The 21st century has stress-tested the global supply chain. Climate shocks and geopolitical flare-ups have fractured the way we do business. Everything from tsunamis to Trump-era tariffs have exposed the fragility of just-in-time logistics. But what’s the fix to this uncertainty?
Consumers may be stockpiling beans in case the world order collapses, but manufacturers and their clients are betting on something less apocalyptic: supply chains driven by agentic AI.
As Anita Chowdhury from the Cambridge Innovation Institute puts it:
Companies must assume disruption is constant, not occasional. A resilient supply chain isn't just about backups — it’s about intelligent design.
This new paradigm isn’t about building bigger buffers; it’s about creating smarter, self-learning supply chain management tool that can accelerate data-driven decision-making to keep the wheels of business turning.
OEMs and EMS need the supply chain tools that can predict and reroute around problems and even turn disruption into advantage.
Luckily, the integration of AI into every day business systems is no longer a future prospect — it's a current competitive edge. For many within the Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) sector, AI is now reshaping how companies quote, source, and manage complexity.
Quoting platforms are using machine learning to optimise component selection. Predictive analytics are foreseeing shortages before they become roadblocks.
But soon, with the emergence of agentic AI — AI that can reason, learn, and act independently — we will see whole chains of planning and mitigating actions being handled by robots.
Pushpinder Singh, Global Supply Chain Transformation Leader at IBM Consulting, outlines five of the capabilities essential for agentic AI that are coming together right now.
With integration and feedback mechanisms in place, agents can carry out tasks like sending replenishment orders, notifying suppliers, or rerouting shipments, all while learning from each decision.
Pushpinder Singh, Global Supply Chain Transformation Leader at IBM Consulting
Integration with multiple platforms and data points must be at the core of these new systems. But if we’re going to let these systems loose on our supply chain we need to be convinced of the security and accuracy of their data processing - and decision making powers.
It seems rIght now, while generative AI is being used in important ways, agentic AI is in Beta or not being used at all.
61% of executives at the WSJ Tech Summit (Feb 2025) are experimenting with AI agents, while 21% aren’t using them at all.
Many companies are talking about supply chain AI and the future of agentic AI, but few have been as open as companies like Luminovo who are leading the transformation for many OEM and EMS companies with their software.
In a recent interview with EMS Now, Luminovo’s COO Sam Mason explained their development road map and their bullish plans for the full embrace of agentic AI.
Their AI-enabled tools are already automating traditionally manual, error-prone processes - like BOM interpretation and total cost calculation. And they are well on the way to creating agentic capabilities built on the strong foundations of their existing platform.
This kind of automation isn't just about convenience; it’s redefining how fast and accurately EMS companies can respond to a range of customer needs.
In their interview Sam outlines the kind of capabilities Luminovo is delivering and working on:
Translating a new product design into production often finds its first bottleneck at the bill of materials (BOM) stage. These aren't always neat, standardised files. OEMs, dealing with complex designs, can hand over BOMs in various formats — from detailed spreadsheets to densely packed PDFs. This can slow the quoting process up and lead to mistakes in interpretation. AI can change the speed and accuracy of this process, with the right software transforming data into quotes
Supply chain fragility means component availability can shift overnight. The ability to pivot to alternative parts - while still meeting spec, compliance, and cost targets — is critical.
Modern supply chain software solutions are making AI part suggestion engines that solve for these problems. These tools will be able to assess lifecycle status, RoHS/REACH compliance, and availability in real-time, then recommend substitutes that are in-stock and compatible. This will minimise delays in sourcing and ensures resilient production planning. And it won’t require enegagement with multiple, complex platform interfaces to bring together alternative suggestions, it will be as simple as asking a question:
If you realise there’s a compliance issue... you could just ask the AI, ‘what’s a suitable alternative?’ It will look through your inventory as well as the market.
Sam Mason, Luminovo Business & Operations Lead, North America
Unit price is just the tip of the iceberg. Accurate procurement decisions require visibility into the full landed cost: tariffs, customs duties, shipping, packaging, and fees.
This is some of the hardest data to assemble and understand, but Luminovo’s total cost of ownership module does these calculations automatically. By pulling data from distributor offers, country-of-origin info, and tariff schedules, it works out exactly what each component actually costs to get to a facility. This empowers quoting teams and avoids surprises later.
You could have a packaging-related fee, a digi-reel, a shipping cost, a customs cost... Our tool brings all that together in one place.
Sam Mason, Luminovo Business & Operations Lead, North America
The longer-term prize for Luminovo will be agentic supply chain management, where procurement professionals can initiate complex workflows with simple text commands.
These capabilities will create a more autonomous, intelligent supply chain management system that will keep humans informed but unburdened from the daily grind of data -led decision making.
Eventually, AI will communicate on your behalf—summarising and acting on supply chain insights so you can focus on what matters.
Sam Mason, Luminovo Business & Operations Lead, North America
If you build electronics, nothing wrecks a schedule faster than a part shortage or a quote that takes two weeks. Agentic AI — software that can read a BOM, scan live inventories, compare tariffs, and even trigger the purchase order solves that.
But trying to bolt these tools onto a single brand’s data stack is the slow lane. The organisations best positioned to wield AI at scale remain the EMS partners who will harness these tools. After all, they still:
An EMS processes hundreds of programmes daily, pulling live feeds from distributors, freight carriers, customs brokers, and test houses. That volume can train AI models to spot shortages, price swings, and compliance snags long before an in-house system fed by one product line could.
The best EMS firms have decades of quality gates, export-control checks, and cyber security baked in. AI doesn’t replace those guard-rails; it accelerates them.
With audited data lineage, strict access controls, and human-override protocols, mature EMS providers give brands the speed of AI without the compliance headaches of running it alone.
One thing is for sure, the selection process for OEMs working with EMS is going to change. The emphasis is going to move from the importance of individual relationships between businesses and their suppliers — to the unshakeable quality of their processes.
OEMs will soon pick EMS partners for their digital muscle, not their address books.
EMS is a process business, and the one who has got the best digital processes in place and can prove it will the most successful.
, ESCATEC's Director of Business Development
The EMS firms that stand out will offer:
When those pieces click together, supply chain shocks will be absorbed before they hit your build schedule. Choose an EMS that is focused on delivering this level of transparency and automation.