ArticleProcurement

This Week's Top Five Stories in Procurement

By Aaron McMillanMarch 21, 2026undefined minsShareShareSkySelect, an AI-powered procurement platform is transforming how airlines and maintenance providers source aircraft partsProcurement Magazine takes a look at some of the biggest stories from the past week, including SkySelect, JAGGAER, Candex, HSBC, Lightsource and Coupa

SkySelect: Helping Aircraft Procurement to Soar

AI-powered aviation procurement platform, SkySelect, says airlines are facing mounting pressure to modernise legacy procurement systems that leave them holding around US$50bn in excess parts inventory globally.

SkySelect connects airlines, maintenance providers and aircraft leasing companies with a global network of over 3,000 verified parts suppliers.

The company's specialised AI platform automates sourcing, comparison and ordering of aircraft parts, enabling just-in-time procurement that reduces costs, minimises aircraft downtime, and improves operational resilience.

ebm-papst has selected JAGGAER One for its procurement opertions (Credit: ebm-papst Mulfingen)

How JAGGAER Will Transform Global Procurement for ebm-papst

ebm-papst has selected the source-to-pay and supplier collaboration platform JAGGAER One for its procurement.

As the world’s leading manufacturer of fans and motors, the ebm-papst Group is looking to optimise its supply chain, supplier and product group management, as well as e-procurement across the company.

In an effort to reduce both its direct and indirect purchasing costs and overall process costs, JAGGAER's software will be implemented step by step at production sites in Europe, the US and China.

JAGGAER is a global leader in enterprise procurement and supplier collaboration, and the catalyst for enhancing human decision-making to accelerate business outcomes.

How HSBC Funding Will Help Candex to Automate Tail Spend

The complexities of tail spend management pose a number of challenges for procurement. 

It refers to the thousands of low-value purchases made across departments that often escape standard procurement controls. Individually, they may seem small, but taken together, they can represent as much as 20% of total enterprise spending and involve around 80% of all suppliers.

But, thanks to a fresh round of funding into a leading fintech player could provide support to help teams to combat these issues. 

Candex, a tail spend specialist, has extended its Series C funding round to over US$40m, following a strategic investment from HSBC.

This latest raise brings the company’s total funding to over US$120m. HSBC joins an impressive roster of investors including Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and American Express, showcasing the belief in Candex’s ability to overhaul how large-scale organisations handle low-value, high-volume transactions.

Spencer Penn, CEO & Co-Founder, LightSource

The Procurement Interview: Lightsource's CEO, Spencer Penn

For many procurement professionals, the daily reality of managing multi-billion-dollar supply chains still looks like a digital version of operations in the 1990s. Despite the rapid evolution of global trade, a staggering 75% of procurement teams still rely on a combination of fragmented spreadsheets and endless email chains to manage direct materials.

Spencer Penn, Co-Founder and CEO of LightSource, knows this alarming status quo better than most. Before founding the AI-powered strategic sourcing platform, Spencer was a leader at Tesla, where he helped launch the Model 3 programme. It was there, amidst the pressure of scaling from 1,000 vehicles per week to millions, that he witnessed the breaking point of traditional procurement.

"One of the big challenges that we faced was that we were sourcing 30 billion of direct materials on Excel spreadsheets and emails," Spencer recalls. "I sourced millions of parts for the Model 3 with email chains that contained hundreds of messages. As we neared production, I knew there had to be a better way."

Why Coupa Inspire 2026 is Essential for CFOs

In a high-interest-rate environment, cash isn't just a metric on a spreadsheet, it's oxygen. For the CFOs the mandate has shifted from merely "managing" spend to orchestrating every cent of spend.

Taking place from May 11-14 at the ARIA Las Vegas, Coupa Inspire 2026 is positioning itself as the definitive summit for finance, treasury and accounting leaders. It will provide the space to help leaders bridge the insight gap and move the P&L in real-time.

Register for Coupa Inspire 2026 here.

Company portals

• Candex

• Coupa

• ebm-papst

• HSBC

• JAGGAER

• Lightsource

• SkySelect

Executives

• Spencer Penn

  Co-Founder and CEO

Tags

LogisticsDigital ProcurementTail Spend managementDigital TransformationAgentic AIFinance Strategy