SupplyChainTalk: Measuring and quantifying trust in your supply chain

On 17 September 2025, Supply Chain Talk host Alastair Charatan was joined by Jason Cresswell, Value Chain Transformation Consultant; Hari Srivastava, Senior Lecturer, Aukland University of Technology, Business School; and Mohamed Nabil, Head of Supply Chain  – Levant Cluster, Nestlé Middle East & North Africa. 

 

Views on news 

A cyber-attack, which first came to light on 1 September, forced Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) to shut down its computer systems and close production lines worldwide. JLR is thought to have lost at least £50m so far as a result of the stoppage. But experts say the most serious damage is being done to its network of suppliers, many of whom are small and medium sized businesses. The question arises whether it’s JLR’s responsibility to support its smaller suppliers to see them through the crisis that the attack caused. Moreover, it’s not just JLR’s first-tier suppliers that have taken a hit but multi-tier suppliers too.  

 

Creating trust in the supply chain 

Communication is a key factor of a transparent supply chain. The most damage can be done by keeping pertinent information from other stakeholders. The company that is at the top of a supply chain can see most of the trends taking place on the market thanks to demand planning – and the onus is on them to share that information with their suppliers. People often see trust and transparency as synonyms. However, they are opposing terms, as, if you have trust in your partner, transparency won’t be a top priority.  

 

There are measurements that can help quantify trust, such as delivery rates, compliance scores and supplier performance – some of which are easy to measure, while others are more elusive. Some of these KPIs might even be legal requirements, such as carbon emissions. For supply chains that operate under relatively steady conditions, service level measurements may be key, while in other, more disruptive sectors, the main measurements can be time-to-recover and the rate of clearing backlogs. Academic models can also be used for this purpose, such as fuzzy logic and multicriteria decision making. In JLR’s case too, time-to-recover is a more important metric than compliance. Traditional service level metrics, such as quality, delivery times and the like are also crucial.  

 

With 60% of disruptions coming from tier two, supply chain mapping is also an important measurement, which can also play a key role in supply chain flexibility. Tier one suppliers are often reluctant to disclose information about their suppliers as they are concerned about giving away some of their negotiating power. But in the case of critical components, the company must directly approve of its second tier supplier too.  

 

The panel’s advice 

• The digital passport legislation of the EU might be rolled back as it could kill production in the EU, as the information that it requires is simply not available.  
• Real time tracking, IoT, problem identification and optimisation are technologies that can enhance supply chain visibility. But they aren’t always used in the right or prescribed way.  
• Have business continuity plans to ensure that the business doesn’t fail when technology does.