Vitesse Targets Fragmented Tail Spend

Simfoni has launched Vitesse, a new solution designed to help procurement and finance teams manage the thousands of low-value purchases and suppliers that can sit outside traditional sourcing programmes.

The artificial intelligence (AI)-driven procurement technology provider said Vitesse acts as a single master vendor for small, employee-driven purchases, allowing organisations to route transactions through one controlled procurement workflow.

Instead of procurement teams individually sourcing, onboarding and managing large numbers of smaller suppliers, Vitesse takes responsibility for the vendor relationship and vets both the supplier and purchase details before payment.

The platform includes configurable controls, e-invoicing checks and real-time sanctions screening, while handling vendor setup, invoicing and payments on behalf of customers.

Simfoni said the approach can reduce typical supplier onboarding times from weeks to between one and three business days.

Single Vendor Model Targets AP Workload

Under the model, finance teams make a single payment to Vitesse, which then manages downstream supplier payments, taxes, tariffs and reconciliation.

Simfoni said this can reduce accounts payable (AP) workloads by an average of 70 per cent while maintaining an audit-ready record of each transaction.

Purchases are automatically classified across more than 200 procurement categories, providing procurement teams with real-time visibility into what employees are buying, which suppliers are being used and where spending could potentially be redirected towards preferred vendors.

Gonzague de Thieulloy, Managing Director at Simfoni, said: “Visibility into tail spend is not the hard part. Acting on thousands of small transactions is the hard part. Vitesse is built to act. One vendor, one invoice, every purchase vetted before it is paid, and a clear path to expand coverage as the program matures.”

Procurement Coverage Expands Through Sourcing Tools

Once transactions are flowing through Vitesse, organisations can extend the amount of tail spend under management through three additional capabilities: Catalogs, Self-Sourcing and BuyDesk.

Catalogs enables frequently purchased products to be sourced through pre-approved suppliers at agreed rates, providing employees with a compliant route for repeat purchases.

Self-Sourcing uses AI-guided sourcing technology to help employees define purchasing requirements and introduce competition into transactions that may previously have taken place outside formal sourcing processes.

BuyDesk provides additional support for more difficult purchases, with Simfoni’s buying team sourcing products, collecting quotes and coordinating with suppliers.

These capabilities can be added without a new implementation and are intended to progressively increase the proportion of tail spend managed through the platform.

Procurement Teams Seek Greater Tail Spend Control

Simfoni said traditional procurement operating models have typically focused on higher-value categories with concentrated supplier bases, leaving organisations with potentially thousands of low-value, high-volume transactions that can be difficult to manage.

This fragmented spend can create additional compliance risks and consume accounts payable resources while offering procurement teams limited purchasing leverage.

Vitesse builds on 10 years of Simfoni’s experience in tail spend management and forms part of the company’s wider portfolio of AI-powered procurement technology.

Simfoni’s Strategic Spend Hub combines spend analytics, eSourcing, savings tracking and supplier insights, with Vitesse extending its approach into smaller and more decentralised enterprise purchases.

The post ‘Vitesse Is Built to Act’: How Simfoni Plans to Transform Tail Spend Management appeared first on North America Outlook.

Mars Builds Enterprise AI Platform with Google Cloud

Mars is scaling agentic AI across its global operations as the food, snacking and petcare business looks to automate workflows, accelerate product and marketing processes and give associates greater access to AI tools.

The USD$65 billion family-owned company has partnered with Google Cloud to use Gemini Enterprise as the primary AI operating system for its workforce.

Mars employs more than 170,000 associates globally and operates a portfolio spanning food and snacking brands including M&M’S and Ben’s Original, alongside petcare products and veterinary services.

The company is initially rolling out the Gemini Enterprise app to 60,000 associates, while its wider One Demand AI (ODAI) system provides more than 62,000 associates with access to agentic capabilities.

Shubham Mehrish, Chief AI and Technology Officer at Mars, said: “This is not a technology transformation—it’s a process transformation. With Google Cloud, we have a new way to create the world we want tomorrow and how we do our business today.”

AI Agents Accelerate Marketing Workflows

Central to the strategy is Mars’ migration of ODAI to the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform.

Developed with Google Cloud and Accenture, the system acts as a single access point through which associates can use specialised AI agents to automate complex, multi-step processes.

Mars is adopting a hub-and-spoke model that allows individual functions, including marketing, research and development (R&D) and finance, to create specialised agents while retaining centralised governance.

The approach is already being applied to brand campaign development. Previously, marketing teams worked through manual processes involving multiple external agencies and email-based workflows.

Specialised brand intelligence and campaign brief agents can now synthesise market research and trends, generate briefs based on Mars’ brand guidelines and route them for approval.

“Before AI, orchestrating this complicated workflow took us months to do. We’re talking weeks now,” Mehrish said. “That’s the acceleration that Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform gives us. It’s pretty dramatically changed our workflow and the pace of what we can produce and bring to market.”

AI Targets Flavour Trends and Ecommerce

Mars is extending the technology into areas with direct relevance to food and beverage innovation and commercial operations.

An innovation agent is being developed to identify popular flavour trends, potentially giving teams another tool for analysing changing consumer preferences.

An ecommerce agent provides personalised recommendations covering demand and pricing, designed to help sales associates optimise the way Mars products are sold through online shopping platforms.

The technology is also being applied further into operations. Examples include factory diagnostic assistants designed to help troubleshoot production lines and supply chain agents that can identify alternative sources for ingredients.

Mars said enterprise-grade agents can be developed within weeks, while its wider AI infrastructure gives teams access to more than 200 enterprise-ready models.

Mars Creates Central Control for AI Agents

As AI adoption expands, Mars is seeking to balance decentralised development with central governance.

Google Cloud’s Agent Registry and Agent Observability capabilities allow technology teams to track AI tools created across the organisation and oversee their security, compliance and performance, and associates can also develop personal AI agents within the framework.

“We want our associates to be able to build in many places, but still orchestrate all of that through a common agentic layer,” Mehrish said.

