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ISO/TS 22318 - new Technical Specification for supply chain continuity

ISO has published a Technical Specification which expands the guidance given in ISO 22313 on establishing appropriate levels of continuity management within an organisation’s supply chain. ISO/TS 22318 Societal security - Business continuity management systems - Guidelines for supply chain continuity management is relevant to both public and private sector organizations, it will be useful to those who buy, manage or are responsible for a product or service that is necessary for the organization to produce its own outputs and will assist them to apply good BCM practice in line with established ISO standards.

Duncan Ford, the project leader responsible for writing ISO 22318, explains:Duncan

“This new Technical Specification recognizes the complexity and importance of the supply chain in today’s business environment and focusses on the issues faced by organisation’s who are dependent on continuity of supply of products and services to protect its business activities."

The purpose of supply chain continuity management is to analyze the consequences of a disruptive incident in the supply chain on the organization identify appropriate recovery strategies and incorporate these arrangements into their wider continuity planning process. 

Organizations implementing the concepts within ISO 22318 can expect to: 

  • Gain a better understanding of the impacts of an incident affecting their supply chain.

  • Understand which of their suppliers are critical to their business.

  • Identify strategies to mitigate the threats which supply chain disruption could bring to their organization.

  • Implement plans in co-operation with their suppliers which will improve their preparedness to manage a disruption.

Dr. Stefan Tangen, Convenor of the Communication Group of the ISO technical committee that developed the new standard, states:

"This Technical Specification is a part of our series of standards on Business Continuity Management. We are currently working on several documents to add further guidance to ISO 22301 and ISO 22313. We are very pleased to have finalized this part since achieving continuity in the whole supply chain is one of the major key element when working with BCM. A chain is as good as its weakest link "

ISO/TS 22318:2015, Societal security - Business continuity management systems - Guidelines for supply chain continuity, is available from ISO national member institutes. It may also be obtained directly from the ISO Central Secretariat, price 118 Swiss francs respectively through the ISO Store or by contacting the Marketing, Communication & Information department."