Procurement Priorities Pull in Different Directions

Procurement and supply chain teams are being asked to deliver cost reductions without compromising product quality or supply chain resilience, according to new research from Ivalua.

Its Direct Sourcing in Procurement: Mature on Paper, Brittle in Practice report surveyed 800 procurement decision-makers across the US, UK, Germany and France.

Globally, 72 percent of respondents identified continuity of supply as a leading priority, while 69 percent said reducing direct material costs had been a high or critical priority during the past year. A further 68 percent face pressure to improve product quality and accelerate product launches.

The cost challenge is particularly pronounced in the US, where 77 percent of procurement leaders identified lowering direct material costs as a high or critical priority – the highest proportion of any country surveyed.

US Procurement Teams Prioritise Supplier Diversification

US businesses are also placing greater emphasis on diversifying their supply bases.

Some 64 percent of US respondents identified supplier diversification as a key priority, compared with 51 percent in France, 47 percent in the UK and 43 percent in Germany.

Meanwhile, 62 percent of US respondents are prioritising reductions in tariff and trade-related costs.

Businesses are already changing sourcing strategies in response to cost pressures. Globally, 59 percent have optimised specifications to reduce component costs, while 36 percent have switched to lower-cost suppliers.

However, those savings do not necessarily translate into lower customer prices. Among organisations that moved to lower-cost components or specifications, 43 percent subsequently increased prices, 47 percent kept prices unchanged and only 10 percent reduced them.

Supplier Data Creates Resilience Risks

Despite the increased focus on resilience, Ivalua’s research suggests many procurement functions continue to lack the digital infrastructure required to identify and manage supplier risks effectively.

Almost a quarter – 23 percent – of organisations manage critical supplier information across multiple systems requiring manual reconciliation, or through spreadsheets, emails and documents.

More than half – 55 percent – said reliance on spreadsheets for supplier risk management exposes them to human error, while 59 percent acknowledged that they react to supplier risk events rather than prevent them.

Perhaps most significantly, 43 percent said their organisation is one supplier failure away from a supply chain crisis.

Supplier issues are already having operational consequences, with 53 percent of organisations reporting delayed product launches during the previous 12 months.

“Procurement leaders are being asked to lower costs while improving quality, accelerating launches and building more resilient supply chains, all at the same time,” said Doug Keeley, Director of Product Marketing at Ivalua.

“Too many organizations are still relying on disconnected data and manual processes, which turns every sourcing decision into a trade-off. Better supplier data and connected processes give procurement teams the visibility they need to collaborate earlier, solve problems together and uncover opportunities that simply aren’t visible when every decision starts and ends with cost.”

AI Adoption Accelerates in Direct Sourcing

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming an increasingly important part of direct materials sourcing, although data readiness remains a significant obstacle.

Ivalua found that 76 percent of organisations are already using or experimenting with AI or generative AI in direct materials sourcing.

Among these businesses, 89 percent said the technology had been effective at identifying and qualifying new suppliers.

However, 44 percent acknowledged that their supply data is not AI-ready, highlighting a potential gap between AI adoption ambitions and the underlying data infrastructure required to support them.

US Businesses Step Up Procurement Technology Investment

US organisations appear to be responding by accelerating investment in procurement technology.

Some 72 percent of US respondents said their organisation had invested in technology to improve its ability to identify and realise savings. That compares with 39 percent in Germany and 38 percent in France.

The findings indicate that procurement technology investment is increasingly being driven by more than cost reduction alone. Connected supplier data and digital sourcing processes could also play a role in identifying alternative suppliers, anticipating disruption and supporting collaboration between procurement, supply chain and product teams.

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Procurement Platform Targets Rising AI and SaaS Costs

Tropic has expanded its procurement intelligence platform with new capabilities aimed at helping businesses manage increasingly complex technology portfolios and consumption-based AI spending.

The release introduces AI Consumption Management, SKU-level Redundancy Analysis and a personalised planning dashboard that brings renewals, spend, supplier intelligence and procurement tasks into a single view.

According to Tropic’s July 2026 data, AI’s share of enterprise software budgets has risen to nearly 5%, compared with 1.4% a year earlier. Against this backdrop, the company is targeting a procurement challenge that increasingly extends beyond negotiating software contracts to understanding how technology is being consumed.

“Every technology portfolio contains more opportunities than a finance or procurement team can pursue at once,” said Justin Etkin, co-founder and CEO of Tropic.

“The advantage comes from consistently understanding which decisions will have the greatest impact. Whether a team is evaluating a new purchase, adjusting an AI commitment, consolidating overlapping tools, or preparing to source an alternative, Tropic brings that intelligence forward and connects it to action, so teams can focus their time and budget where it can create the most value.”

AI Consumption Management Tracks Spend Against Commitments

Tropic’s AI Consumption Management capability is designed to compare contractual AI spending commitments with actual consumption.

The system connects directly with supported AI suppliers and provides visibility at portfolio, supplier, model and individual-user level. At launch, integrations cover OpenAI, Anthropic and Cursor, with additional suppliers planned.

Procurement and finance teams can forecast potential overages or underutilisation and investigate consumption by supplier, model, user, API key and token type where the underlying data allows.

Daily data updates are supplemented by email or Slack alerts when consumption moves away from plan.

The company said combining this information with contract and pricing intelligence could help organisations adjust commitments, reallocate budgets or prepare for early renewals while they still have negotiating leverage.

