Keith Andrey

Companies are rapidly integrating generative AI into procurement and sourcing decisions. The promise is obvious. AI can read thousands of pages of supplier proposals faster than any human team, summarize technical requirements in seconds, and create the appearance of consistency and objectivity in evaluation. But there is an important distinction managers are starting to overlook. The same AI system that performs extremely well at identifying whether a supplier meets minimum requirements may perform much less reliably when judging which supplier is truly better. Recent research published in the Journal of Business Logistics examined this issue by comparing how large language models evaluated supplier bids against evaluations completed by experienced procurement professionals. It analyzed 123 supplier proposals tied to 31 public procurement projects conducted by the State of Ohio between 2023 and 2024. The projects involved complex IT services contracts, many containing large, text-heavy bid packages requiring evaluative judgment rather than simple arithmetic comparisons. The researchers tested three reasoning-oriented AI models: OpenAI o3, Grok-3-Mini, and DeepSeek R1. They then compared their evaluations against human procurement scores. The findings revealed a surprisingly clear pattern. AI performed well when evaluating compliance signals. These are signals tied to baseline qualifications and technical requirements. Does…

Another BIG week at Supply Chain Now! If you missed an episode, get a quick summary and listen here! We published a great Logistics with Purpose episode on Saturday the 8th, featuring Shane Buerster with Z Beans Coffee. Supply Chain Now · “Logistics with Purpose: Shane Buerster with Z Beans Coffee”       On Monday, Scott and Greg spoke with Keith Saunders, Vice President of Direct Materials and Sourced Finished Goods at Zep Inc.   Supply Chain Now · “Supply Chain Front & Center: Keith Saunders with Zep Inc.”     Stephanie Thum talked about relentlessly focusing on the customer on the podcast on Tuesday with Scott and Greg.   Supply Chain Now · “Relentlessly Focused on the Customer: Stephanie Thum with Practical CX”     On Wednesday, we published this week’s Supply Chain Buzz, which featured an excellent interview with Andrew Kelley, the CCO of Boxlock.   Supply Chain Now · “The Supply Chain Buzz for August 10th with Featured Guest Andrew Kelley from BoxLock”   On Thursday, we shared another great episode in the TECHquila Sunrise series with Greg White, where Greg shares the latest investments, acquisitions, innovations, and glorious implosions in Supply Chain Tech every week.…