery of current services.   

Have these strategies been tested as part of the ongoing COVID-19 threat or in the past 6 months? 

Yes. Supply Wisdom tests its BCM/DR plans quarterly. As of March 7, 2020, we have activated all required systems and protocols for remote working, social distancing, self-isolation & quarantining of international travelers within the team and have backup teams on standby. We do not anticipate any disruptions to delivery of current services as all team members are working remotely and we have stopped all business travel. 

Has Supply Wisdom taken precautions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19? 

Yes. Our risk response team, led by our Chief Risk Officer, is ensuring the organization is following all guidelines issued by WHO, CDC in the US and other equivalent federal and local agencies in the geographies in which we are operating. The current focus is on containment. Some of the actions we have taken until this point include: 

• All domestic and international travel has been suspended until further notice. Any new travel request requires Chief Risk Officer or Chairman approval. 
• All team members are working remotely from home until further notice. 
• All internal and external meetings wherever possible are being conducted virtually using online collaboration tools like Webex, Zoom, GotoMeeting, Teams, Slack etc.    
• All team members are providing daily declarations on their health conditions and providing daily reports on their in-person or physical interactions through our online team member attestation form. 
• Team members with recent international travel history are under home isolation/ quarantine for 2 weeks after the arrival day at their home destination. 
• Team members have been advised to remain at home and avoid non-essential travel and gatherings. 
• Workshops have been conducted across the organization to ensure that all team members are aware of the communication channels to activate in an emergency, resources available to each individual, and clear health and safety guidelines and protective measures in line with WHO, CDC in the US and other equivalent federal and local agencies in the geographies in which we are operating. 

For employees that may have been exposed to COVID-19, has Supply Wisdom taken steps to quarantine them for a specific duration? If so, how long? 

Yes. While there are no current cases, Supply Wisdom is following all guidelines laid out by WHO, CDC and other jurisdictional authorities for the locations in which we operate. 

• Team members with recent international travel history are under home isolation/ quarantine for 2 weeks after the arrival day at their home destination. 
• All team members are providing daily declarations on their health conditions and providing daily reports on their in-person or physical interactions through our online our online team member attestation form. 
• All team members have been provided clear directions that are in line with WHO, CDC in the US and other equivalent federal and local agencies in the geographies in which we are operating on the steps to be taken if they experience flu like symptoms.   

Is there currently an impact to any of Supply Wisdom’s locations? 

No. None of Supply Wisdom’s locations have been impacted. As a precautionary measure, teams have been instructed to work from home until further notice. All team members are fully equipped and trained to work from home.  

Have steps been taken to address any potential impacts associated with your third parties that support Supply Wisdom’s operations from a pandemic perspective? 

Yes. Supply Wisdom has accounted for any potential impacts associated with its third parties. 

• The Supply Wisdom application is hosted on multiple servers in different geographic locations to ensure uninterrupted access. 
• Supply Wisdom has engaged multiple networking, internet and telecommunication service providers to ensure ongoing and continuous connectivity without any disruptions or drop in quality of service. 

What is being done to ensure Supply Wisdom’s third parties can continue to support the contractual obligations to you as a customer? 

• The third parties of Supply Wisdom include hosting providers, telecommunication providers and conferencing providers. Supply Wisdom is monitoring its cloud hosting, internet and telecommunication service providers to understand the pandemic impact on their service delivery. 
• Supply Wisdom has identified and activated secondary and tertiary service providers as backup in case primary service providers face any disruptions or experience reduced quality of service.  

Has Supply Wisdom identified critical processes that are dependent on the knowledge of limited individuals and have you developed relevant contingency plans? 

Yes. In accordance with the internal BCM/ DR program, Supply Wisdom has identified critical processes dependent on knowledge of limited individuals and put backup secondary and tertiary leads on succession plans in the event of unavailability of key primary resources. All backup teams are fully up to speed with current processes, activities, roles and responsibilities of primary teams. 

If you need additional information, please reach out to me or the team at info@supplywisdom.com.

Stay Safe,

John Bree

Chief Evangelist & Chief Risk Officer

Supply Wisdom