SKU-Level Analysis Targets Duplicate Software Spend

Tropic is also introducing Redundancy Analysis to identify overlapping software capabilities across an organisation’s technology portfolio.

Rather than comparing software solely at supplier level, the system analyses individual products and SKUs within active contracts. It is designed to distinguish genuine duplication from products supplied by competing vendors that perform different functions.

Tropic then estimates potential redundant expenditure and recommends either a savings or consolidation approach.

This has become increasingly important as AI functionality is incorporated into existing SaaS products, potentially creating overlap with separately purchased AI and software tools.

“A signal without context is just another notification,” said Russell Lester, President and CFO of Tropic. “The value is in knowing why it matters, what the financial impact could be, and what action can improve the outcome. Tropic combines each customer’s data with intelligence built from real transactions, negotiations, and expert work, so teams can move from spotting an opportunity to acting on it.”

Dashboard Prioritises Procurement Savings Opportunities

A redesigned homepage provides procurement teams with a customisable Dashboard, Action Centre and Signals capability.

The dashboard combines information including renewals, expenditure, tasks and supplier intelligence. Signals ranks upcoming savings, consolidation and risk opportunities according to factors including contract end dates, while the Action Centre highlights issues requiring immediate attention.

Users can filter opportunities according to contract date, department or business objective, allowing procurement teams to plan activity several months in advance rather than concentrating resources primarily around upcoming renewals.

Procurement Intelligence Draws on 100,000 Negotiations

Tropic said opportunities identified through the platform can also be connected with price benchmarks, supplier intelligence and negotiation strategies to support sourcing and renewal decisions.

The company’s intelligence is drawn from more than 100,000 completed negotiations. Tropic currently has $23 billion in spend under management and said it has delivered $425 million in customer savings.

The latest capabilities extend the platform’s focus from executing technology purchases and renewals towards helping procurement and finance functions decide where to deploy resources before sourcing activity begins.

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Investment in warehouse automation has moved from experimentation to a genuine capital priority for manufacturers modernising their material flow.  

Roughly 4.7 million commercial robots are expected to be installed across more than 50,000 warehouses and manufacturing facilities worldwide by the end of 2026, according to recent warehouse automation research, and the automation market is on track to grow at a compound annual rate of near 14 to 18 percent through the decade, per Mordor Intelligence’s market sizing.  

Autonomous mobile robots, goods-to-person systems, vision-based receiving, and voice-directed picking are no longer pilots confined to a handful of flagship facilities, as engineering and operations teams put them to work across production and distribution floors alike. 

The business case for this spending is well documented. Less discussed, and arguably more consequential for whether it pays off, is what happens after the purchase order is signed: the work of getting new automation to actually communicate with the warehouse management system (WMS) running the manufacturing operation. 

Why the Integration Bill Can Exceed the Hardware Bill 

A PwC survey of more than 600 operations and supply chain executives, highlighted in reporting on the warehouse robotics integration bottleneck, found that 92 percent said their technology investments had not fully met expectations, and nearly half pointed to integration complexity, not hardware cost or artificial intelligence performance, as the primary reason.  

Separate research from Mordor Intelligence found that integration projects tied to automation deployments routinely overrun budgets by roughly 30 percent and timelines by as much as a year, eroding the return that justified the projects in the first place. 

The mechanics are not mysterious. Many enterprise WMS platforms were architected when the primary integration requirements were a connection to an enterprise resource planning (ERP) and, perhaps, a transportation management system. That architecture was never built to absorb a fast-growing and scaling list of automation vendors, sensor networks, and real-time data feeds.  

Each new automation partner now becomes its own custom engineering project, built point-to-point, with its own data mappings, failure modes, and maintenance burden. As these connections accumulate, the system grows more fragile rather than more capable. A change on one side can quietly break another, and troubleshooting a fulfilment problem increasingly means tracing a fault across disconnected point solutions rather than one system of record. 

This is why so many operators discover, often mid-project, that the systems integration work behind a robotics deployment costs more than the automation hardware itself. 

What a Modern Integration Architecture Looks Like 

The alternative gaining traction is a shift from point-to-point wiring toward a common orchestration layer, such as a robotics hub or automation control tower approach. Rather than reprogramming and re-coding the WMS every time a new automation system, sensor, or vendor is added, the goal is a set of standard, documented application programming interfaces (APIs) that any vendor can map to once or configure and “dial up” as needed. New hardware and software then become plug-in participants rather than the trigger for another integration project. 

This architectural shift represents a broader change in how manufacturers should think about warehouse software. The WMS is no longer simply managing inventory movement; it is becoming the coordination layer between people, machines, and intelligent systems operating in real time across the warehouse floor and distribution network. 

Increasingly, the technical foundation for this kind of architecture is cloud native and containerised, with advanced platforms using a microservices architecture to orchestrate independent services that can be deployed, scaled, and updated without taking the whole system down. The practical benefit has little to do with the underlying technology name and everything to do with the outcome: a new integration becomes a matter of weeks rather than a multi-quarter engineering effort, and a delay in one service does not cascade into a warehouse-wide outage. 

Questions Worth Asking Before the Next Automation Investment 

Engineering and operations leaders evaluating an automation project, or a WMS platform itself, are increasingly well served by questions that go beyond throughput and price-per-pick.  

How many separate custom integrations does the current architecture support, and who maintains them? What happens to those integrations when the WMS is upgraded or patched? Can a new automation vendor be onboarded through a documented API without a new statement of work? How is data consistency maintained across the WMS, the robotics, and the order management system when a line-side replenishment assignment changes mid shift? What is the actual, fully-loaded integration cost, not just the license fee, tied to the last automation project completed? Perhaps most importantly: does the platform make automation easier to adopt over time, or does every new capability create another layer of technical debt? 

