Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ResC4EU (RESILIENT SUPPLY CHAINS FOR EUROPE)
Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-06-30
ResC4EU – Resilient Supply Chains for Europe
Supporting EU Businesses in making their production processes and supply chains more resilient and sustainable
ResC4EU is a Collaboration and Support Action (CSA) project and initiative funded by the European Union with 3 million Euros. It aims to support EU businesses, particularly Small and Medium sized enterprises (SMEs), in becoming more resilient and sustainable and be able to quickly adapt to supply chain disruptions such as experienced during COVID-19 crisis, geopolitical tensions or disasters (e.g. Suez Channel closure, floodings, strikes) by implementing advanced technologies.
ResC4EU will provide an open space for SME collaborations facilitated by the ResC4EU Cluster partners and industry associations , develop and provide digital tools that can assist SMEs in detecting and anticipating disruptions in their supply chains, and offering SMEs tailored support and training programmes. Further, manufacturing SMEs in need of implementing advanced technologies will be brought together with tech-savvy SMEs providing innovative solutions.
Overall objectives :
1) Tool Development: Developing and offering tools to empower manufacturing SMEs to identify and mitigate supply chain risk and disruptions
2) Training and Networking: Providing an open space for training manufacturing SMEs and networking with tech-savvy SMEs
3) Technology Acceleration: Accelerating adoption of advanced technologies in manufacturing SMEs
4) Sustainability Demonstration: Showcasing benefits of supply chain resilience alongside improvements in sustainability, including reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, energy savings, and resource savings
5) Public Awareness: Increasing public awareness of resilient supply chains and advanced technologies as solutions for making EU businesses more resilient and sustainable
ResC4EU will boost the resilience of supply chains in Europe’s most critical industrial ecosystems. ResC4EU will help SMEs to overcome disruptions but also thrive in the transition to climate-neutral and resource-secure industrial ecosystems.
Supporting EU Businesses in making their production processes and supply chains more resilient and sustainable
ResC4EU is a Collaboration and Support Action (CSA) project and initiative funded by the European Union with 3 million Euros. It aims to support EU businesses, particularly Small and Medium sized enterprises (SMEs), in becoming more resilient and sustainable and be able to quickly adapt to supply chain disruptions such as experienced during COVID-19 crisis, geopolitical tensions or disasters (e.g. Suez Channel closure, floodings, strikes) by implementing advanced technologies.
ResC4EU will provide an open space for SME collaborations facilitated by the ResC4EU Cluster partners and industry associations , develop and provide digital tools that can assist SMEs in detecting and anticipating disruptions in their supply chains, and offering SMEs tailored support and training programmes. Further, manufacturing SMEs in need of implementing advanced technologies will be brought together with tech-savvy SMEs providing innovative solutions.
Overall objectives :
1) Tool Development: Developing and offering tools to empower manufacturing SMEs to identify and mitigate supply chain risk and disruptions
2) Training and Networking: Providing an open space for training manufacturing SMEs and networking with tech-savvy SMEs
3) Technology Acceleration: Accelerating adoption of advanced technologies in manufacturing SMEs
4) Sustainability Demonstration: Showcasing benefits of supply chain resilience alongside improvements in sustainability, including reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, energy savings, and resource savings
5) Public Awareness: Increasing public awareness of resilient supply chains and advanced technologies as solutions for making EU businesses more resilient and sustainable
ResC4EU will boost the resilience of supply chains in Europe’s most critical industrial ecosystems. ResC4EU will help SMEs to overcome disruptions but also thrive in the transition to climate-neutral and resource-secure industrial ecosystems.
During the first 18 months of the 3-year project, the ResC4EU Project successfully achieved four major milestones:
1) SMEs’ Supply Chain Challenges and Needs:
The ResC4EU Consortium began with an assessment of the challenges, risks, and disruptions faced by SMEs. This was done through literature research and direct engagement between the ResC4EU Cluster partners and their member SMEs across all 14 targeted industrial sectors, to better understand their specific supply chain challenges and needs. For each of the 14 industrial sectors supply chain challenges – both current and potential future disruptions – along with advanced technologies to address these challenges, and potential suppliers of such technologies, were identified and specified under the leadership of the ResC4EU Clusters. The results are summaries in three public reports. Additionally, the first 50 techy-savvy SMEs with innovative advanced technology solutions have been identified and are ready to present their solutions to manufacturing SMEs.
2) Models for Multimodal logistics and Supply Chain Resilience:
A new framework to assess supply chain resilience was created to help each industrial sector spot potential disruptions and explore opportunities for using advanced technologies. This framework was developed by the project’s technology partners, and it works through three sub-models:
• Model 1: Supply Chain Resilience Assessment
This basic model helps SMEs assess how resilient their supply chains are. It gives businesses a score that they can use to compare their performance with others in the same industry or across different industries.
• Model 2: Logistics and Transportation Risk Alerts
This model keeps track of potential risks in supply chains that involve multiple forms of transportation (like trucks, ships, and trains). It alerts stakeholders about any disruptions that might affect the movement of goods.
• Model 3: Carbon Footprint Assessment (Global Warming Potential Assessment)
This model helps calculate the environmental impact of supply chain processes by looking at things like location, transportation methods, energy use, and how products are made. It helps businesses understand their carbon footprint and find ways to reduce it.
