Advanced manufacturing supply chain innovation: CRD

Key Features

UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £6.5 million for collaborative industrial research to make supply chains more productive, resource efficient and resilient.

Programme:     Innovate UK

Award:     Share of up to £6.5 million

Opens: 27th Apr 2026

Closes: 10th Jun 2026

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Grant Overview

Innovate UK are investing up to £6.5 million into supply chain innovation projects. Projects must apply one of the competition themes to at least two of the Advanced Manufacturing frontier industries.

Grant Scope

The aim of this competition is to support collaborative industrial research projects that explore innovative ways of making supply chains more productive, efficient and resilient. Projects must focus on one of the following specific themes:

  • measurement, sensing and instrumentation
  • additive manufacturing
  • digital manufacturing and industrial AI
  • robotics and intelligent automation
  • power electronics

With projects focussing on at least two of the following Advanced Manufacturing frontier industries:

  • automotive
  • aerospace
  • advanced materials
  • batteries
  • agri-tech
  • space

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for this grant, projects must have a grant funding request of been £250,0000 and £1 million. Projects must start by 1st October 2026 and end 30th September 2029, lasting between 12-36 months.

Lead: To lead a collaborative project, organisations must a UK registered business of any size.

Project team: To collaborate with the lead, organisations must be a UK registered business of any size, academic institution, charity, not for profit, public sector organisation or research and technology organisation.

Non-funded partners: Projects can include organisations not claiming funding for work on their project. They must cover their costs from their own resources and can include UK, EU and other non-UK organisations. Non-UK partners are allowed to carry out project work from within their home counties so long as results are exploited outside of the UK.

Subcontractors:

Subcontractors are allowed to be used in this competition but are limited to no more than 30% of the project’s total eligible costs. Subcontractors can be used from anywhere in the UK. Should overseas subcontractors be used, you must state why UK subcontractors could not be used in your application.

Number of applications:

A farmer, grower or forester can only lead on one application per competition round and receive a maximum of two Facilitator Support Grants in total.

Previous applications:

Previous applications can be used in this competition.

Subcontractors:

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition and can be from anywhere in the UK. If using subcontractors from overseas, you must state why UK subcontractors could not be used.

Number of applications:

A business can only lead on one application but can be included as a collaborator in a further two applications. Should a business not be leading any applications, it can collaborate in any number of applications. Academic institutions, charities, not for profit, public sector or research and technology organisations can collaborate on any number of applications.

Previous applications:

Previously submitted applications can be used in this competition.

Grant Exclusions

The following projects cannot be funded:

  • Projects that do not focus on one of the specific themes across a minimum of two of the listed Advanced Manufacturing frontier industries.
  • Projects that do not demonstrate named end user involvement within the project.
  • Projects that do not describe how the product or service solution could be used in both selected frontier industry supply chains.
  • Projects that focus solely on the defence sector, food and beverage manufacturing, cosmetics manufacturing, construction or chemicals, unless specifically benefitting advanced manufacturing frontier industries.
  • Projects that have their main exploitation route outside the advanced materials frontier industries.
  • Projects that do not result in significant improvement in resource efficiency.

Grant Funding

Innovate UK have allocated up to £6.5 million to fund innovation projects in this competition. Funding will be in the form of a grant.

For industrial research you can receive funding for eligible project costs of:

  • up to 70% if you are a micro or small organisation
  • up to 60% if you are a medium sized organisation
  • up to 50% if you are a large organisation

Research participation

Research organisations undertaking non-economic activity as part of the project can share up to 30% of the total eligible project costs. Consortiums containing more than one research organisation undertaking non-economic activity, this maximum is shared between them. Of that 30% you can get funding for eligible project costs of up to:

  • 100% of your eligible project costs if you are an RTO, charity, not for profit organisation, public sector organisation or research organisation
  • 80% of full economic costs (FEC) if you are a Je-S registered institution such as an academic

Eligibility criteria for claiming 80% of FEC funding

  1. Research organisations using the Je-S system must submit their costs through the Je-S system which calculates the 80% FEC figure.
  2. On IFS, only the 80% FEC output should be entered at 100% funding.
  3. Applicants do not need to show the remaining 20% on the finance table.

For further information on this competition, please see full details.

Full competition details

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