Supply chain risk assessment methodology
Materials decisions that ignore supply chain risk can fail in production even when the technical properties are ideal. This whitepaper explains how Lattice Graph integrates supply chain signals into materials selection workflows.
Why supply chain risk matters for materials selection
A technically superior material is useless if it cannot be procured reliably at acceptable cost. Supply chain disruptions, export controls, geographic concentration of mining, and price volatility can all invalidate a materials decision made purely on technical merit. R&D teams that evaluate supply risk alongside technical performance make decisions that survive qualification and scale-up.
Risk dimensions tracked by Lattice Graph
Lattice Graph tracks four supply chain risk dimensions for each element and material: criticality (based on USGS, EU Critical Raw Materials, and CHIPS Act designations), geographic concentration (Herfindahl index of mining and refining), substitution difficulty (number of viable alternative compositions for the same application), and price volatility (historical coefficient of variation for commodity pricing).
Composite risk scoring
Each material receives a composite supply chain risk score based on the weighted risk contributions of its constituent elements. The score accounts for element mass fractions, so trace elements with extreme criticality are not over-weighted relative to majority constituents. Risk scores are comparable across materials in the same application domain.
Integration with decision workflows
Supply chain risk scores appear alongside technical property scores in battery, catalyst, packaging, and discovery workflows. Teams can set risk thresholds as workflow gates, ensuring that no candidate advances to experimental validation without passing a supply chain review. The risk module also generates LCA footprint estimates for materials that have sufficient lifecycle data.
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Start exploring materials data with cross-source confidence, simulation workflows, and the tools described in this resource.