The U.S. Defense Department has created a departmentwide task force to address systemic barriers that limit visibility in the U.S. supply chain.
The Defense Department said Sept. 3 that the task force will be a two-year effort led by the Office of Industrial Policy. It plans to conduct supply chain resiliency assessments and develop mitigation actions.
"We are working to solve a problem that took 50 years to evolve," Gregory Kausner, the department's undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said in a news release. "A comprehensive strategic approach will take time, dedicated attention and resources. Effective implementation begins with understanding our vulnerabilities and the necessary responses so we can focus our efforts to build greater resiliency across critical supply chains."
The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the need for resiliency in the U.S. supply chain, and it has become a priority for the Biden administration, Congress and the Defense Department, the department said.
"The working group is a down payment on a long-term problem," Jesse Salazar, deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial policy, said in the news release. "It coalesces efforts from across the department and provides a mechanism to develop a framework and proactive strategy to change the way DoD does business and better secure our supply chains."
Read the Defense Department's full news release here.