“This is not a Wild West AI rollout, and especially as people build their own personal agents, the fact that we can govern in one common control plane with Gemini Enterprise is what sealed the deal for us.”

For Mars, the longer-term objective is to use AI not simply as an additional technology layer but to redesign end-to-end business processes across its global operations.

“The companies that are successful will be those that can automate end-to-end workflows [and] reimagine processes,” Mehrish said. “This change is about empowering our associates to deliver more and getting to that ultimate revenue growth.”

The post How Google Cloud is Helping Mars Transform Food, Marketing and Supply Chain Operations appeared first on North America Outlook.

Manufacturing PMI Holds in Expansion Territory

US manufacturing remained in expansion during August, with the ISM Manufacturing PMI registering 54.6 per cent, down from 55.6 per cent in July.

A reading above 50 per cent indicates expansion in the manufacturing sector, while the August figure also marked the 22nd consecutive month of growth for the wider US economy.

Susan Spence, Chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, said: “In August, U.S. manufacturing activity remained in expansion territory, though it has lost ground in a number of key measures — namely, the New Orders, Backlog and Imports indexes.”

The New Orders Index fell three percentage points to 53.7 per cent, while the Backlog of Orders Index declined to 51.8 per cent from 55 per cent.

Production remained comparatively strong at 58.3 per cent, extending its period of expansion to 10 months.

Supplier Deliveries Continue to Slow

Supply chain pressures remained visible across the sector.

The Supplier Deliveries Index increased to 59.3 per cent from 58.9 per cent in July, marking the ninth consecutive month of slower supplier performance.

Because the index is inverted, a reading above 50 per cent signals slower deliveries.

Five of the six largest manufacturing industries reported slower supplier deliveries in August: Computer and Electronic Products; Food, Beverage and Tobacco Products; Machinery; Chemical Products; and Transportation Equipment.

Manufacturers also reported shortages across several key categories, including copper, electrical components, electronic components, memory, printed circuit boards, steel and tungsten products.

One respondent from the Computer and Electronic Products sector said: “Supply markets are increasingly challenging due to inflation and supply availability. Each month has been more difficult than the previous one. Starting to resemble the post-COVID-19 disruptive period.”

Input Costs Remain Elevated

Manufacturers continued to face significant raw material cost pressure, with the Prices Index unchanged at 71.1 per cent and the measure has now remained in increasing territory for 23 consecutive months.

Steel, aluminium, copper, electronic components, semiconductors, freight and fuel were among the commodities reported as increasing in price.

Spence said pricing remained affected by increases in steel and aluminium costs, tariffs on imported goods and higher petroleum-based product prices.

Among survey comments, pricing volatility was mentioned in 57 per cent of negative responses, while increasing lead times appeared in 46 per cent and tariffs in 29 per cent.

A Machinery sector respondent said: “Prices continue to rise on all goods. Suppliers are noting that energy, steel and labor costs are increasing very quickly. We continue to try to move products around to offset costs. We have moved more products to offshore sources to try to minimize cost impacts.”

Production Grows but Demand Momentum Slows

The Production Index remained one of the strongest elements of the report at 58.3 per cent, although it edged down from 58.5 per cent in July.

Transportation Equipment, Petroleum and Coal Products, Machinery, Computer and Electronic Products, and Food, Beverage and Tobacco Products were among the six largest manufacturing industries reporting overall growth during August.

Demand indicators were more mixed, as new orders continued to expand but at a slower rate, while customer inventories remained “too low” at 42.8 per cent.

ISM said low customer inventory levels are generally considered supportive of future production.

New export orders rose slightly to 53.2 per cent, while imports fell sharply from 55.7 per cent to 52.5 per cent.

Manufacturing Employment Growth Eases

Manufacturing employment also remained in expansion, but momentum weakened.

The Employment Index fell 1.6 percentage points to 51.2 per cent.

Of the six largest manufacturing sectors, only Transportation Equipment reported higher employment levels during August.

Seven of the 18 industries covered by ISM reported employment growth, while Food, Beverage and Tobacco Products, Chemical Products and Textile Mills recorded declines.

The post ISM Report: US Manufacturing Expands for Eighth Straight Month as Supply Pressures Persist appeared first on North America Outlook.

GE Appliances Brings Dryer Production to Kentucky

GE Appliances, a Haier company, has announced a USD$1 billion investment in its Louisville manufacturing operations as it expands domestic production and transforms Appliance Park into what it says will be the largest home appliance manufacturing site in the US.

The investment, announced alongside the IUE-CWA, will expand and modernise production across Buildings 1, 2 and 5 at the Kentucky site.

More than USD$400 million will be invested in Building 5 to create a high-output dryer manufacturing operation, with production moving from Mexico to Louisville.

GE Appliances will also invest approximately USD$112 million in Building 1 to install new equipment and redesign existing washer and dryer platforms.

The programme incorporates the company’s previously announced USD$490 million investment in Building 2, where production of front-load washers and Combo washer/dryers is scheduled to begin in 2027.

Appliance Park Undergoes Manufacturing Transformation

The investment is intended to consolidate laundry and dishwasher manufacturing at Appliance Park and create closer links between production, engineering and product development.

Kevin Nolan, President and CEO of GE Appliances, said: “We’re making major investments to continue modernizing Appliance Park and bring more production to our global headquarters in Louisville.”

“Bringing our laundry and dishwasher manufacturing together gives us a real competitive advantage, with new synergies across our cleaning products and closer connections between the people who design, engineer, and build them. That combination allows us to move faster, accelerate innovation and continue strengthening our industry-leading U.S. manufacturing business.”

GE Appliances said the combined investment in new products and modernised facilities will help secure 4,700 production jobs at Appliance Park once the programme is fully implemented.

Building 5 to Switch from Refrigerators to Dryers

A significant part of the transformation will involve changing the manufacturing role of Building 5.

Refrigerator production at the facility is expected to end in early 2027, followed by a transformation lasting approximately nine to 12 months. Dryer production is scheduled to begin in late 2027.

