October 2026 Key Regional Findings

• ASIA:Index rose to 1.67, from 1.49, signaling the greatest degree of pressure on Asia’s supply network in four months.
• NORTH AMERICA: Index ticks lower to 1.03, from 1.13, but North American manufacturers report greater safety stockpiling and backlog accumulation due to shortages.
• EUROPE:Index rises to 0.78, from 0.66, reflecting growth in purchasing and inventories. Germany was a key driver of these trends.
• UK:Index drops to a three-month low of 0.39, from 0.59, signaling another sharp climbdown in supply-chain pressures for U.K. manufacturers.

GEP Reports Surge in Manufacturing Stockpiling

The indicator tracking precautionary stockpiling among North American manufacturers more than doubled in October, according to the latest GEP Global Supply Chain Volatility Index.

European manufacturers also increased their inventory buffers, with Germany contributing significantly to the rise in purchasing activity.

The October 2026 report, based on surveys of approximately 27,000 businesses across more than 40 countries, found that manufacturers were buying additional materials to protect against potential shortages and further price increases.

Manufacturers Accelerate Stockpiling

Precautionary stockpiling reached historically high levels globally, with North American manufacturers reporting their strongest inventory-building activity in five months.

The increase comes despite a moderation in global purchasing growth, raising questions about how long the current demand for manufacturing inputs can continue.

John Piatek, Vice President, Consulting at GEP, said:

“Manufacturers are increasingly concerned about what’s ahead, particularly inflation and the risk of renewed supply disruptions. They’re responding by building larger inventory buffers to protect production and manage future costs.  The concern is what happens next. This additional purchasing is supporting manufacturing activity today, but it also ties up working capital. Once inventories are built, purchasing could slow, creating a drag on manufacturing and the wider economy in 2027.”

Global Supply Chain Volatility Index

Asia recorded the highest regional index reading in October at 1.67, up from 1.49 in September, indicating the greatest pressure on its supply network in four months.

Europe’s index rose from 0.66 to 0.78, reflecting stronger purchasing activity and inventory accumulation, particularly in Germany.

North America’s reading eased slightly from 1.13 to 1.03, although manufacturers reported increased safety stockpiling and backlogs linked to shortages.

Meanwhile, the UK’s index fell from 0.59 to 0.39, reaching a three-month low as supply chain pressures continued to ease.

A positive index reading indicates that supply chain capacity is being stretched, with higher values reflecting greater pressure.

Purchasing activity remained resilient globally, with the US, China and Germany among the main contributors to growth. However, overall supply chain pressures eased as material and labour shortages became less pronounced.

Transportation Costs Rise Again

Global transportation costs increased for the second consecutive month, with the transportation cost index reaching a four-month high as oil prices rose throughout October.

Material shortages remained above their long-term average for the eighth consecutive month, although reports of shortages were at their lowest level since March.

Oil, electronic and electrical components, and metals were among the materials most frequently reported as being in short supply.

Labour shortages also eased, with reports of manufacturing backlogs caused by staffing constraints falling to their lowest level since February 2025.

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Bridging the gap between academic research and business practice

Business schools generate extraordinary volumes of academic knowledge, but is enough of it translating into business practice, informing policy, and advancing society?

AACSB International, a global organisation focused on standards and quality in business education, recently set out to address this question.

In partnership with nine leading scholarly societies, AACSB’s Global Research Impact Task Force has worked to close the gap between what researchers produce and what the world needs.

The newly released Framework for Research Impact provides business schools with a broader understanding of research impact and pathways towards achieving it.

The limitations of traditional academic research metrics

For decades, the dominant measure of scholarly success has been publishing in highly ranked journals, accumulating citations, and doing so repeatedly.

This standard has not been without value. Peer review and methodological rigour remain essential to the credibility of scholarly work.

The challenge is not the measure itself, but the extent to which it has become the dominant method for evaluating success.

When journal rankings and citation counts become the primary criteria through which faculty are hired, promoted, and rewarded, academics naturally respond to the incentives institutions create.

Work that could reshape a boardroom decision, inform government policy, or transform an undergraduate curriculum is too often sidelined.

When measures become targets, they risk distortion. Researchers focus on improving the metric rather than the underlying quality or real-world impact of their work.

The new framework offers a way to change that.

Creating the conditions for meaningful research impact

High-quality research is defined not only by rigour, but also by its relevance, resonance, intellectual contribution, and capacity to generate meaningful impact, with these dimensions working together rather than in competition.

In practice, this means business schools can recognise and reward academics whose work informs regulation or professional guidelines, reshapes curricula and teaching, improves organisational performance, or strengthens public health and community outcomes, rather than only those who publish in highly ranked journals.

What distinguishes this framework from previous calls to action is its emphasis on the conditions in which research takes place.

Systems, incentives, and institutional cultures must be deliberately designed to support research impact.

That means rethinking promotion criteria, resource allocation, and the signals institutional leaders send every day, while integrating relevance and engagement into the core research strategy.

How business schools are connecting research with industry

Monash Business School offers an example of an institution that has embedded these impact dimensions into its research ecosystem.

Its Impact Labs bring researchers together with government agencies, industry, non-profit organisations, and multinational corporations to co-design evidence-based responses to economic, environmental, and social challenges.

Engagement can take the form of co-designed research projects, executive education, workshops, doctoral internships, and the development of new tools and indices.

These activities are recognised as measures of research success alongside publications, collaboration, and engagement.

The Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona provides another model.