The answers tend to reveal whether an organisation is buying automation or quietly buying a future integration liability. 

Integration Is Quietly Becoming a Selection Criterion 

Industry research compiled by Material Handling Industry (MHI) shows 83 percent of supply chain leaders expect to adopt robotics and automation within five years, and 45 percent are actively planning new automation investments.  

Additionally, Gartner projects that by 2030, half of new warehouses in developed markets will be designed as robot-centric, human-optional facilities. That vision underscores where warehouse design is heading, but realising it depends on organisations being able to integrate automation without introducing excessive complexity into existing operations. That gap is starting to reshape how platforms get chosen.  

Integration architecture, once a detail buried in a request for proposal (RFP) appendix, is emerging as a deciding factor in WMS selection alongside cost and core functionality. Operators who have lived through one expensive, fragile integration are less willing to repeat it, and vendors are responding by rebuilding around open APIs and microservices-based architectures rather than monolithic, tightly coupled code.  

The organisations most likely to capture the full return on their automation spending will not necessarily be the ones with the most robots on the floor. They will be the ones whose software was built to let those robots, and whatever comes after them, plug in without a fight. 

The post When the Warehouse Management System Becomes an Automation Handbook  appeared first on Supply Chain Outlook.

Procurement Teams Face Growing SaaS Cost Volatility

AI procurement platform Vertice has partnered with RSM US to help middle market enterprises identify avoidable technology spend, strengthen supplier negotiations and accelerate procurement cycles.

The alliance combines Vertice’s procurement platform, negotiation services and benchmarking data with RSM’s technology advisory, cloud transformation and cost optimisation capabilities.

Vertice’s procurement intelligence dataset covers more than 250,000 negotiated contracts and $75 billion in global indirect spend, providing benchmarks around supplier pricing, renewals and potential savings.

The partnership will allow procurement and finance teams to move away from reacting to software costs at renewal and towards a more proactive, data-led approach to managing technology expenditure.

Consumption Pricing Creates New Procurement Challenge

A particular focus will be managing the shift from traditional per-user SaaS licences towards consumption and usage-based pricing, accelerated by the adoption of AI capabilities.

Vertice research suggests consumption-based contracts exceed planned budgets by an average of 38%, compared with 4% for traditional seat-based agreements.

Its data also indicates a 25% reduction in vendors using seat-based pricing models over two years, while contract costs increase by 23% on average when suppliers move from seat-based to consumption-based pricing.

The shift creates greater uncertainty around total contract costs and places more emphasis on monitoring actual usage throughout the contract lifecycle.

RSM Brings Vertice into Cloud Consulting Services

Under the alliance, Vertice will become part of RSM’s integrated cloud consulting services, with RSM helping customers apply procurement intelligence across technology advisory, cloud transformation, finance and risk.

The companies aim to give middle market organisations access to purchasing benchmarks and negotiation capabilities that may previously have been difficult to develop internally.

Diego Rosenfeld, RSM Technology Advisory Practice Leader and Principal, said: “While companies of all sizes are deeply impacted by this, the worst-affected appear to be middle market organizations who suffer from the compounding challenge of spending significantly on software, yet lacking the scale, benchmarking data and buying skills to control it.”

He said the collaboration would help clients “bring order back to the AI and SaaS pricing chaos”.

Procurement Moves Beyond the Renewal Cycle

The partnership reflects a broader change in technology procurement as commercial models become more dynamic and software expenditure becomes harder to forecast.

Vertice and RSM argue that procurement teams increasingly need to track usage, benchmark pricing and identify potential overspend before contracts reach renewal.

Roy Tuvey, Founder and CEO of Vertice, said: “Consumption-based pricing is fundamentally changing the game for mid-market IT leaders and their CFOs because vendor commercial models are evolving faster than buying processes can keep up.”

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$10 Trillion Dataset Creates New Finance Benchmark

Basware has launched its inaugural 2026 Finance Performance Report, using production data from its global invoice network to provide procurement and finance leaders with benchmarks for accounts payable performance.

Rather than relying primarily on surveys or estimates, the research draws on 2.5 billion invoices, 6,500 enterprise customers across more than 190 countries and over $10 trillion in combined spend.

Basware said its network processes more than $1 trillion in invoice value annually, equivalent to approximately 1% of global GDP.

The report assesses 10 areas including invoice automation, AI-driven decision-making, payment performance, procurement compliance, matching, fraud and duplicate exposure, and e-invoicing.

Best Performers Reach 93% Invoice Lifecycle Autonomy

One of the largest differences identified by Basware is between organisations automating individual AP tasks and those capable of operating most of the invoice lifecycle without manual intervention.

Best-in-class organisations achieve a 93% Lifecycle Autonomy Rate, compared with an average of 81% across Basware’s network.

The metric covers the invoice lifecycle from receipt and matching through to transfer, measuring the proportion that can be completed without manual intervention.

AI performance shows a similar divide. Among best-in-class businesses, 96.5% of AI-driven coding and approval-routing decisions are completed correctly without human intervention, compared with 89.4% across the wider network.

Jason Kurtz, CEO at Basware, said: “Basware processes more invoice data than any other platform. The invoice is one of the richest sources of intelligence in finance. It tells you what is happening across your processes, where AI is delivering real value, and where performance still falls short. This report turns that intelligence into something every finance leader can use.”