GE Appliances said employees will remain on its payroll throughout the transition, with no layoffs associated with the Building 5 retooling.

Workers will also have opportunities to move into new and expanded manufacturing roles as production increases across Appliance Park during 2027.

Carl Kennebrew, President of IUE-CWA, said: “Investment in American manufacturing is critical to our economy and our communities.”

“Our Union members are proud to manufacture American-made GE appliances in Louisville, and this new investment will ensure that our members keep delivering these high-quality products to American consumers for years to come.”

GE Appliances Expands US Manufacturing Investment

The latest programme forms part of a wider USD$6.5 billion commitment to US manufacturing by GE Appliances since 2016.

This includes more than USD$3.5 billion already invested in its US operations and a further USD$3 billion announced in 2025 for investment over the following five years.

The company employs 15,500 people nationwide, with Louisville serving as its global headquarters.

GE Appliances will continue producing refrigerators at its Decatur, Alabama, operation, which it describes as the largest refrigeration manufacturing facility in the US, as well as in Selmer, Tennessee.

The Louisville investment is designed to increase Appliance Park’s production output while concentrating washer, dryer and dishwasher manufacturing at the site as GE Appliances continues to reshape its US manufacturing footprint.

The post GE Appliances Invests USD$1 Billion to Expand US Manufacturing Operation appeared first on North America Outlook.

Yellow Wood Targets Vitamins and Supplements Market

Private equity firm Yellow Wood Partners has agreed to acquire Nestlé’s Holistic Health platform in a USD$1 billion transaction, expanding its presence across the vitamins, minerals and supplements (VMS) market.

The transaction will give Yellow Wood a portfolio of established consumer health brands spanning areas including hydration, gut health, immunity and women’s health.

Holistic Health’s portfolio includes Nature’s Bounty, Nuun, Osteo Bi-Flex and Gard. Nature’s Bounty is the second-largest overall VMS brand in the US and a leading women’s health brand, according to the announcement.

The brand offers a range of wellness products consumed in more than 20 per cent of US households and has been operating for more than 50 years.

“This is another important step in the strategic transformation of our portfolio” said Philipp Navratil, CEO, Nestlé. “

We are focusing our resources where we have the strongest competitive advantage. With Nestlé’s strong innovation and brand-building capabilities, we are well positioned for growth in the premium, science-led VMS space, where brands such as Solgar and Pure Encapsulations continue to perform strongly. At the same time, the category has evolved, and the mainstream VMS business requires a different approach under dedicated ownership.”

Standalone Business to Focus on Brand Growth

Yellow Wood plans to operate Holistic Health as a standalone entity, with the private equity firm identifying opportunities to accelerate innovation and strengthen the individual brands’ positions with consumers and retail partners.

Dana Schmaltz, Partner at Yellow Wood, said: “Holistic Health is an excellent platform of trusted brands with deep retailer relationships providing significant opportunities for continued growth.

“The Holistic Health portfolio provides a group of specialty category leaders in various high growth sectors of the attractive VMS market, including hydration, gut health and immunity. Operating Holistic Health as a standalone entity will provide the opportunity to leverage the power of each brand to accelerate growth, enhance innovation and strengthen their market positions with consumers and retail partners.”

The deal adds another group of consumer brands to Yellow Wood’s existing portfolio, which includes Chapstick, Suave, Q-tips, Caress, Pond’s and Dr. Scholl’s.

Yellow Wood Sees Growth in Consumer Health

Yellow Wood said increasing adoption of VMS products and growing demand for products targeting specific consumer benefits could provide further opportunities for organic growth across the acquired portfolio.

Tad Yanagi, Partner at Yellow Wood, said: “We believe that by implementing the Yellow Wood Consumer Operating DNA model, we can accelerate the growth of all of these brands as we have done with other category defining carveouts such as Q-tips, Chapstick, Suave and Dr. Scholl’s.

“As VMS adoption continues to increase among a wide range of consumers and demand for benefit-specific solutions expands, we see significant runway to drive organic growth across the platform.”

Deal Continues Consumer Brand Acquisition Strategy

The agreement represents Yellow Wood’s sixth significant carveout acquisition from five major global consumer companies. Its previous transactions have involved brands from Bayer, Reckitt, Unilever and Haleon.

The acquisition remains subject to applicable regulatory approvals and is expected to close during the first half of 2027.

The post Yellow Wood Partners to Acquire Nestlé Health Brands for USD$1 Billion appeared first on North America Outlook.

TraceLink Extends Agentic AI Across Supply Chains

TraceLink has introduced new capabilities for its OPUS Agents, allowing organisations to build artificial intelligence (AI) agents to perform specialised tasks across supply chain transactions and processes.

Using no-code natural language descriptions, businesses can define the events, actions, objectives, tasks and rules governing how individual agents operate.

The technology is designed to enable agents to work alongside human managers across areas including procurement transactions, manufacturing, logistics, inventory, compliance and trading partner management.

Shabbir Dahod, President and CEO of TraceLink, said: “By designing OPUS Agents as enterprise users operating in a secure and auditable environment, the agents work in a rich supply chain context.”

“With no-code natural language agent definitions and the ability to create a large-scale specialized agent workforce, organizations can create business value quickly and efficiently.”

AI Agents Target Supply Chain Exceptions

TraceLink said OPUS Agents can be configured for individual supply chain tasks ranging from monitoring a service-level agreement or transaction status to analysing information across multiple trading partners.

Potential applications include validating orders, invoices and financial transactions to identify discrepancies in pricing, quantities, billing and payments.

Agents can also monitor external manufacturing and batch readiness, identifying production delays, material issues, missing quality documentation and other risks that could affect supply.

For logistics operations, the technology can monitor warehouse fulfilment, shipments, third-party logistics (3PL) inventory and expiry risks.

Other applications include identifying compliance exceptions, tracking missing or late transaction acknowledgements and checking product and supplier master data.

