修复采购和供应链差距：使用人工智能驱动的编排来推动一致性和结果

Key Takeaways Executive Summary • Resilience, quality compliance andsustainability have surpassed traditional Supply chains may have emerged from the COVID-19 crisismore digital and distributed, but stability remains elusive.Disruption continues to evolve: shifting trade dynamics, climatevolatility, labor issues, and growing demands around quality • Procurement and supply chain leadersare increasingly aligned on strategic • Operational misalignment slowsdecision-making, increases risks and According to new research from North Carolina State Universityand GEP, many procurement and supply chain executives arealigned on strategic goals like resilience and sustainability. Butoperational divides — driven by siloed systems, fragmented • Orchestration creates a unifiedframework for aligning procurement and • Generative AI accelerates orchestrationby enabling faster, smarter collaboration This paper explores how orchestration can bridge that gap.Orchestration brings procurement and supply chain operationsinto sync through shared visibility, structured workflows and • Organizations that invest in humanand operational readiness will be betterequipped to integrate AI and unlock From enhancing forecasting and surfacing risks earlier tostreamlining decisions and improving data quality, AI is alreadyhelping teams act faster and more intelligently. The key is notadopting AI in isolation, but integrating it into orchestrated The capabilities are here. And as competitive pressureintensifies, so is the urgency to use them. Organizations thatbuild operational readiness, invest in orchestration and embed Closing the Execution Gap Supply chain and procurement teams continue to face rising pressure from tariffs and climate disruptions to demandsfor greater resilience, cost-efficiency and sustainability. While the need for alignment is clear, achieving it is not. To better understand these challenges, NC State University and GEP conducted a global study of 250 executives,including chief procurement officers, supply chain leaders, CFOs and CIOs. The research explored how organizationsare setting priorities, adopting new technologies and working to coordinate procurement and supply chain decision- This paper presents the key findings from that study — where the biggest gaps lie, how orchestration and AI are beingapplied, and what steps leaders can take to strengthen execution across procurement and supply chain functions. Similar Challenges, Different Focus The concerns of both procurement and supply chain functions have shifted. Where cost was a top focus and KPI, nowit’s also maintaining supply continuity, advancing sustainability and ensuring compliance with regulations. But the lens Procurement’s Perspective Procurement’s Enterprise-RelatedDecision-Making Priorities Procurement’s role is changing. Ongoing disruptions,from material shortages to regulatory shifts, are pushing In this study, procurement is defined as the acquisition ofgoods and services, employing sourcing methodologies,to drive customer value. Procurement may be organizedinto category teams and may also be responsible for • Sustainability (carbon footprint reductionand Scope 3 emissions) • Diversity and inclusion in the workforce As shown in Figure 1, procurement managers are feelingthe pressure from across the enterprise to addressongoing critical materials shortages and to ensureavailability. Material shortages have been particularly bad • Improving technical and behavioral skillsthrough employee engagement • Adoption of AI into current processes Because of this pressure, cost reduction is no longer procurement’s only top priority. Instead, it also includes ensuringavailability of critical materials, building out supply chain maps to track Scope 3 emissions, and identifying potentiallabor violations in sub-tier suppliers. These elements are interrelated and require visibility into not only tier 1 suppliers Material Shortages:The supply of copper has becomeone of the most salient material challenges today. Electricvehicles, solar and wind power, and batteries for energystorage all run on copper, dramatically increasing globaldemand. However, supply is not keeping pace, likelyleading to major shortages down the road. An S&P Labor and Human Rights:Demands for increasedtransparency in working conditions is another importantrequirement for procurement. It is no longer enoughsimply to have a supplier code of conduct. Regulatoryagencies in the EU are demanding proof of adherence to One executive we interviewed described how theyused AI to improve alignment across multiple businessfunctions. By combining end-to-end data, they were For procurement teams, this creates a category strategychallenge that spans forecasting, logistics, and supplierdevelopment. Meeting demand requires not just marketinsight, but tight coordination with internal stakeholders “Spend data only gets you so far. To drivealignment with our vision of end-to-end(E2E) c