The UK Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has laid out a Supply Chain Centre mission statement and action plan to support British logistics.
The 14-point action plan lists aims designed to help secure critical inputs for the UK economy and support long-term business growth in response to recent global events restricting normal logistics operations – namely those in the Middle East.
Principally, the ‘centre’s mission is to ensure that, in an increasingly challenging and uncertain global
environment, the UK has a secure supply of the inputs it needs, and that businesses are
equipped for sustained growth now and in the future.’
As such, the centre will house policy and analytical experts and will include the Global Supply Chains
Intelligence Programme (GSCIP) to combine government and industry data.
This, DBT states, will help to reveal risks linked to products, suppliers and geographies
The six objectives set out by the centre are:
- Anticipating future supply chain risks
- Identifying the inputs the UK needs
- Building domestic resilience
- Fostering resilience through global partnerships
- Responding to supply chain disruption
- Supporting and learning from business
To this end, the Supply Chain Centre has identified 36 broad categories of growth-driving inputs that include: aluminium, batteries, electronic components, electronic devices, engines and motors, fertilisers, heavy industrial machinery, inorganic chemicals and compounds, iron and steel, laboratory reagents, mineral oils and by-products, specialised vehicles and zinc amongst others.
As part of the centre’s set-ip process, the government is encouraging UK businesses in the Industrial Strategy manufacturing sectors to review the 36 categories listed.
This feedback will then be used to evaluate their supply chains for those goods as part of current and future
operations.
The ongoing conflict centred around the Strait of Hormuz is a principal driver of the plan, with DBT specifically stating that the Supply Chain Centre has established a dedicated Middle East response team which has been supporting and informing government’s wider response efforts.
It also stated that this team will remain in place for as long as necessary to manage the impacts of the conflict.
If you’re interested in reading more about the 14-point plan, the Supply Chain Mission statement is listed in full here.
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