Guidance

DBT supply chains resilience framework

Published 16 November 2022

The Integrated Review set out the importance of strong and resilient chains for UK’s economic and national security.

As part of the government’s work to improve the resilience of critical supply chains, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has developed a resilience framework which highlights 5 areas to be explored when reducing dependencies in supply chains.

It is designed to be an aide for those looking to mitigate supply side risks in their supply chains and to support greater long-term resilience. More detailed guidance for businesses is also available.

The 5 areas are as follows:

• diversification – identify alternate source of supply to create flexibility in the supply chain
• international partnerships – work with international partners to identify common challenges, bring down barriers to trade and strengthen the resilience of international supply chains and systems
• stockpiling and surge capacity – identify whether it may be beneficial to hold stocks and strategic reserves of components or goods and consider whether surge capacity can be included in contracts
• onshoring – identify whether increasing or expanding domestic capacity might be helpful in reducing risks
• demand management – identify whether it may be beneficial to manage the demand for components or goods, considering substitutes and alternatives, innovation, and circularity

The framework also sets out the importance of data and visibility in managing supply chains as well as noting the range of policy interventions which may be needed to take forward any of the areas.

Data and visibility of supply chains should underpin all efforts to increase resilience and are crucial to support decision making. Having a clear picture of the supply chain is the first step in identifying where there are risks or vulnerabilities. This information will help inform which actions may be needed to reduce these risks.

Government will use policy levers to identify whether there are strategies, trade and investment measures, regulations, standards or incentives which could be enacted to aid the resilience of the supply chain where necessary.

Further guidance

• Safeguarding supply: DBT has collaborated with the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) and the Chartered Institute for Procurement and Supply (CIPS) to produce guidance that will help businesses to strengthen and build resilience into their supply chains
• UK-Australia supply chain resilience initiative: through their joint supply chain resilience initiative, the UK and Australia are sharing their approaches with interested countries’ governments to develop and improve public sector approaches to managing risks in critical supply chains