Through its Partnerships Office, Eller connects academic expertise with industry, public-sector, and community partners, creating structured and scalable approaches to co-developing applied research, experiential learning, and solutions to real-world challenges.

Together, these examples illustrate what becomes possible when institutions align incentives, infrastructure, and recognition systems with research impact.

Strengthening partnerships between business schools and industry

These expanded measures of research impact also create opportunities for more meaningful, results-focused partnerships between companies and business schools.

Such partnerships allow research to be developed collaboratively with the private sector and designed to address the challenges business leaders face.

AACSB’s Framework for Research Impact provides business leaders with a clearer route to engage with business schools in developing research that is more relevant, connected, and impactful.

The opportunity to strengthen these relationships is now.

Why research relevance matters for the future of business education

The context for business education is shifting rapidly, and that change matters directly to business school stakeholders.

Students, employers, policymakers, and wider society are asking increasingly searching questions about value and relev

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STRENGTHENING THE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK

Maersk, an integrated logistics company that connects and simplifies its customers’ supply chains, has announced the expansion of its partnership with PUMA, one of the world’s leading sportswear companies.

The global leader in logistics services will manage PUMA’s North American distribution network, including three large, highly autonomous warehouses in California, Arizona, and Indiana, comprising approximately 2.3 million square feet. To date, Maersk has provided the sportswear company with logistics services to help it reach end consumers across the globe. Such services include warehousing and distribution, alongside fulfillment, air freight, customs services, and inland transportation.

The latest evolution of the partnership will strengthen PUMA’s US distribution network, with Maersk bringing its logistics technology to maximize operational performance.

Dave Hune, North America Head of Maersk Contract Logistics, states: “Many companies are looking for ways to get more value from the logistics infrastructure they’ve already invested in. This partnership is a great example of how Maersk can combine our operational expertise, technology, and logistics network with a customer’s existing assets to improve efficiency, maximize the value of automation, and reduce costs. Together with PUMA, we’re creating a more flexible and scalable fulfillment network that helps keep products moving quickly to stores and consumers.”

INTEGRATED LOGISTICS SOLUTIONS

Under the agreement, Maersk will operate three facilities across the US: Torrance, California; Phoenix, Arizona; and Whitestown, Indiana. All three facilities are equipped with AutoStore automation technology.

AutoStore is an automated storage and retrieval system that combines proven cube-based automation with advanced software to create more intelligent and efficient fulfillment processes. Stored within a compact grid, the inventory is automatically retrieved by robots, which then bring the goods directly to employees at workstations for picking and packing. Through AutoStore’s flexible and scalable design, the system improves speed, efficiency, and workplace productivity while making better use of available warehouse space.

Together, these three facilities and AutoStore’s capabilities will enable PUMA to streamline product movement, process orders faster, and provide customers with a consistent shopping experience.

“At PUMA, delivering a seamless experience for our consumers and retail partners requires a supply chain that is agile, efficient, and built for growth. As we’ve expanded our relationship with Maersk, we’ve seen the value of combining our highly automated distribution network with their operational expertise, technology, and integrated logistics capabilities. This next phase of our partnership strengthens our ability to move products more efficiently across channels, improve responsiveness to changing demand, and create greater value from the investments we’ve made in our US distribution infrastructure,” notes Helmut Leibbrandt, Senior Vice President Supply Chain Management and Logistics Americas, PUMA.

This partnership will also support Maersk’s strategy of delivering integrated logistics solutions that connect physical assets, transportation networks, and the latest technology and digital capabilities to provide customers with greater operational control, reliability, and value. Crucially, the model enables Maersk to utilize available capacity in the network for its customers, improving asset use and creating additional value from PUMA’s infrastructure.

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IBM company Apptio is strengthening its technology financial management portfolio with new connections to leading frontier AI systems, alongside expanded capabilities designed to help enterprises better understand and manage their AI expenditure. 

The latest developments will enable organizations to monitor AI costs and usage alongside wider technology spending, assess expenditure against business outcomes, and identify which investments offer the greatest potential for growth. 

The announcement comes as businesses face increasing challenges in understanding the financial implications of AI adoption. An IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) study published in June 2026 found that 85 percent of surveyed technology executives lacked full visibility into their real-time AI spending. 

With expenditure distributed across model providers, cloud infrastructure, applications, and internal teams, gaining a comprehensive understanding of AI costs and the value they generate is becoming increasingly important. 

IMPROVING VISIBILITY ACROSS AI INVESTMENTS  

Beyond its new AI connections, IBM is extending capabilities throughout the Apptio portfolio to support AI financial planning, business value measurement, and greater transparency around Kubernetes network costs. 

The company is also introducing new Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers and AI-assisted analysis tools, allowing teams to access and examine technology financial data through their preferred AI platforms. 

“AI investment is growing faster than many organizations can effectively govern and evaluate, and fragmented and outdated technology and AI data only adds to the complexity,” said Eugene Khvostov, Chief Product Officer, IBM Apptio.  

CONNECTING AI CONSUMPTION WITH TECHNOLOGY SPENDING  

IBM is introducing native connections for leading frontier AI systems across the Apptio portfolio, enabling enterprises to bring AI cost and usage information into their existing technology financial management processes. 

The integrations are intended to provide a more complete picture of enterprise technology expenditure, helping organizations account for AI consumption as an increasingly significant component of their overall budgets. 

Alongside this, new MCP servers will connect financial, operational, organizational, and portfolio data with external AI tools. This will allow businesses to bring technology financial intelligence into the platforms and working environments their teams already use to collaborate and make decisions. 

