Department of Homeland Security picks BSI Group’s Supply Chain Solutions

A recent breakthrough has been made in the ongoing struggle to establish a single protocol for screening ocean cargo containers.

In interview with SCMR, BSI Group’s Supply Chain Solutions expanded upon the announcement that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has awarded a contract to his company to do just that.

“We have been working for some time on risk-based targeting and inspection,” said Dan Purtell, Sr. vice president of BSI Supply Chain Solutions. “It is not something that can be done without including a risk and vulnerability assessment.”

BSI will work with DHS S&T-sponsored engineers in a project designed to integrate data from new detection systems, along with BSI’s proprietary intelligence on cargo disruption and anti-Western terrorism, in order to better identify suspect containers.

“Combining what we know in terms of country and in-transit supply chain risk factors with what we don’t know - potential harmful devices and materials onboard an inbound shipment - provides for smarter risk-based targeting and inspection,” said Purtell.

He noted that some supply chain managers might not realize, for example, that a greater threat could be created by transshipping some containers through the UK rather than Eastern Europe. Depending to the commodity mix, thieves or terrorists might find the UK cargo a “softer” target.

“There’s a significant difference between passenger travel and cargo deployment,” he said. “In a relative sense, it can be counterintuitive.”

BSI will leverage its experience and intelligence in supply chain security to help determine if this new approach to assessing risk is an improved approach over current practices in container screening. The project also draws on BSI’s experience in supporting U.S. Customs and Border Protection with supply chain security information, analysis, and training.

“Essentially, we are trying to make the haystack smaller,” said Purtell. “The bad guys represent the needle, and we are trying to detect that target in advance of any ‘event.’”

BSI maintains one of the largest, continuously-updated, non-governmental proprietary databases, which includes comprehensive cargo disruption analysis in 200+ countries, cargo theft exposure, up-to-date country risk analysis, and terrorism threats to in-transit shipments.

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