An hour before dawn, a loaded truck idles at the front gate. The manufacturing plant needs that freight to start production. The name on the truck driver’s identification card is close but doesn’t exactly match what’s on the digital manifest.
“Dispatch must have mistyped it,” the driver says.
Holding the truck could stall the morning shift and trigger expensive line-down penalties. But letting in a thief with spoofed credentials would prove equally costly.
What does the gate officer do next?
This is the kind of ground-level security risk that manufacturing and logistics companies experience every day. And they need a security partner who understands how to best manage those risks to protect their sites, products, and people.
While the risk landscape spans everything from insider threats to supply chain disruption, three stand out as the most pressing for manufacturing and logistics companies today. Based on our decades of industry experience – and specialized expertise in corporate risk management and intelligence – here’s what companies need to know.
Risk 1: Cargo theft, inventory loss, and supply chain integrity
Official estimates place the costs of U.S. cargo theft between $15 billion-$35 billion annually, with each incident averaging over $202,000. These thefts are also increasingly strategic, using deception and impersonation instead of direct force to steal goods. With insurers now calling for stricter inventory protection, companies need better logistics security solutions.
The most vulnerable manufacturing and logistics choke points lie at the front gate, the loading dock, and in-transit handoff points. Security teams can use trailer tracking to help maintain constant cargo visibility, while implementing robust on-site access control measures to efficiently and effectively handle inbound and outbound traffic.
But security can’t simply lock down the front gate or the loading dock. Instead, officers conduct 7- and 17-point container inspections and check identification credentials to thwart potential bad actors. They screen outbound employees, as well, to help prevent insider theft, which alone costs an average of more than $8.8 million per year for a manufacturer. Officers are also trained on logistics security details like seal verification and bill of lading documentation. They know what to look for – and what looks suspicious.
With proper training and access control, these officers can decrease touch times and help catch increasingly sophisticated cargo thieves.
Risk 2: Workforce safety and workplace violence
Large distribution centers and manufacturing plants employ hundreds of people across rotating shifts, often working in high-pressure situations. These busy, demanding workplaces are a crucible for workforce safety issues: Manufacturing and logistics companies consistently rank among the most dangerous workplaces for accidents and violent incidents. Addressing this challenge takes not only controlling access but also screening employees and patrolling entire sites for compliance and safety hazards.
Employees respond differently to these workplaces. Stressed employees can forego normal safety checks and fall prey to accidents. Or a relatively small issue like an employee refusing to wear safety glasses on the floor can spark violence with little warning.
Security officers can help mitigate these issues in several ways. While officers often check employees as they leave for stolen goods, they also screen inbound employees to detect weapons and help keep workplaces safe. Special training in manufacturing compliance and operational needs helps officers identify unsafe acts and hazards on shop floor patrols and support health and safety teams’ incident management.
Security goes beyond the floor too. Unmonitored parking lots and loading zones can create hotbeds of accidents or violence. Mobile patrols and remote guarding extend security to help limit incidents and keep people safe across the entire site.
Risk 3: Geopolitical instability, protests, and global supply chain exposure
Volatile trade policies and spiking geopolitical risks put relentless pressure on the global supply chain. Leaders can contend with new tariffs in the morning, violence in another country during lunchtime, and cross-border compliance issues by nightfall.
And what if future disruptive protest actions threaten to shut down a key supplier’s production line? Manufacturers in sensitive industries like pharmaceuticals are often targets of such actions and can face losses worth millions of dollars if caught unprepared.
To help unravel complexity and prepare for the future, manufacturing and logistics leaders are increasingly leveraging risk intelligence to contextualize emerging threats, regional crime activity, regulatory developments, and workforce safety concerns. Early detection and guidance help companies anticipate and resolve the most pressing issues before they escalate, protecting the company’s site and broader supply chain.
A security partner will bring deep familiarity with complex environments to help companies better navigate these industry challenges. Risk intelligence, access control, screenings, and officer patrols all help protect manufacturing and logistics sites.
But the best manufacturing and logistics security partner will not only help mitigate threats and manage risks, but advocate for better security standards. Guidelines like the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) – which Securitas helped draft to harden supply chains and define "low-risk importer" privileges – are one example of that expertise at work.
The risks have evolved – so should manufacturing and logistics security
These three risks show how the web of interconnected threats has grown for manufacturing and logistics companies. From mitigating sophisticated cargo theft to protecting against accidents and violence on a shifting global scale, leaders need strategic security now more than ever.
In this environment, companies should ask potential manufacturing and logistics security partners questions like:
- How deep does your manufacturing and logistics expertise extend?
- What specialized training do security officers complete before they set foot on-site?
- Can you bring human and technological support to protect our site from today’s risks and anticipate tomorrow’s?
- Does your view of security stop at the site, or do you consider the entire supply chain and its many risks?
- What does your breadth of services and capabilities look like?
Something leaders can inadvertently overlook is the value of having one direct security partner. Manufacturers often bundle security within other services through a facilities management company. While these bundles promise to provide cost savings, leaders lose the value of direct communication, visibility, and oversight of their security – which can leave key questions unanswered.
A direct security partner can help you develop a tailored security solution for your needs and risks, with dedicated resources and oversight to manage issues effectively. Partners whose capabilities extend to risk intelligence and corporate risk management can also help seal a supply chain’s current and future security gaps.
Those capabilities are invaluable for any leader managing multiple sites or dealing with complex international requirements. Because when that truck driver is sitting at the gate before dawn, leaders should feel confident that their trained gate officer can protect their people and production without compromising security.
That’s what the right security partner can deliver.