Raimondo 'Constantly Surprised' That Companies Don't Know Supply Chain Weaknesses

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, at the first Supply Chain Summit, said she can't believe how many single points of failure are present in semiconductor supply chains.

Raimondo, who said she was making personal calls to chip CEOs to secure supply for medical device manufacturers during the shortages in 2021, said, "It’s unbelievable to me how we are, as a world, are dependent as a world on a single company in Japan for a chemical that goes into every substrate." She said a single company in Germany makes a component for a light source that goes into 90% of all semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

"I am constantly surprised when dealing with companies how they’re not in touch with the vulnerabilities in their supply chain," she said.

The Commerce Department has developed a SCALE Tool that uses more than 40 indicators on logistical, geopolitical and technical issues that could create vulnerabilities in supply chains, or that explain the resiliency of any given industry's supply chain.

The tool, which has ranked industries from most to least risky, offers a systemic analysis, based on data the U.S. government has on manufacturing.

Assistant Secretary of Commerce Grant Harris, in charge of the agency's Industry and Analysis unit, which created the tool, told the summit audience that SCALE's developers met with hundreds of stakeholders and refined the tool based on their input, and that it will continue to improve it.

He said that the department has already used the tool to assess vulnerabilities in chemicals, broadband, AI data center construction and furbishment, and in the home appliance industry.

"It's not a real-time tracker of disruptions," he said, but rather, gives companies insight into where they may need to diversify supply to mitigate potential chokepoints.

He said it's for "helping diagnose problems before symptoms appear."