Stronger Controls Reduce Invoice Exceptions

The findings also highlight the relationship between automation and financial control.

Across Basware’s network, 1.4% of invoices are identified as potential fraud or duplicates and sent for manual review before posting. Among best-in-class organisations, the figure falls to 0.05%.

Basware describes its approach as “Governed Autonomy”, combining automation of high-volume processes with human oversight of exceptions and accountability. AI actions remain logged and traceable to support auditability and control.

Donna Wilczek, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Basware, said: “This is what Governed Autonomy looks like in practice. Best-in-class organizations aren’t choosing between automation and control. As AI transforms finance, that kind of visibility is critical to knowing where to automate, where to increase trust around AI, and where to keep people in control. That’s the model every finance team should be building toward.”

Payment Performance Becomes a Procurement Priority

The data also demonstrates how AP performance can affect supplier relationships and working capital.

Best-in-class organisations pay 92% of invoices on or before their due date, compared with 81.8% across the wider network – a difference of 10.2 percentage points.

For procurement teams, stronger invoice performance can help ensure negotiated supplier terms translate into effective day-to-day supplier management rather than being undermined by payment delays.

Compliance is another area where Basware identified differences in operating models. Best-in-class organisations receive 99.7% of invoice volumes through a single centralised compliance platform, reducing reliance on multiple local systems, suppliers and government connections.

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Columbia Localises UK and Ireland Fulfilment

Maersk has expanded its logistics partnership with Columbia Sportswear Company through a new five-year warehousing and distribution agreement covering the UK and Ireland.

Under the agreement, Maersk will manage Columbia’s Pick & Pack operations from its existing multi-customer warehouse in Tamworth, near Birmingham. The operation will replace Columbia’s current distribution model serving the UK and Ireland from Cambrai, France.

The move is designed to create a more localised supply chain, reducing the distance between inventory and the end market while improving delivery speed and flexibility.

The Tamworth operation will handle footwear, apparel, accessories and equipment across Columbia’s e-commerce, retail and wholesale channels.

Initial volumes are expected to reach approximately 1.6 million inbound and outbound units annually, with the facility managing an inventory of around 25,000 SKUs.

8,000 Sq M Dedicated to Columbia Operations

Approximately 8,000 sq m of Maersk’s Tamworth facility will be dedicated to Columbia under the five-year contract, with capacity to hold inventory across multiple fulfilment streams.

The agreement comes as Columbia looks to strengthen its logistics infrastructure to support growth in the UK market.

Matthieu Schegg, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Columbia Sportswear EMEA, said: “Over the years, we’ve developed a strategic partnership with Maersk, and it is super important for us to partner up with professionals in the field of logistics due to the complex nature of our supply chain. We’ve reached the level of business in the UK where we can now set up a facility dedicated to this market to serve the consumers and the customers faster.”

Maersk Extends End-to-End Logistics Role

Beyond warehousing and fulfilment, Maersk will provide Columbia with customs handling, inland transportation, cross-docking and final-mile delivery services for retail and wholesale shipments.

The expanded relationship reflects a wider supply chain focus on positioning inventory closer to demand while consolidating logistics activities with fewer providers.

Jason Walker, Chief Operating Officer for Maersk Contract Logistics, said: “This agreement reflects the continued momentum in our partnership with Columbia Sportswear and highlights the value of integrated logistics solutions. By moving fulfilment closer to the end market, we can support faster delivery times, improved flexibility and a more resilient supply chain.”

The  agreement builds on their existing partnership and supports their aim of simplifying and optimising supply chains through integrated, end-to-end logistics services.

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AI Targets Procurement Contract Value

Ironclad has expanded its AI contracting platform with new capabilities aimed at helping procurement teams manage commercial agreements and ensure negotiated value is realised throughout the contract lifecycle.

The technology automatically identifies and tracks contractual obligations including rebates, discounts and compliance commitments, while organising related supplier agreements into contract hierarchies.

Ironclad said procurement teams are increasingly responsible for ensuring negotiated benefits are captured after signature alongside managing pressures including tariffs, rising costs, smaller teams and new purchasing and pricing models.

Dan Springer, Chief Executive Officer at Ironclad, said: “Procurement teams are negotiating harder than ever on price, terms, and obligations.

“Helping procurement teams ensure the value they win is actually realized after signature is one of the biggest untapped opportunities for enterprises, and it’s finally solvable with AI.”

AI Obligation Extraction Tracks Savings and Risk

Ironclad’s new AI Obligation Extraction capability identifies key commercial terms within executed contracts and makes them visible and trackable.

These include renewal windows, discounts, credits, rebates, termination rights and payment terms.

The technology is intended to give procurement teams greater visibility of negotiated commitments and allow them to act before deadlines are missed or commercial benefits are lost.

Chelsea Rutter of Proof said: “Before using Ironclad, our contracts and their associated requirements were scattered across spreadsheets and files, making it nearly impossible to get a reliable view of all our obligations and commitments.

“Ironclad helped us centralize and structure our contracts, providing a clear and searchable source of truth. Now, we can identify specific obligations in minutes instead of hours.”

Contract Family Agent Improves Supplier Visibility

Ironclad has also introduced its Contract Family Agent, which automatically organises related contracts into hierarchies.

The capability removes the need for teams to manually tag or link records and is designed to provide procurement and legal functions with a clearer view of the overall supplier relationship.

This includes identifying terms, risks and obligations spread across multiple agreements with the same supplier.