Governance Built into Agentic AI Platform

TraceLink has placed governance and human oversight at the centre of the OPUS architecture.

Individual agents can be assigned a human manager alongside specific application memberships, roles and permissions.

Businesses can also define an agent’s purpose, the events it can respond to, objectives, tasks, decision-making rules and operational guardrails.

Rather than operating from generic prompts, TraceLink said agents can use company-specific transactions, processes, operating procedures and historical knowledge when performing work.

Each agent maintains a Progress Log recording completed tasks, decisions and interactions with humans. This creates an audit trail of how the technology has operated within a supply chain process.

Agents Work Across Trading Partner Networks

OPUS Agents can also be combined within what TraceLink calls Agentic Business Processes (ABPs).

Within these processes, specialised agents can work on transactions passing between businesses, collaborate with employees and trading partners to investigate exceptions, and respond automatically when defined supply chain events occur.

TraceLink said this approach could allow one business process to inform or trigger activity elsewhere in the supply chain rather than deploying isolated AI tools for individual functions.

The company’s wider Agentic Business Network connects more than 315,000 authenticated business entities and handles hundreds of billions of supply chain transactions annually.

TraceLink Targets AI-Driven Supply Chain Productivity

TraceLink is positioning the technology primarily for life sciences and healthcare supply chains, where transactions can involve multiple organisations alongside significant compliance, quality and traceability requirements.

The company projects that adoption of its wider Agentic Supply Chain Operating Model could deliver productivity improvements of between 50 and 100 per cent and increase customer responsiveness by between 30 and 50 per cent.

It also projects improvements of between 50 and 80 per cent in product availability and between 20 and 40 per cent in operational capacity without proportional workforce growth.

The expanded OPUS capabilities are intended to provide businesses with a way to introduce AI agents across supply chain operations while retaining defined permissions, auditability and human oversight.

The post How TraceLink’s OPUS Agents are Changing Supply Chain Automation appeared first on North America Outlook.

A NEW CHAPTER IN LUNAR EXPLORATION  

Humanity’s relationship with the Moon could be entering a new phase. 

Deloitte’s latest report, Building the Lunar Economy: How a Sustained Presence on the Moon Could Transform Life, Industry, and Infrastructure on Earth and Beyond, examines how activity on and around the Moon could evolve through 2050 as governments, space agencies, commercial businesses, and investors increase their involvement. 

According to Deloitte’s analysis, the emerging lunar economy could generate $343 billion in cumulative potential economic value through 2050 under a conservative growth scenario. With accelerated development, this figure could rise to $566 billion. 

The report assesses both the infrastructure needed to establish sustained lunar operations and the markets that could develop once that foundation is in place. 

“The debate is no longer whether humanity is going back to the Moon. It is what happens once we stay,” the report states. 

LAYING THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOUNDATIONS  

Deloitte identifies infrastructure as the starting point for establishing a sustainable lunar economy. 

Six core systems are highlighted as essential to long-term operations: transportation; energy and power; communications and navigation; surface mobility; construction; and life support. 

Of these, transportation could become the largest early market. In an accelerated growth scenario, Deloitte estimates that lunar transportation could generate $206 billion in potential economic value through 2050, reflecting the importance of moving people, cargo, and infrastructure to the lunar surface. 

Energy, communications, and mobility will also play a central role. Sustained operations could require new methods of generating and distributing power, alongside high-capacity communications, lunar positioning and timing systems, and autonomous vehicles capable of navigating challenging terrain. 

THE MOON’S GROWING STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE  

Lunar activity is already gaining momentum across government and commercial programs. More than 400 lunar missions are planned over the next two decades, while developments including the confirmation of water ice at the lunar poles, lower launch costs, and evolving public-private procurement models are changing the economics of operating beyond Earth. 

The lunar South Pole has emerged as a particularly important area. Permanently shadowed regions may contain significant deposits of water ice, while nearby ridgelines could provide access to near-continuous sunlight for power generation. 

Over time, water ice could potentially be used to produce fuel, support life, and facilitate longer-duration missions, reducing the volume of critical supplies that would need to be transported from Earth. 

Meanwhile, reusable rockets, commercial launch providers, rideshare programs, and new procurement approaches are helping to reduce the cost of accessing space. Deloitte suggests that these developments mirror some of the conditions that have supported greater commercial activity in low Earth orbit. 

NEW MARKETS BEYOND INFRASTRUCTURE  

Once the necessary infrastructure is established, Deloitte expects a range of downstream opportunities could emerge. 

Potential areas of value include national security capabilities, lunar data and services, new resources and materials, in-space production, scientific discovery, and human inspiration. 

However, the report stresses that the development of these markets is far from certain. Some opportunities could materialise relatively early, particularly lunar data and national security services, as they would not necessarily require the entire lunar economy to be established beforehand. 

Other possibilities, including lunar propellant, helium-3 extraction, and space-based compute, could depend on infrastructure, technology, and demand that are still developing. 

OPPORTUNITIES ACROSS INDUSTRIES  

The implications of a growing lunar economy could also extend well beyond the space sector. 

Deloitte highlights the potential for technologies developed for lunar construction, communications, power, autonomy, medicine, and materials to generate applications on Earth. 

Such innovations could be particularly relevant to remote, resource-constrained, or extreme environments, creating potential opportunities across a wider range of industries. 

“Humanity’s return to the Moon is becoming an infrastructure story,” said Brett Loubert, Deloitte Space Leader.  

Despite the potential economic opportunity, Deloitte emphasises that a thriving lunar economy is not guaranteed. 

Significant engineering challenges, lengthy development timelines, regulatory uncertainty, and unproven commercial demand could all influence the pace at which the market develops. 

Sustained investment, technological progress, geopolitical developments, and the ability to establish markets beyond government demand are also expected to shape its trajectory. 

MAPPING THE LUNAR ECONOMY  

Deloitte’s report draws on economic analysis, interviews with space operators, investors, engineers, and policymakers, alongside a review of current lunar programmes, commercial activity, and emerging market signals. 

