The Importance of Partnership and IPM in Supply Chain Risk Management

Rentokil Initial Malaysia recently conducted our annual Pest and Total Hygiene Awareness (PATH) Workshop in Penang and Klang Valley with great success. The workshop focused on improving partnership between Rentokil Initial and it’s current customers and how it is essential for all stakeholders to play a part to achieve successful Integrated Pest Management (IPM). During the workshop, customers had the opportunity to join a Q&A session to further discuss on food safety topics that were present within respective industries. One question that stood out was “What is the supplier’s role in the supply chain risk management and who else should be involved to achieve IPM?”.

Who should be involved in supply chain risk management?

Proper supply chain risk management does not involve just the supplier and manufacturer. Pests are able to enter from any point of the supply chain, be it from suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, etc. While it may be your first instinct to investigate suppliers if pests are found in your products, pests may have been introduced from other entry points. For example, pests such as flies, rats or other crawling insects may have accessed raw materials during transportation, distribution or storage facilities.

Furthermore, retailers also play a part in proper supply chain risk management. While products or packaged goods may have undergone proper pest control processes before reaching retailers, they are still exposed to threats when placed on shelves or stored in warehouses. Stored product insects are notorious for using this opportunity to attack goods before they are sold.

As supply chains are highly interconnected between parties, all stakeholders have a role to play to prevent pests from entering, be it upstream or downstream activities.

What each stakeholder should do

• Suppliers

According to reports, it is estimated that almost RM185 billion of crop production are destroyed annually due to pests such as flies, rats and more. As suppliers deal with raw materials and other unprocessed goods, proper pest management is crucial to ensure any materials in and out is safe for human consumption or usage. Other than engaging a professional pest control provider, proper sanitation methods are necessary. Making sure all food waste are managed properly can greatly reduce the chances of infestation.

• Manufacturers

For manufacturers, their worries are much the same as their suppliers, but face more pressure from local authorities. Pests such as rats, flies, cockroaches and more can cause severe damage not only to business reputation, but revenue as well. If pests are present in your production area, you could be forced to shut down which halts productivity or even conduct product recalls which can greatly impact revenue as well as customer trust. Due to audits compliance, integrated pest management approach is the best way to ensure food production is not compromised through methods such as pest proofing and monitoring. For example, we offer connected monitoring solutions in our IPM such as PestConnect for easier and faster data transmission and transparency through myRentokil.

• Distributors & Retailers

Distributors and retailers face their own unique challenges when dealing with pests. As they are the ones who deal with packaged goods, they are prone to pest threats such as stored product insects in addition to other typical pests in their warehouses. Not only are stored product insects hard to identify, they are able to penetrate into any packaged goods as long as there is an opening of 0.12mm! These pests are estimated to destroy a quarter of the entire worlds stored grains annually, and can easily destroy packaged food products if left unchecked. Since distributors and retailers act as a hub to multiple supply chains, infested goods from other supply chains pose contamination risks as well. Fumigation is a viable way to control these pests and ensure your products are kept safe.

Improving Partnership for better IPM

As each stakeholder faces unique challenges in the supply chain, simple destruction of pests is not enough to ensure that products are secure. IPM is necessary for all parties in the supply chain to effectively manage infestations. Rentokil employs IPM through four methods: Exclusion, Restriction, Destruction and Monitoring. Partnership between Rentokil and our customers is essential as acting on recommended actions from Rentokil such as on site sanitation practices, and understanding of pest entry points is crucial to facilitate faster and more effective pest solutions.

Hence, Rentokil understands and promotes the importance of partnership between us and our customers for a more holistic approach to IPM. With over 50 years of local expertise, Rentokil is here to help you manage your pest challenge and protect your business. Contact us at 1300 881 911 or contact us online.