Ironclad has also introduced AI Redlining from Precedent, allowing procurement and legal teams to use previously approved language from similar agreements when redlining contracts.

The company said the capability is intended to improve both the speed and consistency of contract negotiations.

SAP Integration Connects Contracts with Procurement Workflows

An enhanced integration with SAP Ariba and SAP S/4HANA is designed to connect Ironclad’s contract information directly with procurement workflows.

Contract details can flow into purchasing processes, helping organisations maintain compliance, enforce agreed supplier terms and capture negotiated value.

The integration is intended to reduce the separation between contract management and day-to-day procurement activity by making commercial terms available within the systems procurement teams already use.

Ironclad said the combination of obligation extraction, supplier contract organisation, AI-supported redlining and SAP integration is designed to move procurement teams from reacting to missed deadlines and contract issues towards proactively managing supplier agreements, savings and risk.

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Amazon Expands Prime Air Drone Delivery To UK

Amazon is delivering parcels by drone from its 465,000 sqft fulfilment centre in Darlington, marking the first international expansion of its Prime Air service beyond the US.

The service began operating in February 2026 and is currently available to eligible customers within a 7.5-mile radius of the fulfilment centre.

Customers can receive certain orders within 60 minutes using Amazon’s MK30 delivery drone.

John Boumphrey, UK Country Manager at Amazon, said: “I’m proud that Darlington is the first Prime Air location outside the U.S., and that UK customers are now experiencing this. The team has spent years making this safe, reliable, and real.”

He added: “The fact that a customer can now order an item and have it delivered by drone shows how we keep innovating for customers to make their lives easier. Not that long ago, two-day delivery felt incredible, and now we’re using drones.”

Drone Technology Targets Last-Mile Delivery

The MK30 is approximately five feet tall, has a wingspan of around five and a half feet and can transport packages weighing up to 5 lbs (2.2 kg).

Prime Air is currently available to customers with a garden, yard or driveway within the service area. Eligible products must weigh 5 lbs or less and be approximately no larger than a large shoebox, with millions of items currently qualifying for the service.

During checkout, Amazon uses digital mapping and artificial intelligence (AI) systems to identify potential delivery zones at a customer’s property.

Customers select a suitable drop-off location without requiring a physical property survey.

Real-time weather data is also incorporated into the checkout process. If conditions including heavy rain, strong winds or poor visibility make flying unsuitable, Prime Air will not appear as a delivery option.

Robotics Connect Fulfilment with Autonomous Delivery

Prime Air is integrated with Amazon’s existing fulfilment technology at Darlington.

Once an eligible order is placed, a Hercules autonomous lifting robot transports the product to an employee, who packs it into customised Prime Air packaging.

The boxes incorporate cushioning technology designed to protect products during drone delivery.

Before departure, an employee conducts a pre-flight inspection covering components including the propellers, struts and motors before installing a charged battery and loading the parcel.

Sameer Mehmood, ground handler at Amazon, said: “One of the main things in the process is doing visual checks of the drone. I make sure the drone is in a good state, there’s no damage, it’s airworthy, and good to fly. You’ll see me checking the propellers, the struts, the motors, and doing a full 360 run of the drone.”

MK30 Flies Autonomously at Up To 70mph

Following its pre-flight checks, the MK30 travels autonomously to the customer’s property at speeds of up to 70mph.

The drone uses cameras, sensors and detect-and-avoid technology to monitor its surroundings, navigate around obstacles and detect unexpected aircraft.

At the delivery location, it descends before releasing the parcel from a safe height and returning to the fulfilment centre.

The MK30 has received approval from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to conduct operations.

Amazon said engineers completed more than 5,100 test flights, representing over 900 hours in the air, before customer deliveries began.

Prime Air Adds New Option to Last-Mile Logistics

The six-rotor MK30 uses vertical take-off before transitioning to horizontal flight and incorporates backups across its flight-critical systems.

The drone can operate in light rain and across a range of temperatures and wind speeds. Amazon also said the MK30 is quieter than an average delivery van.

Prime Air delivery is currently included with Amazon Prime membership in the UK without an additional delivery charge.

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EXPANDING US MANUFACTURING CAPACITY  

Siemens is strengthening its US manufacturing footprint with more than $200 million in investments across two new facilities in Pendergrass, Georgia, and Grand Prairie, Texas. 

The investment will increase Siemens’ production capacity for the electrical infrastructure required to support the continued growth of artificial intelligence (AI). It will also create more than 1,500 jobs as the company responds to rising demand for AI-ready data centers across the country. 

The US investment forms part of a broader effort by Siemens to expand its manufacturing capacity globally. In July 2026, the company announced a further €300 million investment in its German factories, aimed at supporting the accelerating demand for AI and data center infrastructure. 

“We are present across the AI value chain – from chip design and data center infrastructure to the electrical systems and smart grids that power accelerated computing. With these investments, we are strengthening our global leadership in the electrical backbone of AI and helping customers build efficient, resilient, AI-ready data centers,” he adds.  

POWERING THE NEXT GENERATION  

The new facilities will manufacture electrical equipment designed to support the demanding environments in which AI data centers operate. 

This includes systems for distributing, monitoring, and controlling power across highly complex and energy-intensive facilities. By expanding access to these technologies, Siemens aims to help customers increase capacity while maintaining reliable operations, adapting to changing power loads and making more efficient use of energy and equipment. 

The company is already seeing strong demand for its data center solutions. During the first nine months of its current fiscal year, Siemens reported triple-digit order growth in its data center business, with orders reaching approximately €6 billion. 