Its Lunar Economy Architecture framework examines the opportunity through two connected perspectives. 

What It Takes considers the infrastructure required to operate on the Moon, spanning transportation, energy and power, communications and navigation, surface mobility, construction, and life support. 

Meanwhile, What It Makes explores what that infrastructure could ultimately enable, from national security capabilities and lunar data and services to new resources and materials, in-space production, innovation, scientific discovery, and human inspiration. 

Given that the full value of these investments may take decades to materialise, Deloitte’s analysis considers both the potential economic value of the infrastructure needed to enable lunar activity and the wider economic opportunities that could emerge through 2050. 

While the report focuses primarily on US policy, programs, and commercial activity, it recognizes that the lunar economy will be global, with potential opportunities extending beyond any single national program. 

The post Deloitte Report States the Lunar Economy Could Generate up to $566 Billion appeared first on North America Outlook.

REDUCING WORKFLOW FOR CLINICIANS

Leo Cancer Care – a pioneer in upright radiation therapy – and GE HealthCare – a leading healthcare solutions provider – have announced a commercial collaboration to bring connected imaging and radiation therapy workflows to market. The two organizations will work together to advance GE HealthCare’s imaging solutions and Intelligent Radiation Therapy (iRT) software, alongside Leo Cancer Care’s upright radiation therapy. These solutions will, in turn, create more connected patient and data workflows from simulation through to treatment.

“Bringing imaging, planning, and treatment closer together in radiation therapy has the potential to make a meaningful difference for both patients and care teams. By working with both iRT and Leo Cancer Care’s innovative upright treatment approach, we see an exciting opportunity to explore a more connected, patient-centered model of radiation therapy that could help simplify workflows and reduce the time from imaging to treatment,” states Ben Newton, Global Head of Oncology at GE HealthCare.

The collaboration between the two companies is aimed at addressing the long-standing challenges in radiation oncology, such as multivendor environments, system interoperability challenges, the interval between imaging and the start of treatment, fragmented clinical workflows, the cost and complexity of treatment infrastructure, patient experience, and uneven access to advanced technology.

Specifically, the organization’s involvement is non-exclusive by design, with both entities retaining the flexibility to work across the wider radiation oncology ecosystem. The aim is to develop interoperable solutions that complement existing clinical infrastructure rather than going through the process of replacing it.

A PATIENT-FIRST APPROACH

Redefining radiation therapy through a patient-first approach, Leo Cancer Care specializes in upright patient positioning and uses its technology to improve treatment efficiency, comfort, and accessibility.

Developing a pipeline of products for the cancer pathway, Leo Cancer Care’s flagship system, Marie®, is particle beam agnostic, supporting proton, carbon ion, neutron, and FLASH therapies. Ultimately, the company is driven by the belief that cancer treatment should center around people, and it is actively working to set a new standard in radiation oncology.

Likewise, GE HealthCare – based out of Chicago, Illinois – has made a name for itself by fulfilling healthcare’s greatest potential through groundbreaking medical technology, intelligent devices, and care solutions. The company is motivated by not only building a healthier future but also creating a world where healthcare has no limits.

Stephen Towe, CEO of Leo Cancer Care, notes that “GE HealthCare is one of the most established names in medical imaging anywhere in the world. Its decision to partner with Leo Cancer Care is a clear signal that upright radiation therapy is being recognized at the highest levels of our industry.”

Looking toward the future of this collaboration, the two companies intend to explore the ways in which GE HealthCare’s iRT software capabilities could connect with Leo Cancer Care’s future upright radiation therapy solution. iRT is an artificial intelligence (AI)-supported software solution for radiation therapy, connecting information, workflows, and applications across systems in order to streamline complex workflows. It is designed to support timely progression through the radiation therapy pathway and reduce the workflow burden for clinicians.

The post Leo Cancer Care and GE HealthCare to Bring Healthcare Innovations to Market appeared first on North America Outlook.

AI Adoption Accelerates Across Manufacturing

Nearly seven in 10 manufacturing organisations have implemented AI across some or all of their software development and delivery workflows, according to Tricentis’ 2026 Quality Transformation Report.

The research, which included 714 manufacturing respondents, found that implementing AI agents within software development and testing is now the sector’s leading IT priority for the next 12 months, cited by 38 percent.

Confidence in the technology is also high. Some 85 percent of manufacturers said they trust AI agents to make software release and deployment decisions without human oversight.

However, just 31 percent believe their organisation is very prepared to operationalise, govern and scale AI agents and autonomous testing.

The findings highlight a potential challenge for manufacturers as software becomes increasingly embedded within production lines, industrial robotics, connected machinery, predictive maintenance and digital twins.

Software Testing Comes Under Pressure

Tricentis found that 57 percent of manufacturing organisations have deployed code changes without fully testing them.

Among manufacturers facing this issue, 32 percent cited leadership pressure to deploy software faster as a leading reason, while 29 percent said there was simply too much software to test.

The latter challenge is being intensified by AI’s ability to generate greater quantities of code more quickly.

“People often talk about AI transforming manufacturing, but AI never operates in isolation. Every autonomous decision, robotic workflow, digital twin and predictive maintenance system ultimately relies on software behaving as intended,” said Andrew Power, Head of UKI at Tricentis.

“As manufacturers scale AI, software quality becomes part of the factory’s operational infrastructure, not simply an IT concern.”

Poor Software Quality Carries Financial and Operational Risks

The potential consequences extend beyond IT departments.

More than a third of manufacturers – 34 percent – identified security breaches or compliance failures as the greatest potential consequence of poor software quality. A further 30 percent highlighted increased technical debt and maintenance costs.

One-quarter pointed to slower software releases resulting from rework, defects or rollbacks, while the same proportion cited the potential loss of customer or partner trust.

The financial implications can also be significant. Two-thirds – 63 percent – estimated that poor software quality costs their organisation more than £372,000 annually. One in five put annual losses at between £744,870 and £3.72 million.