3) ResC4EU B2B platform Launch in Oct’24 – A B2B marketplace for SMEs:
One key of improving resilience of supply chains is diversification of suppliers. Therefore, the ResC4EU has launched the ResC4EU B2B platform and its first service for the SMEs – the B2B marketplace. Here can SMEs showcase and offer their products and services and find new business partners, including innovative solutions, products and services offered by tech-savvy SMEs. Over 100 companies have already registered on the platform.
4) Public awareness, Mobilisation of SMEs and Alliance building:
To engage SMEs and encourage their participating in the ResC4EU SME Support programme, ResC4EU has launched an extensive promotional campaign. A total of 94 communication activities were carried out through the ResC4EU Cluster partners (125 activities, including LinkedIn posts). These included: 50 public events, 10 media articles, 24 own newsletters, 1 radio interview, 9 policy engagement events, and 31 LinkedIn news promoting the ResC4EU project and its planned SME support. Additionally, initial alliances have been established with other cluster organisations to expand the outreach to SMEs. Collaborative communication efforts with other EU projects, such as GreenOffshoreTech, have also been successfully initiated.
1) SMEs’ Supply Chain Challenges and Needs:
The ResC4EU Consortium began with an assessment of the challenges, risks, and disruptions faced by SMEs. This was done through literature research and direct engagement between the ResC4EU Cluster partners and their member SMEs across all 14 targeted industrial sectors, to better understand their specific supply chain challenges and needs. For each of the 14 industrial sectors supply chain challenges – both current and potential future disruptions – along with advanced technologies to address these challenges, and potential suppliers of such technologies, were identified and specified under the leadership of the ResC4EU Clusters. The results are summaries in three public reports. Additionally, the first 50 techy-savvy SMEs with innovative advanced technology solutions have been identified and are ready to present their solutions to manufacturing SMEs.
2) Models for Multimodal logistics and Supply Chain Resilience:
A new framework to assess supply chain resilience was created to help each industrial sector spot potential disruptions and explore opportunities for using advanced technologies. This framework was developed by the project’s technology partners, and it works through three sub-models:
• Model 1: Supply Chain Resilience Assessment
This basic model helps SMEs assess how resilient their supply chains are. It gives businesses a score that they can use to compare their performance with others in the same industry or across different industries.
• Model 2: Logistics and Transportation Risk Alerts
This model keeps track of potential risks in supply chains that involve multiple forms of transportation (like trucks, ships, and trains). It alerts stakeholders about any disruptions that might affect the movement of goods.
• Model 3: Carbon Footprint Assessment (Global Warming Potential Assessment)
This model helps calculate the environmental impact of supply chain processes by looking at things like location, transportation methods, energy use, and how products are made. It helps businesses understand their carbon footprint and find ways to reduce it.
3) ResC4EU B2B platform Launch in Oct’24 – A B2B marketplace for SMEs:
One key of improving resilience of supply chains is diversification of suppliers. Therefore, the ResC4EU has launched the ResC4EU B2B platform and its first service for the SMEs – the B2B marketplace. Here can SMEs showcase and offer their products and services and find new business partners, including innovative solutions, products and services offered by tech-savvy SMEs. Over 100 companies have already registered on the platform.
4) Public awareness, Mobilisation of SMEs and Alliance building:
To engage SMEs and encourage their participating in the ResC4EU SME Support programme, ResC4EU has launched an extensive promotional campaign. A total of 94 communication activities were carried out through the ResC4EU Cluster partners (125 activities, including LinkedIn posts). These included: 50 public events, 10 media articles, 24 own newsletters, 1 radio interview, 9 policy engagement events, and 31 LinkedIn news promoting the ResC4EU project and its planned SME support. Additionally, initial alliances have been established with other cluster organisations to expand the outreach to SMEs. Collaborative communication efforts with other EU projects, such as GreenOffshoreTech, have also been successfully initiated.
The ResC4EU project will have a significant economic impact on European SMEs, industry, and the environment, for example:
• Business Continuity: Strengthens SME supply chain resilience, ensuring operational continuity during disruptions and steady revenue
• Cost Reduction: Minimizes disruption-related costs such as expedited shipping, alternative sourcing, and penalties
• Industry Resilience: An early warning system enables quick responses to supply chain risks, preventing production delays
• Employee Training: Provides training materials to help SMEs stay up to date with tech trends and disruption management
• New Business Opportunities: Cluster networking and the ResC4EU platform drive innovation, new processes, and revenue growth for tech-driven SMEs
• Responsible Production: Promotes more sustainable and resilient supply chains reducing waste and pollution while improving process stability
• Sustainability: A GWP analysis tool supports greener production and reduces CO2 emissions
• International Cooperation: Networking connects SMEs across Europe, fostering new cross-border collaborations
• Business Continuity: Strengthens SME supply chain resilience, ensuring operational continuity during disruptions and steady revenue
• Cost Reduction: Minimizes disruption-related costs such as expedited shipping, alternative sourcing, and penalties
• Industry Resilience: An early warning system enables quick responses to supply chain risks, preventing production delays
• Employee Training: Provides training materials to help SMEs stay up to date with tech trends and disruption management
• New Business Opportunities: Cluster networking and the ResC4EU platform drive innovation, new processes, and revenue growth for tech-driven SMEs
• Responsible Production: Promotes more sustainable and resilient supply chains reducing waste and pollution while improving process stability
• Sustainability: A GWP analysis tool supports greener production and reduces CO2 emissions
• International Cooperation: Networking connects SMEs across Europe, fostering new cross-border collaborations