Free national manufacturing directory can boost industrial supply chain resilience
Published: 11 October, 2023
The High Value Manufacturing Catapult reports it is making it easier for domestic manufacturers to connect with a new free-to-use UK Supply Chain Directory.
Launched by the HVM Catapult as part of the Made Smarter Innovation | Digital Supply Chain Hub, the free tool brings together hundreds of thousands of businesses across UK industry in one easy-to-search online resource. Businesses are also able to claim their company profile within the directory, allowing them to better showcase key information and help to attract new customers and suppliers.
The UK Supply Chain Directory offers higher quality and more extensive information on UK manufacturers than anything currently available. Users can search the directory according to company size, location, specialist areas with a wide range of other filters. Using data-driven classification, users can also find suppliers or supply chains based on manufacturing capability.
After recent global disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing conflicts, economic uncertainty has significantly disrupted global supply chains. These unprecedented challenges have highlighted the need for more agile and resilient supply chains to navigate uncertainty and to minimise disruption. Research[1] estimates that 42% of companies lose the equivalent of a year’s worth of EBITDA each decade through adverse supply chain impact.
By building closer local business networks, UK manufacturers can radically increase their supply chain visibility to better understand and directly address potential weaknesses with upstream and downstream supply chain partners. Connecting UK manufacturers with local supply chain networks could also reduce transport distance for goods, cutting transport emissions and costs to save money while boosting sustainability.
The UK Supply Chain Directory was developed by the HVM Catapult in collaboration with The Data City and Digital Catapult. The Made Smarter Innovation | Digital Supply Chain Hub is delivered by Digital Catapult.
Katherine Bennett, Chief Executive of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, said: “Connecting local manufacturers and making supply chains more resilient is an absolute priority for UK industry.
“Our country continues to invest in our manufacturing capabilities for green technologies such as electric vehicle batteries, hydrogen energy and carbon capture. We must maximise the upstream and downstream opportunities for UK businesses.
“By working together to keep more of the positive economic impacts of manufacturing in the UK, we can lift industrial productivity while supporting economic growth across the economy.”
Tim Lawrence, Director of the Digital Supply Chain Hub at Digital Catapult, said: ‘The Digital Supply Chain Hub is one of Digital Catapult’s flagship projects, leveraging digital innovation to make UK supply chains more resilient, efficient and sustainable. Digital supply chains underpin successful UK business and will play a critical role in driving economic growth in the long term.
Given this, the Supplier Directory is core this mission by providing better visibility of UK supply chain organisations and capabilities, so that manufacturers of all sizes can establish successful local supply chains. This will support regional economies and democratise commercial opportunities, as well as enable organisations to connect to the wider UK supply chain ecosystem through the Digital Supply Chain Hub.’
Jack Lewis, Data and Product at The Data City, said: “Working with the HVM Catapult to build the UK Supply Chain Directory has been an absolute pleasure. This project challenged us to think outside the box, especially when we explored features like company edits and per company manufacturing capabilities.
“It's been a real partnership; the combined efforts of the HVM Catapult and The Data City resulted in a directory we're both really proud of. The Data City is thrilled to introduce our very first full-blown directory product to the world.”
For more information about the UK Supply Chain Directory, readers should visit https://uksupplychaindirectory.com/.
1 McKinsey, Risk resilience and rebalancing in global value chains, August 2020 [https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/risk-resilience-and-rebalancing-in-global-value-chains]
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