AI Tool Sprawl Creates New Manufacturing Challenge

Manufacturers are also encountering problems from the growing number of AI and automation technologies being introduced into software development.

Some 37 percent identified having too many separate AI and automation tools as a major obstacle to achieving continuous software quality at scale, making it the most commonly cited barrier in the research.

Skills represent another constraint, with 35 percent reporting gaps in AI and machine learning expertise.

The combination suggests manufacturers face a dual challenge: introducing AI quickly enough to capture potential productivity and automation benefits while establishing the governance, skills and quality controls required to deploy it reliably.

“Manufacturers don’t just need confidence in AI itself – they need confidence in the software underpinning it,” Power said.

“That means modern quality engineering has become a prerequisite for safely scaling industrial AI.”

Quality Engineering Becomes a Factory Issue

The research points to software quality becoming increasingly important to wider manufacturing operations as factories become more connected and autonomous.

Tricentis argues that greater use of AI-powered industrial systems will increase the importance of testing and governance because software failures can potentially affect physical processes rather than remaining confined to conventional enterprise IT.

Its report is based on a survey conducted by Censuswide in April 2026 involving 2,501 respondents across the US, UK, Ireland, Germany, Japan and Singapore.

The post Tricentis Research: Manufacturers Embrace AI but Software Governance Gaps Raise Production Risks appeared first on North America Outlook.

Coalition Targets US Skilled Labour Shortage

The Lowe’s Foundation has launched the Building Futures Skilled Trades Coalition, bringing together more than 75 organisations to tackle workforce shortages across construction and other skilled trades.

Founding participants include NVIDIA, AT&T, Bank of America, Carrier, General Motors, DEWALT and Duke Energy, alongside construction industry organisations including the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER).

SkillsUSA and workwear manufacturer Carhartt have also joined the initiative.

The coalition has set a target of helping to train and develop one million people for skilled trades careers by 2035.

According to figures cited by the Lowe’s Foundation from the US Department of Education, an estimated 2.1 million skilled trades positions could remain unfilled by 2030, potentially resulting in economic losses of up to USD$1 trillion annually.

Construction and Manufacturing Industries Looks to Expand Talent Pipeline

For the construction and manufacturing sector, the initiative is intended to strengthen pathways from training into employment as businesses contend with demand for qualified tradespeople.

The coalition will focus on three areas: changing perceptions of skilled trades careers; investing in and scaling successful training and credential programmes; and developing common measures to track progress from training through to employment.

Marvin Ellison, Chairman and CEO of Lowe’s, said: “The next industrial revolution won’t be built by algorithms alone. It will be built by the millions of skilled trade professionals who power, connect and move this country forward.”

The initiative will draw on labour market information and employer requirements to identify effective approaches to workforce development, with members sharing case studies, pilot programmes and training models.

Lowe’s Builds on USD$250 Million Training Commitment

The coalition expands on the Lowe’s Foundation’s existing investment in skilled trades development.

Its Gable Grants programme, launched in 2023, has developed a network of 73 community colleges and non-profit organisations delivering skilled trades training across 30 states.

The foundation recently expanded its own commitment with plans to invest USD$250 million to help train and develop 250,000 tradespeople by 2035.

The wider coalition increases that ambition to one million people by bringing employers, education providers and industry organisations together.

Housing Sector Backs Workforce Initiative

Construction industry organisations participating in the coalition include NAHB, which highlighted the relationship between skilled labour availability and the ability of the sector to deliver new housing.

Jim Tobin, President and CEO of NAHB, said: “A skilled, capable workforce is critical to meeting our nation’s housing needs.”

“Our collective commitment to invest in the next generation of skilled trade professionals will help strengthen the workforce pipeline, transform lives and build communities.”

The coalition will also address workforce requirements across heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), energy, telecommunications, automotive manufacturing and technology.

Employers Join Push for Skilled Trades Training

Participating businesses will work with training providers and workforce organisations to improve the connection between qualifications and available jobs.

Carrier Chairman and CEO David Gitlin said: “Skilled trades professionals keep our world running. Carrier is committed to helping develop the workforce needed for the future through training, education and partnerships.”

Duke Energy President and CEO Harry Sideris added: “By working together across industries, we can create more pathways into rewarding careers, strengthen our communities, and build the workforce needed to support the nation’s growing infrastructure and energy needs.”

The Building Futures Skilled Trades Coalition plans to announce additional members, commitments and progress updates as the initiative moves into wider implementation.

The post Lowe’s Foundation Launches Coalition to Train One Million Skilled Trades Workers in US appeared first on North America Outlook.

OPERATING SYSTEM TO UPLEVEL BUSINESSES

Online restaurant-reservation service OpenTable has announced a list of new and enhanced product features to help restaurants attract diners, work smarter, and connect the technology they use every day.

Powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, this rollout provides OpenTable restaurant partners with a more complete, connected operating system to help strengthen their business. Highlighting three priorities for restaurants, this product will drive valuable demand, turn insights into action, and connect to the systems that are already in place.

“Restaurants are under pressure to do more with less, and their technology needs to solve real problems quickly. We’ve developed these tools by listening directly to our restaurant partners and building what they’ve asked for. We’re applying AI and automation where they can make the biggest difference – driving demand, unlocking revenue, and helping teams deliver more personalized hospitality without adding more complexity. When the right systems work together, restaurants get something invaluable in return: more time to focus on their guests,” states Sagar Mehta, CTO at OpenTable.

Ultimately, the new features are designed to reduce manual labor, create additional opportunities to fill seats, and provide restaurants with more time to focus on delivering an unparalleled dining experience.

Since nothing is more expensive than an empty seat for a restaurant, OpenTable is bridging the gap by assisting operators in managing their books and optimizing bookings to fill seats based on demand. Specifically, with AI-driven discovery rapidly growing, the fight to become visible on these new platforms is paramount, and exactly what OpenTable is here to accomplish.

