The Commerce Department is prioritizing better assessing supply chain risks with a new diagnostic tool, unveiled at the agency's inaugural supply chain summit earlier this month.
The SCALE tool compares structural supply chain risks and their root causes across industries to better inform government decision making. This includes weighing which industries and products are most at risk relative to one another, according to a senior Commerce Department official.
As part of the Biden administration's work to fortify supply chains across the country, the new tool could be used to alert officials of impending critical supply shortages.
For example, had SCALE existed five years ago, it could have flagged the impending shortage of personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic, the official said.
"SCALE is a first-of-its-kind analytics tool because it revolutionizes our ability to understand systemic supply chain vulnerabilities that pose risks to U.S. economic and national security," Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Analysis Grant Harris said in a statement.
The tool will not be available to the public, but the department does plan to talk with industry stakeholders regarding its findings, as well as with other government entities, including the White House Council on Supply Chain Resilience and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity.
The agency hopes findings from the tool will help public and private stakeholders more holistically assess supply chain risks across the economy. SCALE is already being put to use to help assess risks for the supply chains behind artificial intelligence data centers, the official said.
Mitigating supply chain risks has been a key focus for the Biden administration as it looks to catch supply shortages before they start by sharing data and bolstering its resource toolkit.
As part of these efforts, the administration continues to push ahead on its work with the IPEF Supply Chain Council. The group held its first in-person meeting last week, laying out its plans for the year ahead, with a focus on tackling issues related to semiconductors, chemicals and critical minerals.
