The parallel session on AI Procurement and Supply Chain took place successfully at the CMIF2026 Lean Digital Innovation Conference and Lean Digital Transformation Innovation Ecosystem Expo, themed "AI-Driven Resilient Growth, Reshaping the Future Competitiveness of Supply Chains." Hosted by Zheng Hui, Senior Advisory Consultant at iBRidge Group, the session brought together industry association experts, manufacturing executives, and supply chain practitioners to share insights on supply chain resilience building, the integration of lean methodologies with AI implementation, and digital quality control, delivering actionable approaches for the digital transformation of China's manufacturing supply chains.

Liu Mingzhong, First Vice President of the China Enterprise Reform and Development Research Society, delivered the opening address. He noted that with increasing volatility in the external manufacturing environment, supply chain resilience has become a core competitive factor for enterprises. He emphasized that companies pursuing intelligent upgrades should not blindly chase technology trends but should anchor themselves in the realities of manufacturing operations, prioritizing management system development first, deeply integrating AI technology with real-world business scenarios, and leveraging digital tools to connect the entire supply chain, thereby supporting the high-quality development of Chinese manufacturing.

Lu Da, Partner at iBRidge Technology, introduced the iBRidge GRIP supply chain model and presented the "One-Two-Five" methodology for large-scale industrial AI implementation, aligned with the national standard GB/T 45403-2025 "Digital Supply Chain Maturity Model." During the case study segment, he shared an end-to-end process optimization project for an ETO equipment manufacturer. By restructuring order review, production planning, and material completeness coordination across the full chain, the contract on-time delivery rate improved from 76% to 89%, delivery lead times were reduced from 69 days to 61 days, and the planned on-time completion rate jumped from 52% to 90%. He also presented a smart dashboard practice for grassroots teams in the petrochemical industry, which uses offline HTML technology to enable frontline workers—without any coding skills—to automatically aggregate cost data, identify anomalies, and rank root causes, all while adhering to security constraints that prohibit production data from being uploaded to the cloud, solving the persistent challenges of data access and analysis at the grassroots level.

Meng Yandong, Vice President of Bühler China and Head of Factory Systems, delivered a presentation titled "From Lean to Digital-Intelligent: Bühler China's Exploration and Reflections." He outlined the seven core elements of lean supply chains and pointed out that under traditional lean models, enterprises commonly face barriers such as departmental silos, fragmented data, recurring supplier quality issues, and lengthy first-article certification cycles. He stressed that digital lean is not about replacing lean management with systems, but rather using lean principles as the core philosophy with digital tools serving as enablers. Bühler has built a four-tier digital architecture comprising SAP, MES, QMS, and a supplier portal. Through the supplier portal, upstream manufacturing and quality data are uploaded online, breaking the "black box" of supplier operations, extending quality control to the upstream supply chain, and enabling coordinated quality management across internal and external supply chains.

Fu Sheng, Supply Chain Director at Lam Soon Hong Kong Group, shared how the group manages multi-site operations through demand forecasting and multi-source supplier strategies to mitigate price and supply risks in grain and oil raw materials. He also emphasized that AI cannot directly replace human experience in the FMCG supply chain; rather, AI is best suited for repetitive tasks such as sales forecasting, inventory alerts, and batch traceability, while procurement and supply chain professionals should focus on higher-value activities such as supplier collaboration, risk assessment, and exception handling. He further suggested that as consumer demand evolves more rapidly, supply chains need to shift from push-based production to demand-pull models, connecting sales, planning, procurement, and warehousing to reduce stagnant inventory and improve both food safety and operational efficiency.

Dr. Dong Xinghua from Baoji Petroleum Machinery Co., Ltd. shared practical insights based on the ETO customized manufacturing scenario for heavy oil and gas equipment. These projects represent typical multi-variety, small-batch customized production, characterized by complex material categories and a high proportion of outsourced procurement, with supply chains significantly impacted by project cycle fluctuations. Dr. Dong noted that the biggest pain point for heavy equipment supply chains lies in the lack of synchronization between R&D, procurement, and production, where frequent drawing changes cascade to procurement, causing rework, material backlog, and project delays. He shared the company's practices: on one hand, strengthening upfront collaboration between technology and procurement by involving procurement during the design phase to assess component lead times and supplier manufacturing capabilities in advance; on the other hand, using digital tools to connect the data chain across BOM changes, procurement requests, and supplier deliveries to minimize information gaps caused by changes. He also cautioned that AI procurement implementation in the heavy industry should not aim for an all-at-once overhaul; instead, enterprises should prioritize addressing immediate needs such as material completeness alerts and automated supplier delivery performance tracking, gradually accumulating industry process knowledge before expanding to more advanced intelligent applications.

Yang Shengjie, Procurement Department Head at Shanghai CSSC Mitsui Ship Diesel Engine Co., Ltd., and Cui Ye, Senior Advisor at iBRidge Technology, jointly discussed procurement supply chain development for marine large-bore diesel engines. Marine power equipment presents high technical barriers, with critical components sourced from a highly globalized supply chain. New green and low-carbon regulations have introduced a large number of new materials, intensifying both supply security and compliance pressures. Yang explained that procurement management in the shipbuilding industry must balance ensuring main engine production and delivery while also addressing domestic substitution, ESG compliance, and classification society certification requirements. He described the company's procurement transformation: establishing a tiered and classified supplier management system, cultivating domestic supporting suppliers for core critical components to reduce reliance on single external supply sources, and embedding classification society certification and environmental compliance requirements into the entire procurement process—from supplier admission to inquiry and comparison to contracting—achieving compliance control at the front end. He also noted that the marine industry's large number of non-standard components and low standardization levels create natural barriers to AI adoption, so the company prioritizes digitizing standardized processes such as procurement approvals and automated supplier performance aggregation before progressively building component knowledge bases to support future sourcing and selection decisions.

Wang Yue, Vice President of iBRidge Technology, also participated in the session, sharing implementation methodologies for digital supply chain transformation in manufacturing from a consulting perspective. She reminded enterprises that transformation should be grounded in current conditions, starting with process mapping and knowledge accumulation before deploying digital tools, avoiding the pitfall of prioritizing technology over business needs.

A key consensus emerged throughout the session: supply chain intelligent development should prioritize mapping end-to-end business processes and accumulating business knowledge and rules before introducing AI and other digital tools, preventing the disconnect between technology and business. The numerous real-world cases from manufacturing sites provided valuable references for domestic manufacturing enterprises in building supply chain resilience and advancing digital-intelligent transformation. The session reaffirmed that the path forward lies in methodical process clarity first, followed by strategic technology deployment, ensuring sustainable and impactful outcomes for China's manufacturing sector.