EXPANDING AI-POWERED INSIGHTS  

IBM is also broadening its AI-assisted decision-making capabilities, allowing users to ask natural-language questions about financial, cloud, and portfolio data. 

By identifying underlying cost drivers, potential risks, and opportunities, these tools aim to accelerate analysis and reduce the need for specialist expertise or time-consuming manual report navigation. 

The expanded capabilities span three key areas: 

IBM Cloudability 

Enhanced AI cost management and AI Insights capabilities will allow organizations to incorporate AI application costs, usage, and token data alongside traditional cloud expenditure. 

Cloudability also supports AI and cloud unit economics, with recommendations around commitments to hyperscalers’ AI services helping businesses optimize rates. Its financial planning tools can additionally support AI cost forecasting and budgeting. 

Through AI Assistant, users can ask questions about cloud and AI expenditure in plain English and receive insights based on their connected data. 

IBM Apptio 

Additional AI capabilities are being introduced through IBM Apptio AI Assistant, AI Lens, and AI Data Assistant, which are designed to accelerate analysis and automate data preparation. 

Expanded AI Economics functionality will provide more detailed visibility into AI expenditure, total costs, and usage. Meanwhile, new AI Value & ROI capabilities will help organizations link technology investments to measurable business outcomes. 

Driver-based planning is also being enhanced to support more accurate forecasting of variable expenditure. 

IBM Kubecost 

IBM is extending network cost visibility within Kubernetes environments, giving teams greater insight into the infrastructure expenditure generated by their operations. 

New details covering AWS NAT Gateway ingress and egress, as well as cross-zone and cross-region traffic, will help organizations identify the sources of network spending and trace associated costs back to the Kubernetes resources and traffic patterns responsible. 

CONNECTING TECHNOLOGY EXPENDITURE WITH BUSINESS VALUE  

The expanded portfolio reflects the growing need for enterprises to look beyond the immediate costs of AI adoption and understand the returns generated by their investments. 

“Enterprises are investing aggressively in AI, but visibility into cost alone isn’t enough. Leaders need to understand what they’re spending, who owns it and, ultimately, what value the business is getting in return,” said Tim Crawford, Founder and Principal Analyst, AVOA. 

By bringing consumption data, infrastructure costs, financial planning, and business performance into a more connected framework, IBM aims to help technology, finance, and business leaders make faster, better-informed decisions about their AI strategies and wider technology investments. 

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Coupa Expands AI-Powered Procurement and Payment Automation

Coupa has reported a 58 percent year-on-year increase in Coupa Pay transactions as it expands its use of artificial intelligence (AI) to automate procurement and financial operations.

The increase, recorded during the first half of its 2027 financial year, comes alongside a compound annual growth rate of more than 69 percent for Coupa Pay over the past three years.

Coupa’s Invoice-to-Pay (I2P) platform brings invoicing, expenses, supplier payments and treasury management into one system.

Payment Volumes Surge

Coupa Pay has recorded five consecutive quarters of transaction revenue growth exceeding 50 percent year-on-year.

Total payment volume across the platform also increased 71 percent during the first half of fiscal year 2027, while virtual card payment volume surpassed USD$1 billion.

Bill Wardwell, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Coupa Pay and Treasury, said:

“Five consecutive quarters of transaction revenue growth above 50% year over year shows this business is built for the long term. This milestone is a testament to our world-class product, durable operations, and strong cross-functional execution.”

Coupa Card Progress

Coupa Card, launched in November 2025, has processed approximately USD$50 million in spending. Online vehicle retailer Carvana has generated more than 71,000 virtual cards through the system, combining credit approvals, payment execution and automatic reconciliation.

Rebecca Meeker, Senior Vice President of B2B Partnerships and Embedded Finance at Mastercard, said:

“The momentum behind Coupa Card reflects a broader shift in how businesses want to pay and get paid: seamlessly, securely, and within the workflows they already use every day.

Mastercard is proud to support Coupa as the network powering the card and a leading virtual card partner – bringing the scale, security, and acceptance of our global network to help simplify supplier payments, improve control and deliver a more connected payment experience for businesses around the world.”

AI Takes on Manual Tasks

Coupa has expanded its Navi AI workforce to more than 50 specialised agents, available at different stages of release.

New agents introduced in September 2026 focus on payment approvals, working capital optimisation and accounts payable.

One customer, a national insurance provider, used Coupa’s Expense Receipt Parsing Agent to process approximately 50,700 receipts in less than three months.

According to Coupa, the automation saved 211 working days and delivered a return on investment of nearly 25 times.

Another agent, designed to automate payment batch creation, has saved almost three working weeks and generated approximately USD$6,000 in value.

Rajiv Ramachandran, Chief Product Officer, I2P at Coupa, said:

“We’re building toward a future where the entire financial operations process is designed by humans but executed autonomously by agents, freeing finance teams from manual workflows. By blending our deep history of organic innovation with highly strategic AI acquisitions, including Rossum and Tonkean, we are delivering transformational, agentic payables, payments, working capital, and cash management with unmatched scale and trust.”

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REAL-WORLD INDUSTRY INTELLIGENCE

As a global technology company connecting the physical world with the digital, Trimble transforms the way work gets done. Through its relentless innovation in precise positioning, modeling, and data analytics, Trimble enables crucial industries – including construction, geospatial, and transportation – to drive productivity and progress.

Trimble recently announced the release of its new Trimble Connect AI capabilities platform, designed to support the design, build, and operate phases of the construction lifecycle. The platform expands the functionality available to the construction industry, delivering cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) solutions ranging from generative design through Trimble Assist and customer-designed agents in Trimble Agent Studio to advanced AI governance and transparency.