BUILDING EFFICIENT AND RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE  

As AI adoption accelerates, the infrastructure supporting it will need to scale alongside demand while remaining efficient and resilient. 

Through its portfolio, Siemens connects data center infrastructure with the wider energy system, supporting areas including power distribution, building technologies, grid software, load management, and energy management. 

FROM INFRASTRUCTURE TO OPERATIONS  

Siemens’ role in the AI buildout extends beyond the physical infrastructure required to power data centers. 

The company is positioned across both sides of the AI expansion, providing the infrastructure needed to support AI while also applying domain-specific AI to engineering and operations. 

Its industrial AI capabilities bring together software, automation, and digital twins to help customers design, build, and operate complex physical systems with greater efficiency and resilience. 

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STRENGTHENING TRADE CONNECTIONS

DHL Express has launched a new direct flight between Shanghai and Bangkok, expanding capacity along a key trade lane connecting China with the rapidly growing economies of Indochina.

The new daily service operates on the Shanghai-Bangkok-Bahrain-Brussels-Shanghai route, strengthening links between manufacturing, sourcing, and consumption markets across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.

Operated by a DHL Boeing 767 freighter with a maximum payload of 50 tons, the service reflects the company’s continued investment in network capacity and infrastructure and responds to evolving trade patterns across high-growth markets.

“This route is a direct response to how trade flows in Asia are shifting,” said Peter Bardens, Senior Vice President for Network Operations & Aviation – Asia Pacific, DHL Express.

“We’re seeing increasing movement of goods between China and Southeast Asia, alongside continued demand from customers in Europe and the Middle East for products manufactured across the region.”

According to Bardens, the new service will provide additional capacity and more direct connections between key production and consumption markets, helping DHL Express adapt its network to where customers need it most.

SUPPORTING INDOCHINA TRADE

Bangkok serves as a strategic gateway to the wider Indochina region, while Bahrain and Brussels operate as key DHL Express hubs.

The new Shanghai-Bangkok connection will allow the company to consolidate shipments originating in China and Southeast Asia before connecting them with destinations across Europe and the Middle East.

The service arrives as manufacturers and traders in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos increasingly source goods from China. Many of these shipments form part of production chains spanning several countries, making reliable and flexible logistics connections increasingly important.

As trade links between China and Southeast Asia deepen, DHL Express aims to improve speed, flexibility, and network resilience for customers transporting materials, components, and finished products across Asia and onwards to global markets.

The move follows the recent expansion of DHL Express’ Shenzhen gateway at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport. The facility can now handle 900 tons of cargo daily, approximately three times its original throughput, supporting growing cross-border trade and e-commerce shipments in China.

CONNECTING GLOBAL MARKETS

Businesses across Europe and the Middle East also continue to trade extensively with China and Southeast Asia, spanning sectors from electronics and industrial components to consumer goods.

With international business activity remaining highly dispersed across global markets, the Shanghai-Bangkok service creates additional opportunities for businesses while strengthening access between major production and consumption regions.

As intra-Asia and global trade flows continue to demonstrate resilience, DHL remains focused on expanding its dedicated air network.

Another recent development is DHL Global Forwarding’s introduction of a new transpacific service connecting Southeast Asia with the United States. Together, these network expansions are designed to connect businesses more effectively with global markets while supporting more agile and resilient supply chains.

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AMSOL Moves Source-To-Pay Procurement onto Single Platform

Cape Town-headquartered AMSOL is implementing Zycus technology as part of a programme to modernise procurement across its marine services operations.

AMSOL provides services including vessel management, towage, marine emergency response, bunkering, offshore terminal management, and offshore supply and support to customers across the energy, ports, mining and maritime sectors.

The company will move procurement activities away from email and disconnected systems onto a single operating platform covering the source-to-pay process.

The system will support finance and category teams working ashore as well as seafarers raising procurement requests from vessels.

AI Procurement Connects Shore and Vessel Operations

AMSOL plans to provide employees with an AI-guided system for raising and tracking procurement requests, including from vessels operating in low-connectivity environments.

Sourcing, contracting and supplier management will also move onto the platform, with AI supporting contract reviews and obligation tracking.

Agentic AI will be used to categorise spend, identify potential savings opportunities and benchmark procurement performance without requiring manual analysis.

AMSOL also plans to use autonomous negotiation agents to engage suppliers and secure value on tactical spend with limited manual intervention.

Aatish Dedhia, Founder and CEO of Zycus, said: “Maritime and logistics businesses run on the reliability of what sits behind their operations, and procurement is central to that reliability.

“AMSOL is reimagining how a growing African marine services enterprise buys, contracts, and works with suppliers, and doing it on an agentic foundation from day one. We are proud to support a team that is bringing modern, AI-led procurement to one of the most demanding, high-risk operating environments there is.”

Supplier Management and Governance Move Online

The transformation will also replace paper-based supplier onboarding with a self-service portal incorporating compliance and governance checks.

The changes are intended to increase data visibility and establish more structured procurement processes across AMSOL’s operations.

Kenneth Molomo, Chief Information Officer at AMSOL, said: “This marks an important step in AMSOL’s procurement transformation journey as we move towards a more integrated and structured operating model. Our focus is on establishing a platform that supports both our shore-based teams and our vessel operations, while improving data visibility, governance, and decision-making over time.

“The Zycus platform provides the foundation to enable this transformation in a phased and controlled manner.”

