The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership program has awarded a total of $20 million in funding to each of its MEP National Network Centers to boost the resilience of domestic supply chains.
NIST said Friday the funding was authorized by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 and will support projects focused on workforce development and technology upgrades at small and medium-sized manufacturers, in addition to domestic supply chain resilience.
The funding will also help develop the Supply Chain Optimization and Intelligence Network, a national database designed to support the coordination of supplier scouting services.
“Supply chain shortages are due to a lack of supply chain capacity. To address this issue, we’re creating an information system that lays out all the suppliers across various industries. This way, we can connect small suppliers to more opportunities in the supply chain,” said Pravina Raghavan, director of the NIST MEP program.
SCOIN will work to optimize supply chain network service offerings, connect original equipment manufacturers with small and medium-sized manufacturers and gather data on U.S. supplier capability and capacity.