Going beyond software-only solutions, Trimble Connect operates in parallel with enterprise software and back-office systems, ensuring that information, context, and intelligence move with the work.

As the construction industry faces shrinking labor capacity and tighter profit margins, project risks are increasing. These risks compound in the unseen gaps between tools, teams, and workflows, where information can become disconnected. Trimble’s platform addresses these risks by connecting design, estimating, field, and financial data while allowing customers to retain their specialized tools.

Rob Painter, President and CEO of Trimble, states: “In construction, risk can enter a project at five major points: physical, informational, contractual, commercial, and knowledge. Connection is how we help customers manage that risk. The power of Trimble’s open platform lies in its ability to allow teams to identify real-world problems and enable rapid decision-making, all grounded in data from the work itself. By embedding industry intelligence within Trimble Connect, we are driving predictability and profitability across the built lifecycle.”

ADVANCING AI INNOVATION ACROSS CONSTRUCTION

Trimble Connect provides companies with a single, connected view across the design, build, and operate phases, leveraging domain context from specialized workflows while ensuring human judgment remains at the center of all decision-making.

At the most recent Trimble Dimensions User Conference, the company highlighted new AI capabilities that have been integrated across the platform. During the design phase, Trimble bridges the gap between conceptual design models and constructible reality, enabling teams to transform raw field data and natural language into precise geometry.

Throughout the build phase, the company provides contractors with real-time site intelligence to help prevent field issues and maintain operational schedules. During the operating phase, Trimble Connect synchronizes field progress directly with financial ledgers, schedules, and enterprise ERPs, helping teams maintain schedules and protect profit margins.

Ultimately, Trimble is helping customers realize the benefits of AI by integrating innovative capabilities into its core solutions. The company’s new platform is designed to be trusted with customers’ most important project data. Trimble AI runs within this trusted environment. To reinforce customer trust alongside innovation, all available AI agents and models within the AI layer of the Trimble Connect platform feature standardized, live AI safety labels documenting safety, security, design, and data provenance.

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DEDICATED TO DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

As a global leader in industrial automation and digital transformation, Rockwell Automation connects the imaginations of people with the potential of technology to expand what is humanly possible, ultimately making the world more productive and sustainable for the long term.

Further demonstrating this commitment to industrial automation and digital transformation, the company has recently announced new SecureOT^TM cybersecurity capabilities designed to help original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) simplify compliance efforts, strengthen secure-by-design practices, and better manage cybersecurity risks throughout the machine lifecycle.

Rick Kaun, Global Director of Cybersecurity Services at Rockwell Automation, states: “OEMs are facing unprecedented pressure to demonstrate cybersecurity readiness while continuing to innovate and deliver high-quality machines on schedule. By combining SecureOT technology, advisory services, and Rockwell Automation’s industrial expertise, we help OEMs make cybersecurity a strategic business advantage rather than a compliance exercise.”

Through the combination of technology, services, and industrial cybersecurity expertise, SecureOT assists OEMs in transitioning from reactive compliance activities to a proactive and scalable approach to managing cybersecurity risk. Some of these key capabilities include machine-level asset visibility with detailed inventories of hardware, software, and firmware; vulnerability identification to uncover cybersecurity risks that may affect machine security and compliance; and exportable compliance reports that support customer transparency, audit preparation, and regulatory documentation requirements.

Additionally, SecureOT offers cybersecurity assessments and advisory services to help identify gaps, establish governance processes, and align with industry standards, alongside providing continuous monitoring to maintain visibility into newly disclosed vulnerabilities, support ongoing risk management, and satisfy post-deployment cybersecurity obligations.

MANAGING CYBERSECURITY RISKS

As regulations, such as the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) and Machinery Regulation (MR), move toward upcoming compliance deadlines, they are actively reshaping requirements for machine builders. In the meantime, OEMs are facing increasing pressure to demonstrate cybersecurity readiness, maintain detailed documentation, and provide ongoing support for assets already in use.

Approximately two in five OEMs are already navigating changing compliance requirements, with 63 percent anticipating cyber risks to continue – as reported by Rockwell’s OEM Advantage Playbook. Despite this pressure being evident throughout the market, many companies lack visibility into their own current readiness and the steps necessary to confidently address evolving requirements.

Through Rockwell’s SecureOT, organizations can address challenges by equipping OEMs with proactive cybersecurity management and making regulatory readiness a more repeatable, scalable process. To assist companies further, Rockwell has expanded SecureOT with OEM-focused capabilities, such as cybersecurity assessments, advisory services, machine-level visibility, vulnerability identification, and compliance reporting in order to assist machine builders in navigating evolving requirements.

Ultimately, Rockwell Automation’s approach to OEM cybersecurity differentiates it from the rest. Through the combination of industrial automation expertise, OT cybersecurity technology, assessments, advisory services, and machine-level visibility through a unified approach, OEMs are able to establish scalable cybersecurity programs that support secure-by-design development, ongoing vulnerability management, compliance documentation, and machine lifecycle support.

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JOINING FORCES

Mondelēz International and Accenture are joining forces to reimagine the former’s end-to-end Order-to-Cash process through agentic AI and new technologies, in a collaboration designed to simplify operations, improve customer experiences, and enhance financial performance.

Announced on November 5th, 2026, the initiative will connect customer service, supply chain, and finance operations, using intelligent technology to streamline workflows, improve visibility, and enable faster decision-making. Its success will be measured primarily through tangible business outcomes.