FROM DATA TO ACTION

As a global leader in restaurant technology, OpenTable is currently helping over 70,000 restaurants across the world fill approximately two billion seats a year. Its world-class technology allows restaurants to focus on their team, their guests, and their bottom line, while empowering diners to discover and reserve the ideal restaurant for any occasion.

OpenTable is growing its integrations to enable restaurants to properly utilize their data, such as providing instant answers, deeper guest insights, and actionable ways to unlock hidden revenue on the floor.

Erin Pommer, Director of Brand for Frasca Hospitality Group, notes that “as an independent hospitality group, we’re mindful about adding to our tech stack – we want to be sure we’re using the full capabilities, or the ROI just isn’t there, and getting the team on board takes time. So we’re not likely to bring on something that doesn’t integrate with our current systems. OpenTable’s ability to work with nearly every system we use is a huge plus: it brings our data together in one place instead of us hunting for it across different tabs and windows.”

To ensure the right connections and a technology stack that works together, OpenTable’s ecosystem includes over 200 partners across discovery, demand generation, and restaurant operations. It has more than 20 voice AI partners to ensure there is technology that fits each restaurant’s niche, booking guests without removing hosts and staff from the busy floor during operating hours.

With natural language reporting, table adjustments based on live demand, better insights, more guest details, and the opportunity to uncover new revenue streams within the system, OpenTable’s newest suite of product features is a game-changer for the food and beverage industry.

The post OpenTable Announces AI-Powered Product Features appeared first on North America Outlook.

Dollar General Unifies Forecasting and Replenishment

Dollar General has selected RELEX Solutions to provide a single supply chain planning system covering forecasting, replenishment and allocation across its North American retail network.

The discount retailer operates more than 21,000 stores and 34 distribution centres and manages approximately 18,000 stock keeping units (SKUs). With its store footprint continuing to expand, Dollar General will use the RELEX platform to coordinate planning across its distribution centres and stores.

The artificial intelligence (AI)-driven technology will bring store replenishment, ordering schedules, lead times, supplier coordination and fulfilment methods into a single environment.

Sales patterns and other demand factors will also feed directly into planning, giving stores and distribution centres access to the same underlying data.

AI Targets Supply Chain Exceptions

Dollar General said the implementation will allow its teams to use AI to identify areas requiring attention rather than manually managing every element of the planning process.

Jeff Vaughan, Senior Vice President, Global Inventory Management at Dollar General, said: “We chose RELEX because it gives us a practical way to use AI in our planning and helps our teams focus on the issues that truly need attention.”

“The platform brings forecasting, replenishment, and allocation planning into a single environment, giving our teams greater visibility across the network.”

The approach is intended to give planners greater visibility across inventory and demand while helping coordinate replenishment decisions throughout Dollar General’s large store and distribution network.

Platform to Manage 18,000 SKUs

Managing approximately 18,000 SKUs across more than 21,000 stores creates significant requirements around forecasting, inventory allocation and replenishment.

RELEX said its technology is designed to process large SKU volumes while providing supply chain teams with a consolidated view of operations.

Frank Lord, Chief Revenue Officer at RELEX Solutions, said: “Dollar General’s scale and pace, with more than 21,000 stores and a complex distribution network, require planning that is reliable and straightforward.”

“Our forecasting and replenishment capabilities handle large SKU volumes and give teams a clear view across the supply chain.”

RELEX Expands Retail Supply Chain Footprint

The Dollar General partnership adds another major retailer to RELEX’s customer base as the company expands its AI-powered supply chain planning technology.

Its platform covers demand and inventory planning alongside merchandising, pricing and wider supply chain operations, using a common data foundation to connect different planning functions.

More than 600 customers globally currently use RELEX technology across the retail, manufacturing and wholesale sectors.

The post RELEX Brings AI Forecasting to Dollar General’s Retail Network appeared first on North America Outlook.

Blue Yonder Connects Retail Supply Chain Decisions

Blue Yonder has launched a series of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered retail supply chain capabilities designed to help businesses coordinate decisions across inventory, fulfilment, customer service and returns.

The enhancements bring forecasting, inventory planning, fulfilment and reverse logistics onto the Blue Yonder Platform, allowing information generated in one part of the retail supply chain to inform decisions elsewhere.

Rather than optimising individual functions separately, Blue Yonder said its agentic AI technology can help retailers move from identifying supply chain issues to taking action.

Gurdip Singh, Chief Product Officer at Blue Yonder, said: “Many retailers can already see what’s happening. The hard part is acting on it before the moment passes.”

“With this release, we’re putting agentic AI into the flow of retail decisions. Forecasting, inventory, fulfilment and returns start working as one system instead of a chain of handoffs.”

Tackling Stockouts with Predictive Fulfilment

Blue Yonder has added predictive fulfilment intelligence and inventory network visibility to its Order Management technology.

The capabilities are designed to identify potential risks, bottlenecks and optimisation opportunities across inventory, sourcing, fulfilment and wider network operations.

For supply chain teams, this is intended to improve fill rates and service levels while supporting fulfilment decisions across stores, distribution centres and digital channels.

Ananda Chakravarty, Vice President Research, Retail at IDC, said: “Winning retailers are connecting inventory visibility, order management, returns, warehouse and transportation into one AI-driven decision engine, not five different engagement platforms.”

Returns Management Targets Inventory Recovery

The latest release also expands Blue Yonder’s reverse logistics capabilities, connecting returns across online channels, warehouses and stores.

New functionality includes personalised returns experiences, customer-specific policies, configurable store credit, returns receiving and receipt controls, alongside workflows for testing and grading returned products.

The platform also provides smart disposition capabilities and unit-level simulations intended to determine how individual returned products should be handled.

The technology is designed to reduce losses associated with returns, increase resale and recovery opportunities and reduce fraud risks.

“For most retailers, a return is a cost to absorb. I’d argue it’s a chance to reimagine the customer experience, save the sale and optimise inventory,” Singh said.

AI Extends Across Planning and Replenishment

Blue Yonder has also expanded AI capabilities across other parts of its retail planning portfolio.

