The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on several vulnerabilities in the manufacturing sector - in particular, the increasingly globalized nature of the supply chain and the fragility of that supply chain in the instance of mass disruption.
As the global economy slowly reopens, Canadian manufacturers are focused on shoring up their supply chains and improving their business continuity planning so they can continue to operate as efficiently as possible in the event of another global pandemic or future crisis.
To help Canadian manufacturers navigate ongoing COVID challenges and position their businesses for success in a post-pandemic world, CNA offers Oneworld+® Manufacturing - a package solution designed and tailored to meet the complex challenges and threats that manufacturing businesses face today.
“CNA’s Oneworld+® Manufacturing provides a distinct coverage solution for all manufacturers regardless of size, from small to mid-size producers up to the large multinational corporations,” said Luke Sampson, underwriting specialist – manufacturing, CNA. “From a property perspective, Oneworld+® provides built-in extensions specific for manufacturing risks, including contingent business income research and development expenses, off-premises power, and contractual penalties for late delivery of products due to a covered cause of loss.
“From a casualty or third-party loss perspective, the Oneworld+® product provides automatic extension limits for two key exposures: manufacturer’s errors and omissions (E&O) and product recall. These two coverage extensions are becoming increasingly popular in Canada, which is largely due to manufacturers becoming more knowledgeable about their inherent exposures, but also their clients becoming more specific in their contractual requirements.”
Acknowledging the increasingly globalized nature of the supply chain, CNA’s Oneworld+® Manufacturing was “built with the international client in mind,” explained Sampson. “CNA can write integrated global insurance programs for clients with multinational exposures, and can issue local policies in most foreign jurisdictions through its global network of partner companies. The coverage territory is worldwide, with difference in conditions (DIC) and difference in limits (DIL) coverage built-in, and is supported by a global unit that can respond to claims in any country for which a local policy is placed.”
One differentiator of CNA’s Oneworld+® Manufacturing solution is the risk control services that clients automatically gain access to Sampson commented: “CNA’s risk control consultants offer a wide range of services to help our manufacturing clients mitigate their risk. These services include complete property exposure reviews, including common and special hazard identification and mitigation plans, along with detailed reviews of a client’s main fire protection equipment, which is of vital importance to most manufacturing clients.
“Our risk control consultants also prove vital in determining bottleneck exposures in a client’s manufacturing process and supply chain, which can help to eliminate or mitigate the potential for business income events. We rely on risk control to help us evaluate the exposures and the controls of our mid-to large-size manufacturing risks.”
One of the benefits of a package solution like CNA’s Oneworld+® Manufacturing is the integrated approach where brokers and insureds only have to deal with one underwriter at CNA.
“I encourage our broker partners to use the Oneworld+® package product for their manufacturing clientele because it provides a broad range of insurance coverages,” Sampson told Insurance Business. “Our broker partners have access to a wide range of insurance solutions, and these can be tailored to meet the client’s individual needs.”
However, Sampson stressed that package solutions like Oneworld+® Manufacturing require an all-in approach from insurers, brokers and the end-clients.
“CNA is an underwriting company through and through. We rely on our broker partners to give us an accurate picture of a company’s exposures and controls,” he said. “We’re always looking to build long-term relationships with our clients, and the more information that we have to underwrite and the more comfort we can get with the operations of our clients, the more attractive our coverage terms and conditions will be. We work with our broker partners, with a common goal of providing superior coverage terms to our clients for a premium that is commiserate with the level of exposure.”