REIMAGINING ORDER-TO-CASH

Spanning every stage from order placement through to payment collection, Order-to-Cash plays a critical role in customer experience, revenue generation, and cash flow.

For Mondelēz, the process supports millions of transactions each year across customers, markets, and distribution networks. Improving its efficiency therefore offers an opportunity to deliver meaningful benefits across the business while creating a smoother customer experience.

By improving order management, credit checks, fulfilment, invoicing, and collections, a more streamlined process can also support quicker deliveries and more responsive customer service.

Through the collaboration, Mondelēz and Accenture are applying agentic AI across the end-to-end process, connecting previously distinct operational functions to create a more intelligent and integrated way of working.

Filippo Catalano, Chief Information and Digital Officer at Mondelēz International, explains: “Order-to-Cash is where customer demand becomes revenue, making it a critical driver of customer experience, cash flow and business performance day in and day out.”

Built on the digital foundation of Mondelēz’s new global cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, and powered by agentic AI on top of its process intelligence layer, the transformation aims to give teams greater visibility and help them respond more effectively to customer needs.

DELIVERING MEASURABLE OUTCOMES

The initiative is expected to accelerate payment collections, strengthen working capital performance, and help teams resolve issues more quickly.

Real-time insights across the Order-to-Cash process will simplify day-to-day activities, improve accuracy, reduce costs, and support faster decision-making. Customer-facing teams will be better equipped to address issues, while finance teams gain greater visibility into business performance and leaders receive the insights needed to act faster.

For Mondelēz, these improvements represent an opportunity to strengthen service levels and financial performance while establishing a more agile foundation for future growth.

Marco Ziegler, Senior Managing Director and Global Client Account Lead for Mondelēz at Accenture, highlights the wider potential of the collaboration.

“AI is creating new opportunities for Mondelēz to fundamentally reimagine how critical business processes operate, generate value and unlock greater returns from their operations.”

By bringing together its expertise and technology capabilities, Accenture is working alongside Mondelēz to develop a more connected, data-driven process that can improve operational efficiency and deliver measurable financial impact.

The ambition also extends beyond the immediate transformation. The approach could eventually be applied across other business functions, creating further opportunities to improve performance and support growth.

Sanjay Gurbuxani, Global Vice President of Digital Supply Chain at Mondelēz International, describes the significance of the initiative.

“This collaboration marks a step change in how we operate – by embedding agentic AI into the heart of Order-to-Cash,” he says.

“We are not just improving a process; we are building the intelligent backbone for how Mondelēz serves customers and drives growth at scale,” he adds.

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INTRODUCING BOT TO THE US MARKET  

Minimal will present its autonomous vehicle platform, Bot, for the first time at Micromobility America in San Francisco.  

The showcase represents the next phase of Minimal’s autonomy program, which aims to establish a single network for urban goods transportation. The company is developing vehicles, autonomous technology, software, and operational capabilities as part of one integrated system. 

Minimal is also preparing for its US expansion, with its first vehicles scheduled for deployment in the country in 2027. 

As part of the event, Patrick Bion, CEO of Minimal, will deliver a keynote presentation on the Ride Stage at 10 am on Wednesday 11^th November. His address will explore the company’s autonomy program and how its vehicles and software are being developed to facilitate the movement of goods through urban environments. 

A FLEXIBLE APPROACH TO URBAN DELIVERIES  

Designed and manufactured at Minimal’s London factory, Bot incorporates its sensor and vision systems from the outset of production. 

The vehicle features a modular storage compartment that can be configured to accommodate different orders, allowing multiple deliveries to be transported during a single journey. Its intended applications span food, small grocery, medical, and parcel deliveries, connecting suppliers directly with customers. 

Rather than relying on vehicles designed for a single delivery purpose, Bot can adapt to different requirements. This flexibility is intended to reduce idle time and bring down delivery costs. 

DEVELOPING AUTONOMOUS TECHNOLOGY  

Minimal is developing Bot alongside its self-driving model, with the company’s team responsible for creating both the vehicle and the technology that powers it. The model interprets its surroundings, makes driving decisions, and controls the vehicle. 

Combined with connected hardware, this approach allows Bot to operate at lower speeds and with less mass than a passenger vehicle, making it better suited to urban streets. 

Safety is further supported by an independent system that enforces speed restrictions and can bring the vehicle to an immediate stop. Initial operations will take place along designated routes, with remote supervision in place. 

Bot will also be managed through FleetOS, Minimal’s fleet management platform, which accommodates both the company’s own driven vehicles and vehicles manufactured by other organizations. This supports its wider ambition to create a unified, connected network for urban goods transportation. 

VIRTUAL WORLD FOR AUTONOMOUS TRAINING  

A central part of Minimal’s autonomy development is its in-house World Model, a simulation environment designed to recreate real-world streets using multimodal data gathered from locations ranging from London to Tokyo. 

Within this virtual environment, traffic and pedestrians respond to the vehicle as it moves, enabling Minimal to train its autonomous technology in simulated conditions before introducing vehicles onto public roads. 

The company has also secured a compute grant from the UK’s AI Research Resource (AIRR), allowing its self-driving models to train on Isambard, the supercomputer at the University of Bristol. 

The additional computing capacity is expected to accelerate model training and improve accuracy, helping to narrow the difference between simulated training environments and real-world driving conditions. 

“We’re excited to be training on Isambard at the University of Bristol. It gives our models more practice than we could ever give them alone,” says Liam Still, CTO at Minimal.  