Phased Procurement Roll-Out Begins

The deployment is being delivered with Zycus’s regional implementation team, with design workshops already underway.

AMSOL plans a phased roll-out across its business units, with the programme representing one of the first enterprise source-to-pay transformations for a South African marine services company.

The implementation will bring procurement processes spanning sourcing, supplier management, contracting and payments onto the same technology platform as AMSOL seeks to establish a more integrated operating model across its shore-based and maritime operations.

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Limited Logistics Capacity Creates Supply Chain Risk

UK logistics networks could be operating with insufficient headroom to respond to increasing pressures on the food system, according to research from supply chain and logistics consultancy SCALA.

Its survey of senior supply chain leaders found 52 per cent of firms hold less than 25 per cent contingency or safety stock, while 71 per cent could increase their UK warehouse capacity by no more than 25 per cent.

The research also identified potential vulnerabilities around alternative distribution capacity. Some 43 per cent of respondents said no other site could fulfil dispatches if their primary warehouse became unavailable.

Only 33 per cent had fully implemented the necessary response strategies, while 52 per cent had partially implemented them and 14 per cent had yet to begin.

Efficiency Focus Could Reduce Supply Chain Resilience

SCALA warned that while businesses have different supply chain requirements, limited inventories, restricted warehouse capacity and a lack of tested alternatives can combine to reduce their ability to absorb disruption.

Potential pressures include extreme weather, labour shortages, transportation problems and geopolitical events.

The findings come amid concerns around extreme heat and the decline of ecosystems supplying the UK, which could contribute to poor harvests, shortages and higher prices.

SCALA said higher business rates for large logistics properties could create further pressure by encouraging companies to prioritise efficient rather than resilient supply chains.

Chris Clowes, executive director at SCALA, said: “Food supply chains are already facing growing pressure from extreme weather, geopolitical instability and rising costs. Our research suggests many businesses are entering the next major disruption severely underprepared, largely due to a focus on efficiency over resilience within logistics networks.

“Businesses should identify the suppliers, facilities and processes that could interrupt supply, establish back-up arrangements, and test how quickly stock, people and vehicles could be redirected. Sainsbury’s recent decision to increase supplies of British-grown vegetables is a great example of this thinking in practise.”

SCALA Calls for Stronger Logistics Contingency Planning

SCALA is advising businesses to establish robust contingency plans and identify alternative sourcing options where possible.

The consultancy said organisations should assess which suppliers, facilities and processes could interrupt supply and establish alternative arrangements. Businesses should also test how quickly inventory, employees and vehicles can be redirected when disruption occurs.

The recommendations form part of SCALA’s report, The Resilience Gap: Assessing the Risks and Readiness of Global Supply Chains, which examines operational weaknesses and measures businesses can take to improve resilience.

Warehousing and Transport Seen as Critical Infrastructure

SCALA is also calling for warehousing and transportation to be treated as critical national infrastructure because of their role in keeping supermarkets supplied, manufacturers operating and goods moving across the UK.

Clowes added: “The government must also recognise warehousing and transport as critical national infrastructure, with business rates that support investment in resilient logistics capacity. Any national food resilience plan must consider how food will be stored and moved, as well as how it will be produced.”

The consultancy’s findings highlight the balance facing supply chain leaders between maintaining lean, cost-efficient logistics operations and retaining sufficient capacity to respond when disruption occurs.

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Shenzhen Logistics Gateway Triples Processing Capacity

DHL Express has expanded its Shenzhen ‘Super Gateway’ at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport as it strengthens logistics capacity supporting international supply chains and cross-border trade.

The €177 million investment is DHL’s largest in mainland China to date and has tripled the facility’s processing capacity to approximately 900 tons per day.

Located in one of China’s major manufacturing and export regions, the gateway supports cross-border trade, e-commerce shipments and time-definite international express services. The expansion will also create more than 1,000 jobs and increase DHL’s network capabilities in Southern China.

New Air Freight Route Connects Key Global Trade Lanes

Alongside the infrastructure investment, DHL Express has launched a new daily Boeing 767 freighter service connecting Shanghai, Bangkok, Bahrain and Brussels before returning to Shanghai.

The route adds up to 50 tons of daily capacity and strengthens connections between China, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe. DHL said the service will provide customers with greater scheduling flexibility and increased capacity for heavier shipments across key trade lanes.

The additional capacity also supports DHL’s Heavyweight Express offering, which enables larger shipments to move through its international time-definite network with door-to-door visibility, customs expertise and predictable transit times.

Supply Chain Investment Responds to Changing Global Trade

DHL said the investments come as global supply chains continue to diversify while China maintains an important role in manufacturing, sourcing, innovation and consumption.

John Pearson, CEO of DHL Express, said: “Global supply chains continue to adapt to changing economic conditions, geopolitical disruption and evolving customer requirements. Our focus is on ensuring customers have the flexible, reliable and high-quality logistics networks they need to connect with suppliers, production locations and consumers around the world.

“These investments enhance the connections between China and global markets and reinforce DHL’s role as the logistics partner of choice for international e-commerce and fast-growing sectors such as data center and semiconductor logistics, life sciences and healthcare and new energy.”

DHL Targets Resilient International Supply Chains

Demand for logistics capacity is growing among customers in technology, industrial manufacturing, semiconductors, healthcare, data centre infrastructure and new energy, according to DHL. Many of these industries depend heavily on manufacturing and supplier networks across China and the wider Asian region.

DHL said it is continuing to invest in infrastructure and transportation capabilities to help customers respond to changing supply chain requirements, access international markets and strengthen operational resilience.