Assortment Planning now includes assortment strategy and scoring guidance, demand explainability and in-season sales and inventory planning.

Allocation and Replenishment adds returns projections, enhanced multichannel forecasting and automated distribution of supply when inventory reaches a distribution centre.

Its Space Planning Solution also introduces closed-loop planogram execution and compliance capabilities, connecting planning decisions with implementation in stores and feeding information about actual shelf conditions back to planners.

Orchestrator Connects Supply Chain Workflows

Blue Yonder has also enhanced Orchestrator, its interaction and orchestration layer for workflows, insights, AI guidance and actions.

A new navigation experience combines conventional navigation with prompt-driven AI interactions, intended to help users move more quickly between identifying an issue and executing a response across planning, supply chain execution and network operations.

The post Blue Yonder Targets Stockouts and Returns with New Agentic AI Tools appeared first on North America Outlook.

Descartes Expands Freight Brokerage Technology

Descartes Systems Group has acquired Tai Software in a deal worth approximately USD$100 million as it looks to strengthen its transportation management offering for freight brokers.

California-based Tai provides an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered transportation management system (TMS) covering the shipment lifecycle across truckload (TL), less-than-truckload (LTL), drayage and cross-border operations.

The platform combines quoting, carrier sourcing, load execution, billing and customer engagement within a single workflow, with automation designed to help freight brokers manage shipments and make operational decisions more quickly.

Tai Technology Joins Descartes Logistics Network

The acquisition will also add Tai’s transaction, carrier and shipment execution data to the Descartes Global Logistics Network (GLN).

Andrew Wimer, Associate General Manager – Transportation Management at Descartes, said: “Freight brokers play a critical role in connecting shippers and carriers to efficiently execute transportation moves across North America.”

“The acquisition expands our transportation management capabilities for freight brokers and adds valuable transaction, carrier and shipment execution data to the Descartes Global Logistics Network.”

Descartes said Tai’s team will also join the business, bringing additional freight brokerage and transportation management expertise.

AI Targets More Complex Freight Operations

The deal comes as freight brokers contend with increasingly complex transportation networks and growing adoption of AI across freight planning, capacity management and shipment execution.

Descartes plans to combine Tai’s TMS capabilities with its existing technology covering areas including carrier onboarding, compliance, fraud prevention and real-time shipment visibility.

Edward J. Ryan, CEO of Descartes, said: “Transportation networks are becoming increasingly dynamic and complex. At the same time, AI is changing how our customers manage freight, capacity and execution.”

“By combining our solutions, we see a significant opportunity to help freight brokers navigate change, streamline freight execution, improve operating margins, strengthen customer and carrier relationships, and support digital transformation.”

Descartes Builds Out Transportation Management Portfolio

The acquisition broadens the technology available through Descartes’ logistics ecosystem, which connects shippers, carriers and logistics service providers.

Its existing capabilities span domestic and international transportation, last-mile delivery, freight rating and payment, customs compliance, global trade intelligence and regulatory processes.

Adding Tai gives Descartes a dedicated AI-enabled platform focused on freight brokerage operations, while extending the shipment and carrier data available across its network.

The post Descartes Acquires Tai in USD$100 Million Freight Technology Deal appeared first on North America Outlook.

CORPORATE EMISSIONS REPORTING

Designed to produce defensible, auditable estimates across providers and use cases, Watershed – the trusted platform for sustainability artificial intelligence (AI) that delivers results – has published a comprehensive open framework for measuring corporate AI emissions.

Dr. Steve Davis from Stanford University and Dr. Sangwon Suh from Tsinghua University have consulted with Watershed to produce the framework, alongside companies Block and Okta, and the non-profit Business Council on Climate Change (BC3). Specifically, it highlights the growing gap in corporate emissions reporting, despite the rapid growth in AI adoption; no accepted methodology for measuring AI’s carbon footprint and electricity use exists.

“Since AI emissions accounting is still nascent, it has the opportunity to design for actionability from the outset, so that measurement incentivizes responsible choices during AI’s rapid buildout. This framework gives companies a defensible starting point and a shared roadmap for improving precision as provider data matures, laying the groundwork for emissions and reductions,” states Dr. John Bistline, Head of Science at Watershed.

Within the published framework, there are three elements designed to make the measurement of AI emissions consistent and actionable. The first comprises a comprehensive system boundary that includes model training, inference, data center overhead, and embodied hardware. The second is a functional unit that aligns with the metric companies already track for cost management. The final is a three-tier calculation approach that aligns with companies’ data quality.

REDUCING AI EMISSIONS

Watershed is an internationally trusted platform that large organizations such as Airbnb, Carlyle Group, FedEx, Visa, and Dr. Martens use to measure, report, and act on their emissions. Watershed enables such companies to swiftly and confidently produce audit-ready carbon footprints that drive real reductions.

The company also provides embedded sustainability intelligence from the world’s leading climate and policy experts, allowing Watershed to be the platform of choice for organizations looking to satisfy regulatory requirements, unlock new business opportunities, and address climate-related risks.

From the company’s newly published framework, key findings include that data quality drives a roughly fourfold range in estimates. This means that for an organization spending approximately USD$100,000 annually on a frontier AI model, estimates range from 3.2 to 13.4 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) depending on the calculation tier used, directly showcasing how much accuracy depends on the underlying data.

Additionally, better provider data can materially improve accuracy, with non-production benchmarks overstating inference energy by four to 20 times relative to production deployments. This framework proposes a standardized disclosure table to enable more accurate corporate reporting and encourage stakeholders to collaborate. Finally, training emissions are the largest source of uncertainty, dependent on assumptions about total lifetime usage – a parameter that no frontier provider discloses in the current market.

The published framework also identifies practical levers for reducing AI emissions, such as model selection, region selection, and prompt optimization. Ultimately, this is the first in a series of resources that Watershed is releasing to advance AI emissions measurement and support sustainability data science across the entire industry.

The post Sustainability Platform Watershed Measures Corporate AI Emissions appeared first on North America Outlook.