Smarter Manufacturing – Digital Supply Chain: apply for funding

Technology and manufacturing businesses can now apply for funding to develop innovative digital technologies that have the potential to transform supply chains; ensuring a more efficient, productive, flexible and resilient UK manufacturing sector.

Through funding from the UK government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, led by Innovate UK, business-led consortia can apply for funding for projects up to £1.5m.

Projects will support the development of innovative digital technologies and work with manufacturers to rethink and restructure the way they design and operate supply chains.

Businesses applying for the new funding can look to improve results from existing supply chains, redesign or re-engineer supply chains or design completely new supply chain concepts for new products or processes.

By adopting new digital technologies within supply chains, it can result in a more efficient supply chain, enabling business to expand into new markets and boost productivity in an effort to recover from COVID-19.

These two competitions form part of the wider Made Smarter activities. Made Smarter is a national movement to drive growth amongst UK makers and advance the UK economy. Backed by world-renowned businesses and the UK government, it will improve the development and adoption of emerging technologies.

Digital Supply Chain competition details

Projects must use digital technologies to optimise the design and execution of supply chain activities.

Solutions can aim to improve and optimise existing supply chains, redesign or re-engineer existing supply chains or design new supply chains for new products or processes.

Projects can cover supply chain design or execution

Supply chain design

• effective risk management
• inventory optimisation
• sustainable supply chains for increased flexibility
• warehouse & logistics optimisation
• confidence in shared data
• new business models that affect the configuration of the supply chain

Supply chain execution

• demand management, sensing and shaping
• proactive use of use of demand data
• delivery performance
• improved decision-making through analytics
• production planning or scenario modelling
• track-and-trace technologies

The competition is separated into two principal strands: feasibility studies and industrial research.