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Jabil Expands Procurement Services

Jabil has brought five specialist businesses together under a new procurement and supply chain services portfolio, offering customers access to more than 40,000 suppliers worldwide.

The offering combines ProcureAbility, Retronix, ID8 Global, Velocity Electronics and Rebound Electronics with Jabil’s existing procurement, manufacturing and supply chain expertise.

Customers can draw on 3,500 procurement and supply chain professionals for services including sourcing, procurement consulting, component recovery, inventory management, logistics and distribution.

The launch comes as businesses face continued pressure from electronic component shortages, tariffs, geopolitical uncertainty and supply chain volatility.

Five Businesses, One Portfolio

Jabil has expanded its procurement capabilities through acquisitions and partnerships over the past three years.

ProcureAbility, acquired in 2023, provides procurement consulting and managed services, while Retronix, also acquired that year, specialises in component recovery, authenticity testing and reuse.

The 2025 acquisitions of Velocity Electronics and Rebound Electronics strengthened Jabil’s global electronic component sourcing, independent distribution and inventory management capabilities.

ID8 Global, established in 2024 as a joint venture with Cyferd, adds a generative artificial intelligence (AI) platform for procurement, logistics and supply chain management.

Tackling Sourcing Challenges

The combined portfolio is intended to give customers greater flexibility when sourcing critical components, particularly during periods of restricted supply.

Frank McKay, Senior Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer at Jabil, said:

“We’re giving our customers more options, better visibility, and stronger support as they work to secure critical supply and build long-term operational resilience. These acquisitions strengthen the way we support customers in a market that’s only getting more complex. They expand our global electronic component capabilities and supply chain services, but more importantly, they give more businesses access to Jabil’s supply chain and procurement expertise, supplier network, and operational discipline.”

AI and Supply Chain Intelligence

Through ID8 Global, Jabil is introducing AI-powered tools to support procurement decisions, sourcing and complex logistics operations.

The portfolio also includes component lifecycle services from Retronix, covering recovery, reballing, retinning and authenticity testing to extend the usable life of electronic components.

Jabil will showcase the combined services at Electronica 2026 in Munich, Germany, from 10 to 13 November.

Visitors will be able to see live demonstrations of ID8 Global’s AI technology, alongside interactive displays covering procurement services, component recovery and reuse, and market intelligence.

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Providing Supply Chain Intelligence

Exiger has secured a USD$12 million contract with the US Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center to improve visibility across the supply chains supporting its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) programme.

The contract will see Exiger provide supply chain intelligence and defence industrial base analysis to the Air Force’s ICBM Systems Directorate, helping identify risks across suppliers, components, materials and manufacturing facilities.

The technology will support supplier monitoring, risk mitigation and long-term planning across the US military’s ground-based nuclear deterrent programme.

Mapping Supply Chain Risks

Exiger’s Super Intelligence (SI) platform will provide visibility beyond direct suppliers, examining risks associated with individual parts, materials and lower-tier suppliers.

The system is designed to identify potential vulnerabilities including single-source dependencies, component obsolescence, counterfeit parts, supplier financial viability and manufacturing capacity constraints.

It will also assess workforce shortages, supplier readiness and diminishing manufacturing sources and material shortages.

Scott LaFoy, Vice President of Nuclear and Technology Security Programs at Exiger, said:

“Ensuring 24/7 readiness in lockstep alongside strategic modernization is one of the most consequential missions in U.S. national security. This requires both the long-term orchestration of multiple strategic, sensitive supplier bases while very actively mapping and mitigating adversarial threats to the supply chain.

“Exiger’s differentiated strength is our ability to connect supplier risk to the parts, materials, facilities, and industrial base dependencies that actually drive mission readiness and program performance. This award reflects the growing need for parts-level intelligence, continuous monitoring, and active risk mitigation across the most sensitive and highly targeted portions of the defense industrial base.”

Predictive Supply Chain Intelligence

Alongside identifying existing vulnerabilities, Exiger will provide predictive analytics to help the Air Force anticipate potential supply chain disruptions.

These capabilities include forecasting component obsolescence, monitoring supplier behaviour and estimating when inventory interventions may be required.

The platform will also support risk mitigation planning, allowing the ICBM Systems Directorate to assess dependencies across its wider supplier network.

Unlike conventional supplier risk monitoring, which often focuses on individual companies, Exiger’s approach connects supplier information with specific components, production facilities and materials.

This allows potential risks to be assessed against the parts and manufacturing capabilities required to maintain programme readiness.

Expanding Defence Supply Chain Operations

The contract expands Exiger’s existing work with US defence and national security organisations.

Its 1EXIGER.SI platform combines supply chain intelligence, procurement automation and risk analytics, drawing on a knowledge base that the company says contains three trillion data points.

Exiger reports serving more than 550 customers globally, including 150 Fortune 500 companies and over 80 government and defence industrial organisations.

The company also holds Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) certification for use in regulated environments.

Under the new contract, Exiger will apply its supplier monitoring and industrial base analytics to the Air Force’s ICBM supply chain, with a focus on identifying component-level risks and supporting long-term supply availability.

The post Exiger Secures USD$12 Million US Air Force Supply Chain Contract appeared first on North America Outlook.

A Key US Manufacturing Site

Mars has invested USD$165 million in its Waco, Texas, manufacturing facility since 2024, as the site marks 50 years of producing confectionery for the US market.

The facility, which opened in 1976 as Mars’ first manufacturing site in Texas, produces SNICKERS, SKITTLES and STARBURST and employs nearly 900 people.

