Welcome to the SME supply chain section for the DGP, within these few pages we aim to help you identify if your business fits the criteria for an SME and if it does then to provide some invaluable links into the DGP community to enable you to make valuable connections with industry and explore ways to improve your business and add more value to the 13 DGP member companies and the MOD .
The UK Government defines a company as an SME if two of these three characteristics are met:
- It has an annual turnover less than €50m.
- Number of employees less than 250.
- Annual balance sheet total less than €43m.
– BEIS Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) action plan, 6 March 2019.
Andrew Forzani in the MOD SME Action plan described the SME as the backbone of the UK economy, and the contribution made by SMEs is crucial to the UK’s national prosperity and the UK’s ability to compete in the global marketplace.
This is further evidenced by SMEs being direct recipients of £835 million per annum of MoD spending, and SMEs playing vital roles in the supply chains of the 19 MoD strategic suppliers (of which 13 companies are DPG members) which account for over half of the annual spend of the MoD (£20.9 billion). SMEs therefore provide a vital role in supporting UK MoD and the International business streams of each DGP member.
Please view the range of subject areas below that we believe are important for SMEs to know about.
Subject areas of note to SMEs
Links to the DGP Companies supply chain pages.
Click on the members logo to access the ‘supply chain’ section of each DGP member website and connect with the supply chain team for each of the DGP members.
UKDSC – Community of Interest Portal.
The UK Defence Solutions Centre (UKDSC) brings key parts of the UK Value Chain together to respond innovatively and more cohesively to meet identified emerging needs and is actively involved in working with SMEs.
Whilst working within the pre-competitive environment, the UKDSC actively engages with SMEs that operate in both the UK Defence and adjacent Civil sectors. It is particularly keen to engage with SMEs that have new and innovative technologies or products which have the potential to enhance future UK defence capabilities and subsequently support the development of solutions to meet the needs of national and international Defence customers.
Where appropriate, the UKDSC invites SMEs to register to join its Cross-Sector Innovation Communities Of Interest (CSI COI) via its recently launched online Portal. Once enrolment is completed, this registration provides further support and guidance to SMEs via signposting specific innovations topics, potential funding opportunities and nominated points of contact across the wider UK Defence and Security ecosystem; including the Defence Growth Partnership (DGP), Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), Front Line Command (FLC) Innovation Hubs, UKRI – Innovate UK and the various Knowledge Transfer Networks (KTNs) etc.
The registration process for the CSI COI Innovation Portal has some UK-specific requirements, however, it is relatively straightforward to complete.
Productivity and Continuous Improvement
“Productivity in its simplest terms is the total output produced per input within an economy” – BEIS, Business Productivity Review, (May 2018).
Productivity is important to the DGP supply chain because the UK and European Defence markets are facing the struggle of bridging the gap between the challenges in meeting defence requirement needs and the availability of budget to resource these needs. Productivity in the supply chain is therefore an area which can contribute to the larger companies operating more efficiently and this in turn leading to the DGP companies and the TEAM UK approach becoming more competitive. DGP supports an number of productivity initiatives for SME’s to meet these aims.
Value Chain Competitiveness Improvement ‘How to Framework’
It is vital for every SME to continue to improve in order to remain competitive and help the DGP members to win and retain business. You should liaise directly with your DGP member customers on this matter to identify exactly what their customer strategy is.
One of the workstreams of the DGP focuses on is Value Chain Competitiveness. As part of this work-stream Rolls Royce have recently completed a programme called the ‘How to framework’ which is an integrated suite of Lean best practice principles, ‘How-to’ methodologies, tools and leadership behaviours required to operate and improve Manufacturing value chains.
This flagship DGP Programme was made to help establish a culture of continuous improvement and to provide a road-map for fixing abnormalities and improving operating standards. Click here to find out more.
Sharing and Growth and SC21
In addition to working with your DGP member customer, a useful introduction to the subject of continuous improvement can be found on the SC21 site which can be accessed here where you can learn more about how ADS is helping UK SMEs achieve excellence. This site also includes ‘Sharing in Growth’ which can be accessed here, and is also a valuable source of information.
Be the Business
Be the Business is an independent, not-for-profit movement set up to spearhead a drive towards improving the UK’s productivity over the next decade and beyond.
“Our movement is about businesses coming together to share the things that have made them successful and providing inspiration for firms to make small changes that make a big difference to their performance.” Sir Charlie Mayfield – Chairman, Be the Business and Former Chairman John Lewis Partnership
Supported by the leaders of some of the most successful brands in the UK, Be the Business is here to help every firm in the country improve their own performance, and the performance of those they work with.
Featuring a wide range of services and programmes;
- Mentoring for Growth – a flagship mentoring programme matching corporate leaders with ambitious SME owners to help them grow their businesses and leadership skills
- Leadership and Management training – university-based courses, workshops and masterclasses
- Free resources and insights – monthly newsletters and e-books in collaboration with industry leaders and experts
- Benchmarking – an innovative tool which help businesses understand their productivity and performance
- Collaborative networks and peer-based learning – region and sector specific networks designed for learning, sharing and networking
Be the Business is already helping hundreds of small businesses boost their performance and leadership capabilities.
Find out more at bethebusiness.com
MoD – SME Policy
The Ministry of Defence’s website contains their SME policy and information and advice relating to SMEs and their supply chain. The link to the MoD website can be found here.
BEIS – SME information
The Department for Business, Energy and industrial strategy’s website contains useful information for SMEs. Click here to travel to their website.