The China expansion follows other investment commitments in regions DHL expects to benefit from changing trade patterns, including Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and India.

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AI Forecasting Targets Grocery Supply Chain Efficiency

Delhaize, part of Ahold Delhaize Group, has expanded its use of SymphonyAI technology to automate and improve forecasting and replenishment across its grocery supply chain.

SymphonyAI’s Demand Forecasting and Replenishment solutions generate daily order proposals at both distribution centre and store level, replacing more reactive and manually intensive ordering processes with an exception-based approach.

The technology integrates with SAP Retail and incorporates factors including supplier calendars, lead times, truck constraints, promotional pre-orders and available inventory across the network.

At distribution centre level, weekly forecast accuracy has reached between 80 and 85 per cent for dry and frozen products and between 85 and 90 per cent for fresh categories, excluding promotional periods.

Improved Forecasting Reduces Shrink and Safety Stock

Forecast accuracy across affiliated stores has increased by approximately five percentage points on average and by up to 10 percentage points at highly seasonal locations.

Across product categories, improvements compared with the previous approach reach up to 10 percentage points depending on product rotation and item type.

Delhaize said distribution centre shrink has decreased across all departments without compromising service levels for its affiliate partners. Working capital has also improved as higher forecast accuracy has reduced safety stock requirements.

Géraldine Durant, Supply Chain Replenishment and Master Data Director at Delhaize, said: “Building a best-in-class supply chain on a pure B2B affiliate model is a different challenge than running a traditional retail operation. You cannot push inventory risk downstream to your partners — forecasting has to be right, or you absorb the cost.

“We have worked with SymphonyAI for more than 15 years, and the decision to move to their AI-based forecasting models was one we made with confidence. The results across both our distribution network and affiliated stores have validated that decision. We are continuing to improve forecast accuracy each year, and our roadmap with SymphonyAI gives us a clear path to raising the bar further.”

Automated Ordering Increases Replenishment Productivity

Delhaize has also moved towards exception-based order reviews, allowing replenishment teams to focus on critical alerts and higher-value activities rather than manually validating every proposal.

Approximately 20 per cent of distribution centre order proposals are now automatically approved without user intervention. Delhaize is targeting an increase to 50 per cent as the number of participating suppliers expands.

For orders requiring review, the modification rate is approximately 10 per cent in dry categories and 20 per cent in fresh.

At store level, managers use handheld devices to review a small number of products each day, concentrating on exceptions such as unusually high orders and near-empty shelves.

Delhaize Targets Further Supply Chain Forecasting Gains

Supported by SymphonyAI’s Managed Services team, Delhaize said it continues to improve forecast accuracy by between 1.5 and two percentage points annually.

Manish Choudhary, President of Retail at SymphonyAI, said: “Delhaize operates one of the more demanding retail supply chain environments we work in: a multi-echelon network, a high-fresh assortment, and a B2B pull model that removes the inventory buffer most retailers rely on.

“What they have built with our Forecasting AI platform is a replenishment operation that improves continuously, not just at go-live. That compounding accuracy gain is the commercial case for AI in grocery supply chain, and it is exactly what our platform is designed to deliver.”

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Procurement Leadership To Support AI Strategy

Omnea, which provides an agentic operating system for procurement and supplier management, has appointed Michael van Keulen as CPO in Residence.

Van Keulen will contribute to Omnea’s product strategy and roadmap while working with customers on procurement transformation.

Former Coupa CPO Brings 30 Years of Procurement Experience

He brings nearly 30 years of experience across procurement, finance and enterprise transformation. Van Keulen previously helped build the procurement function at VF Corporation, the parent company of brands including The North Face, Timberland and Vans, before serving as Head of Procurement at Lululemon.

He subsequently spent five years at Coupa, initially as Chief Procurement Officer and later as Practice Leader, advising organisations on procurement transformation and digital strategy.

Michael van Keulen, CPO in Residence at Omnea, said: “This market has seen more innovation in the last three years than the previous twenty. The intake and orchestration players that took on Coupa while I was there intrigued me — the market needed that competition.

“But the more I researched and spoke to my network, the more I saw a similar product architecture and approach, with a prettier front end. AI is a generational opportunity to do things genuinely differently, and a slightly shinier P2P wasn’t enough for me. I wanted a truly AI-native solution. Omnea’s name kept coming up. The deeper I dug, the more certain I became. This was it.”

Agentic AI Targets Procurement Transformation

Van Keulen’s appointment comes as Omnea develops its use of agentic artificial intelligence (AI) across procurement and supplier management.

Ben Freeman, CEO and founder of Omnea, said: “MVK has seen this market from every seat, and nobody is better placed to help our customers seize what AI makes possible than someone who has led enterprise transformation from the inside.

“He’ll work shoulder to shoulder with our customers, and sharpen how we build our agentic operating system for procurement. Having him choose Omnea is a proud moment for us.”

Omnea Expands as Enterprise Adoption Accelerates

Omnea said its revenue tripled in the 12 months to June 2026, representing its third consecutive year of more than threefold growth.

Enterprises including PayPal, Just Eat and T. Rowe Price selected the platform during the first half of 2026. Global headcount increased 64 per cent during the same period, while its New York team grew 250 per cent as adoption in the US increased.

Van Keulen added: “The next generation of procurement innovation won’t be measured by how many workflows it automates or agents it implements. It will be measured by how intelligently it helps businesses make better decisions. I’m excited to build that future with Omnea.”

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