Supply chain assessment tool
In November 2017, Bryden Wood, the integrated design and operations consultancy, launched an assessment tool to help clients optimise their supply chain. https://www.brydenwood.co.uk/news/bryden-wood-creates-supply-chain-assessment-tool/bp84/
The tool includes mapping across both the UK and globally, divided into countries and counties. Each region is assessed and benchmarked based on its performance on a variety of critical factors. Value drivers such as cost, capability, capacity, quality, unemployment, population, corruption, labour skills and product reach are all included.
This gives users a greater understanding of the supply chain, leading to better informed decision making. It can also be used to assess supplier suitability, weighing up all the requirements of the client, such as volumes, dimensions, lead times, availability and so on.
Vasileios Erinakis, Bryden Wood Lead Analyst, Modelling and Analytics commenting said:
“We are bringing together multiple sources of data to form a data-rich map, which we think is unique. It features multi-layered information to enable clients to build up a detailed picture of an area, to help them find the most suitable sites for buildings, facilities and infrastructure. Providing this level of information will make finding the right locations much more efficient for clients, giving them a competitive advantage.
"For a manufacturing client of ours, we are assessing all countries based on the value drivers of the business case - where to operate (considering factors such a Corruption Index, skills and product reach) and of the design of the building (based on environmental factors such as temperature, wind speed, earthquakes). We will be able to make a conclusion and therefore a recommendation on a country that will meet all their requirements.
"On another project, the same model maps out all the suppliers under consideration, visually differentiating them based on their product offering and indicates the shortest route for them to site, enabling logistics optimisation. It assesses UK counties in order to find the most appropriate location for manufacturing hubs, where the different suppliers will send their components in order to be assembled off site using low skilled labour. Here the focus is on more socially-oriented value drivers, like unemployment, population and skills.”
[edit] Find out more
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
Featured articles and news
IHBC planning for growth with corporate plan development
Grow with the Institute by volunteering and CP25 consultation.
Connecting ambition and action for designers and specifiers.
Electrical skills gap deepens as apprenticeship starts fall despite surging demand says ECA.
Built environment bodies deepen joint action on EDI
B.E.Inclusive initiative agree next phase of joint equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) action plan.
Recognising culture as key to sustainable economic growth
Creative UK Provocation paper: Culture as Growth Infrastructure.
Futurebuild and UK Construction Week London Unite
Creating the UK’s Built Environment Super Event and over 25 other key partnerships.
Welsh and Scottish 2026 elections
Manifestos for the built environment for upcoming same May day elections.
Advancing BIM education with a competency framework
“We don’t need people who can just draw in 3D. We need people who can think in data.”
Guidance notes to prepare for April ERA changes
From the Electrical Contractors' Association Employee Relations team.
Significant changes to be seen from the new ERA in 2026 and 2027, starting on 6 April 2026.
First aid in the modern workplace with St John Ambulance.
Ireland's National Residential Retrofit Plan
Staged initiatives introduced step by step.
Solar panels, pitched roofs and risk of fire spread
60% increase in solar panel fires prompts tests and installation warnings.
Modernising heat networks with Heat interface unit
Why HIUs hold the key to efficiency upgrades.
Reflecting on the work of the CIOB Academy
Looking back on 2025 and where it's going next.





















