A new £20 million UK-wide initiative has been launched to tackle challenges faced by manufacturing supply chains in the wake of the pandemic.

A £10m award from UK Research and Innovation and the Made Smarter Innovation programme will be combined with £10m investment from the private sector to accelerate commercial integration of advanced and emerging digital technologies across manufacturing supply chains in the aerospace & defence, pharmaceutical, fabrication and logistics sectors, over the next four years.

Made Smarter’s Digital Supply Chain Innovation Hub is led by Digital Catapult, in collaboration with the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, National Physical Laboratory and TWI. 

The programme partners will work with technology providers, research organisations and academics to develop a globally competitive, resilient and sustainable digitally enabled ecosystem of UK companies.

The project aims to help manufacturers integrate advanced digital technologies, leading to improved data sharing and more informed analysis, meaning manufacturers are able to spot logjams in supply chains, reduce waste and boost efficiencies.

Jeremy Silver, CEO of Digital Catapult, said: “The Made Smarter Digital Supply Chain Innovation Hub will demonstrate how the tangible impact of emerging digital technologies can affect the nation’s supply chains, mitigating against the kinds of component shortages experienced during the pandemic, boosting efficiency, reducing waste, and supporting some of the UK’s most important industrial sectors through fostering a culture of innovation.”