Recent capital projects have focused on energy efficiency and operational improvements as Mars continues to upgrade the facility to meet consumer demand.

USD$165 Million Investment

The Waco facility has undergone several expansions and upgrades over the past five decades, becoming an established part of Mars’ North American snacking supply network.

The latest investment is focused on improving manufacturing operations while supporting the company’s environmental sustainability ambitions.

Erik Owino, Senior Vice President of Supply for Mars Snacking North America, said:

“Reaching 50 years in Waco is an extraordinary milestone that speaks to the strength and dedication of our incredible Associates and the enduring partnership we share with the Central Texas community. As we look to the next 50 years and beyond, our ongoing investments in this site reflect our commitment to building an agile, sustainable and modern supply chain.”

50 Years in Waco

Alongside its manufacturing operations, Mars has maintained a significant presence in the Central Texas community.

The company supports local education and workforce development initiatives, including the Waco LEAD Scholarship Program, and is a long-standing member of the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce.

Gavin Kuber, Mars Waco Site Director, said:

“For 50 years, the Waco site has been a proud home for Mars Associates who bring passion, pride and craftsmanship to their work every day. We are deeply grateful to our Associates, their families and our local community partners who have supported us along the way. Of course, while we celebrate our rich heritage today, we are equally excited about the future.”

The anniversary was recognised by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who issued a formal certificate, while state representatives and local officials also marked the milestone.

Mars’ Texas Operations

Mars employs more than 5,000 people across Texas, with operations spanning confectionery manufacturing, pet food production and veterinary services.

Alongside the Waco facility, the company manufactures PEDIGREE pet food at its site in Temple.

Mars also operates more than 180 veterinary hospitals across Texas through its VCA, Banfield and BluePearl businesses.

Globally, Mars is a family-owned business with annual revenue exceeding USD$65 billion and a portfolio that includes M&M’S, SNICKERS, Pringles, Cheez-It and BEN’S ORIGINAL.

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The holiday season build-up

Every autumn, holiday decorations and gift displays appear on store shelves weeks before the festive season begins. It’s become almost a running joke that every retail season arrives earlier than the last.

From an operational perspective, though, the backpacks aren’t the story.

Long before shoppers notice them, freight has already been moving through ports, distribution networks, and yards to support the second half of the year.

The holiday season isn’t the beginning of that shift. It’s the first visible sign that many operations have entered a period of sustained demand, where one demand cycle begins to overlap with the next.

How peak demand exposes weaknesses in yard operations

Peak seasons don’t create operational weaknesses. They reveal them.

The busiest weeks of the year don’t suddenly make well-run operations struggle. They expose the workarounds those operations have been relying on all along.

The organisations that navigate the holiday season most effectively aren’t necessarily those with the most people or the largest yards. They’re the ones that enter the season with confidence in what’s actually happening across their operations.

Without that confidence, sustained demand requires more manual coordination: more radio calls, more double-checking, more searching, and more people verifying information that should already be available, simply to maintain the same level of performance.

Most days, those workarounds are manageable. As sustained demand builds, they quietly become the bottleneck.

That’s what makes the holiday season worth paying attention to. It’s not simply a retail milestone. It’s the first visible reminder that the operational margin many teams rely on is beginning to disappear.

Where the pressure on logistics operations really lands

As volumes continue to build through the second half of the year, the challenge usually isn’t one dramatic failure. It’s the accumulation of small delays that become harder to recover from.

A trailer staged in the wrong location. Equipment that isn’t where the system expects it to be. A gate delay that pushes appointments later into the day. A driver waiting while someone verifies information that should already be accurate.

Individually, none of those events defines an operation.

Together, they consume the time and flexibility that normally allow operations to absorb change without anyone noticing.

That’s what sustained demand reveals. It doesn’t create operational problems. It leaves far less room to recover from them.

The wider supply chain impact of poor yard visibility

For retailers, manufacturers, transport providers, and logistics teams, those delays rarely get described as yard issues.

They appear as missed appointments, delayed cross-dock windows, unmet service level agreements, detention charges, and freight arriving later than expected.

By the time the problem reaches a customer or transport manager, the operational delay that created it has often become invisible.

Research commissioned by Aviro360 found that operations experiencing this kind of visibility gap reported 39 percent more gate congestion and 59 percent more excess driver waiting time than operations with high confidence in their real-time data.

During an ordinary week, many organisations can compensate for those inefficiencies.

As sustained demand builds, that margin steadily disappears.

Why real-time yard visibility matters more than additional capacity

When volumes increase, the first instinct is often to add capacity: more gate staff, more overtime, and more equipment.

Sometimes that’s necessary.

However, additional capacity only solves the right problem if an operation knows, in real time, what’s actually happening.

Visibility doesn’t eliminate seasonal demand. It allows operations to respond with confidence rather than relying on workarounds, reducing the manual coordination required to bridge the gap between what systems record and what’s actually happening across the yard.

The holiday season marks the beginning of a sustained period in which demand continues to build, operational margins shrink, and the hidden costs of manual workarounds become increasingly difficult to ignore.

The organisations that perform best aren’t those that suddenly become more disciplined when volumes increase. They’re the ones that entered the season already working from an accurate picture of their operations.

The post Opinion: What the Holiday Season Reveals About Your Yard appeared first on North America Outlook.

Blue Yonder Unveils AI Order Management

Blue Yonder has introduced a new artificial intelligence (AI) order management solution that connects inventory, fulfilment, customer service and returns.

