Provide services to expand existing MEP capabilities to provide national supply chain optimization and to establish a supply chain intelligence network

The Georgia Institute of Technology Research Corporation will receive $400,000 from the Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology under the Manufacturing Extension Partnership federal grant program (CFDA 11.611) through a cooperative agreement. The funding will support the Georgia Manufacturers Extension Partnership (GaMEP) to expand existing capabilities for providing national supply chain optimization and establish a supply chain intelligence network. Specifically, GaMEP will hire one full-time employee to manage manufacturers' supply chain opportunity requests from the national MEP network and directly from Georgia. This individual will utilize databases, web search tools, and existing staff expertise to formulate timely responses to all requests. Over the two-year project period, GaMEP will summarize its understanding of local supply chain landscapes, gaps in capabilities for major original equipment manufacturers, and the regional supply chain network across state lines. The collected data is intended to inform GaMEP and the national network of available local supplier networks that can meet scouting requests. The intended beneficiaries are small and medium-sized manufacturers in Georgia. No subawards are planned under this cooperative agreement.

Purpose

The purpose of this project is to provide services to expand existing MEP capabilities to provide national supply chain optimization and to establish a supply chain intelligence network. Improve the resiliency and optimization for domestic supply chains in the MEP national network in the state of georgia.

Activities

Gamep proposes hiring or allocating one new FTE (full-time equivalent) for full-time management of manufacturers? Supply chain opportunity requests from the national network and from requests coming directly into gamep from the state of georgia. The FTE will be the main contact point within the gamep for supply chain requests and will be responsible for utilizing a combination of scouting subscription databases, other web-based data search engines, supplier sourcing best practices, and leveraging the expertise of the existing supply chain practitioners (including the program PI) on staff to formulate a response to all requests. Over the course of the two-year pilot, a summarization will be done of gamep's understanding of the local supply chain landscape, gaps that exist in building out supply chain capabilities and capacities for major local OEM's and a better market understanding of the local supply chain network. For the purposes of the pilot, local will be defined as georgia but may include regional networks across state lines.

Expected outcomes

Gamep expects that the pilot funding will jump start its entry into supplier scouting by dedicating a resource that does not currently exist, to conduct near real-time supplier scouting utilizing available database resources and existing staff expertise. This will provide the gamep with critical knowledge of supply chains within the state and opportunities that exist to connect. Collected data from opportunity requests and responses will help inform gamep and the national network of the availability and capacity of local networks that can meet supplier scouting requests across the system.

Intended beneficiaries

Small and medium-sized manufacturers (smms) in the state of georgia.

Subrecipient activities

The recipient does not intend to subaward funds.