How digital procurement can help manufacturing and industrial firms innovate and thrive

The UK’s manufacturing and industrial sector faces unprecedented challenges in today’s volatile business environment. Organisations must get to grips with stubbornly high levels of inflation in areas such as raw materials and energy, while labour costs have also risen dramatically in recent months.

 

At the same time, there’s ongoing trade volatility, with uncertainty over tariffs and other costs, the threat of supply chain disruptions as a result of geopolitical tensions, skills shortages, pressure to adopt advanced digital technologies, and a need to meet increasingly tough regulations in sustainability and the environment.

 

Customer demand is also waning, adding to the pressure on margins. Government figures show the sector contracted by 0.9 per cent in May 2025, on the back of a further two months of negative growth.

 

For procurement professionals working in the manufacturing and industrial sector, this makes for a difficult environment, particularly when it comes to seeking to control costs and ensure security of supply. This makes it more important to have reliable suppliers and insight into just what is being spent and with who.

 

There is particular focus on indirect spend categories: areas which are typically not the core business of the manufacturing organisation, but which can add up to significant amounts – often as much as 20 to 30 per cent of a business’s total spend. Examples include MRO supplies, IT equipment, furniture, office supplies, stationery or cleaning products, which are often ordered on an ad hoc basis. These are often bought by people outside of the procurement function, often on a company credit card or purchased by individual employees and claimed back through expenses.

 

Not only does this mean that organisations may be paying more than they need to, it also means there’s little in the way of management information on which to make more strategic decisions such as whether spend is necessary or with the most appropriate supplier. It can also be difficult to demonstrate the impact spend is having on wider organisational goals, such as using local suppliers or those that meet certain sustainability requirements.

 

Such purchases, which can be numerous but relatively low in cost, have traditionally been difficult for procurement departments to get to grips with, requiring time to assess spend, identity potential suppliers, establish approval processes and change the organisational culture when it comes to buying such items.

 

The rise of digital marketplace services such as Amazon Business is changing this. Subject to company policy, buyers can purchase from multiple suppliers through a centralised platform, which can integrate with existing procurement software. Items are then delivered in a 24-to-48-hour window using a trusted delivery network, helping to build supply chain resilience at a time when disruptions are increasingly common.

 

Importantly, procurement teams gain vital insight into spend information, allowing them to assess what they are spending and why, and identify areas where this could be reduced. It also allows for comprehensive invoicing and provides access to other analytical tools that can help teams understand buying patterns and anticipate future demand, allowing them to optimise stock levels.

 

Testing laboratories company Eurofins Group – a decentralised organisation with nearly 900 laboratories and 62,000 employees across 61 countries – turned to Amazon Business to get more control over its indirect spend categories.

“We needed a partner that could not only grow and scale with us but provide simplicity and access to the data analytics that we needed, showing not only what we were purchasing but how often, and spend management for all of our procurement needs,” says Jason Mulligan, president, Eurofins US Food. “We have experienced great success both in cost and time savings. We see our future with Amazon Business as one of a partnership based on innovation.”

 

The partnership has benefited internal customers, as well as the procurement team itself, adds Vineet Garg, senior director of strategic sourcing and procurement for North America at Eurofins. “We have seen constant business growth and more adoption to the Amazon catalogue because it offers a huge variety of products at very competitive prices,” he says.

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To find out more about how Amazon Business could give your manufacturing or industrial organisation greater control over spend, visit business.amazon.co.uk/en/work-with-us/commercial/industrials