The technology is designed to help retailers, wholesalers and distributors reduce order cancellations, manage stock shortages and improve delivery reliability.

The system connects order management with inventory planning, warehouse operations and logistics, allowing businesses to track orders and adjust fulfilment decisions as conditions change.

Blue Yonder highlighted the scale of its existing operations, reporting that its order management technology processed seven million order reservations and generated more than 133 million estimated delivery date calculations on Black Friday 2025.

A Connected Order Lifecycle

The new solution brings together information on stock held in stores and distribution centres, incoming shipments, supplier inventory and eligible returns.

This provides a more complete view of product availability when making delivery commitments or allocating stock to customers.

“Every order touches almost every part of the supply chain. Planning, inventory, fulfilment, transportation, service and returns all decide whether a promise gets kept,” said Gurdip Singh, chief product officer, Blue Yonder.

“The next era of order management will come from the entire supply chain working together around every order. With Blue Yonder Cognitive Solutions, we’ve combined our proven unified decisioning with AI agents and intelligence from across our solutions portfolio.

By bringing the right context and action to each operator, we reduce the lag between insight and execution and give them the context to act with speed and precision.”

Identifying At-Risk Orders

The platform introduces Fulfilment and Customer Service Agents that identify orders requiring attention and present relevant information in a single workspace.

The AI agents explain why an order is at risk and outline possible responses, allowing operators to review the options before taking action within company-defined permissions.

When stock availability or delivery capacity changes, Blue Yonder’s Intelligent Rebalancer can reallocate inventory and revise delivery commitments across large volumes of orders.

Configurable workspaces also allow different teams to access the information relevant to their responsibilities without switching between multiple applications.

Wholesale and Distribution

Blue Yonder has placed particular emphasis on business-to-business (B2B) order management, where transactions often involve more complex requirements than consumer purchases.

Wholesale and distribution orders can include commitments against future inventory, contract-specific service terms and allocation priorities for major customers.

The new platform allows businesses to manage shared stock while applying different rules across customers, sales channels and contracts.

Its order management capabilities also support businesses operating across both B2B and business-to-consumer (B2C) channels.

Blue Yonder plans to invest further in B2B functionality to help distributors manage complex orders and changing supply priorities.

Recovering Value from Returns

Returns management is another focus of the launch.

Blue Yonder’s Smart Disposition functionality uses business rules and profitability considerations to determine whether returned products should be resold, repaired, returned to suppliers or directed elsewhere.

The aim is to recover value from returned inventory and make eligible products available for resale sooner.

The solution is cloud-native and modular, allowing businesses to introduce core order management capabilities without replacing existing systems.

Additional services, including store fulfilment and online returns, can be added as operational requirements change.

The post Blue Yonder Launches AI-Powered Order Management to Cut Fulfilment Costs appeared first on North America Outlook.

Kraft Heinz Announces Coffee Business Sale

Kraft Heinz has agreed to divest its North America coffee business to private equity firm One Rock Capital Partners in a transaction valued at USD$650 million.

Announced on 4 November 2026, the agreement includes several established coffee brands, including Maxwell House, Gevalia, Nabob, Yuban, Tassimo, Ethical Bean and Sanka.

Kraft Heinz will retain a 30 percent non-controlling equity stake in the business, with the transaction expected to close in mid-2027, subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions.

The sale forms part of the food and beverage company’s strategy to concentrate investment on brands and categories where it sees greater opportunities for growth.

Focusing on Priority Brands

Kraft Heinz expects to receive approximately USD$500 million in net cash proceeds after taxes, which it plans to use to reduce debt.

The company also expects the transaction to support improvements in its growth and profit margins.

Steve Cahillane, CEO of Kraft Heinz, said:

“This transaction is a meaningful step in unlocking value from our portfolio and will further accelerate the momentum behind our transformation.”

“We are proud of the role these brands have played in the lives of generations of coffee drinkers, and our continued stake reflects the confidence we have in their long-term potential under One Rock’s focused ownership.”

Kraft Heinz, which reported approximately USD$25 billion in net sales in 2025, owns brands including Heinz, Kraft, Philadelphia, Primal Kitchen and Lunchables.

The divestment is intended to allow the company to direct more resources towards its priority businesses while retaining an interest in the future performance of its coffee portfolio.

Manufacturing Facilities and Employees to Transfer

The proposed sale includes the assets, brands and operational resources required to run the North America coffee business.

Approximately 250 full-time employees are expected to transfer to the new ownership structure, covering supply chain, sales, marketing, finance, human resources and research and development.

The transaction also includes coffee manufacturing facilities in Jacksonville, Florida, and Vancouver, British Columbia.

For the food and beverage manufacturing sector, the deal represents a significant change in ownership for a portfolio of established coffee brands, alongside the transfer of production facilities and operational teams.

One Rock Targets Coffee Brand Growth

One Rock Capital Partners, which specialises in investments and operational improvements, plans to increase investment across the acquired coffee portfolio.

The private equity firm has experience in the food and beverage sector and has previously worked with global corporations on business carve-outs.

Tony W. Lee, Managing Partner of One Rock, said:

“We have long admired Kraft Heinz’s iconic coffee brands, such as Maxwell House and Gevalia, which have been household staples for more than 100 years.”

“We intend to accelerate investment across the brand portfolio to drive growth and innovation, enhance the consumer experience, and strengthen relationships with retail partners.”

One Rock intends to use its operational expertise and investment resources to support the coffee business under its ownership.

The agreement remains subject to regulatory approval and other closing conditions, with completion anticipated in mid-2027.

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