The Keelvar blog

Dynamic Market Sourcing: The Key to Navigating Market Volatility

Learn how to build in agility, automation and continuous market engagement into your sourcing processes to get greater resilience and competitive advantage.

April 3, 2025

Unlocking the Power of eAuctions for Strategic Sourcing

Learn best practices, case studies, and how to leverage data for enhanced cost savings, supplier engagement, and procurement efficiency.

Capucine Legal

March 13, 2025

Sustainable Procurement: how to meet sustainability objectives without adding complexity

Discover how procurement teams can meet sustainability objectives with advanced sourcing optimization.

Capucine Legal

March 7, 2025

Smarter Freight RFPs with Benchmarking Insights: takeaways from the Keelvar & DAT webinar

Smarter Freight RFPs with Benchmarking Insights

Kerrie Kennedy

March 6, 2025

How to put the ‘strategic’ back in Strategic Transportation Sourcing

How to get out of seemingly endless tactical activities for transportation procurement professionals

Capucine Legal

February 20, 2025

Driving the best retail sourcing decisions by leaning into data complexity

Learn how retail sourcing managers can navigate data complexity to drive better, faster sourcing decisions.

Capucine Legal

February 17, 2025

The Ultimate Guide to Transport Tendering (2025)

Learn about logistics sourcing success with Keelvar's ultimate guide to expert transport tendering.

Keelvar

January 31, 2025

Spot Buying: A 2025 Complete Guide by Keelvar

Discover the power of spot buying in 2024. Keelvar's guide reveals strategies to optimize procurement, reduce costs, and boost efficiency in global markets.

Keelvar

December 15, 2024

Scaling Sourcing Excellence at Speed with Autonomous Sourcing

Discover how industry leaders from Keelvar and Maersk are transforming procurement with autonomous sourcing. Learn about AI-driven tools, human-machine collaboration, and strategies for navigating market volatility.

Capucine Legal

December 10, 2024

7 MRO Optimization and Best Practices to follow in 2025

Learn why the optimization of MRO procurement plays a crucial role in enhancing a company's operational efficiency.

Kerrie Kennedy

December 8, 2024

Insights on AI, Sustainability, and Supplier Collaboration from Keelvar Konnect

Experts from Accenture, FrieslandCampina, and IntegrityNext shared their insights on critical procurement themes.

Kerrie Kennedy

October 30, 2024

Lessons from Mars, Henkel & KK Wind in Scaling Sourcing Excellence

Keelvar Konnect insights on how Mars, Henkel, and KK Wind are winning with automation.

Kerrie Kennedy

October 29, 2024

Keelvar Konnect Amsterdam 2024: Shaping the future of procurement

Keelvar Konnect 2024 was a day of groundbreaking industry insights and transformative procurement solutions.

Kerrie Kennedy

October 24, 2024

Keelvar Konnect: Empowering excellence through community

Keelvar Konnect was a whirlwind crammed with panels, keynotes, and plenty of networking.

Paul Dréano

October 18, 2024

Data-Driven Decisions with FreightWaves and Keelvar

This joint webinar explored how smarter sourcing starts with real-time data at your fingertips.

Kerrie Kennedy

October 17, 2024

How eAuctions are enhancing sourcing efficiency

Learn how eAuctions streamline procurement by creating a transparent, competitive bidding process.

Keelvar

September 30, 2024

Sustainable Sourcing: An Optimization Guide - Keelvar

Sustainability is higher on the agenda of procurement leaders than ever before.

Kerrie Kennedy

September 23, 2024

Is your tender strategy keeping pace with a volatile market?

Missed the webinar? Read how Xeneta and Keelvar’s integration can help you secure the best rates.

Kerrie Kennedy

September 4, 2024

Top takeaways for scaling sourcing excellence

Discover the top takeaways from our series on scaling sourcing excellence.

Kerrie Kennedy

August 30, 2024

ProcureTech top tips for change management & driving adoption

Learn top tips for driving adoption and managing change in procurement, ensuring your sourcing tools are fully utilized for maximum efficiency and cost savings.

Kerrie Kennedy

August 28, 2024

Driving digital transformation in procurement: insights from Solvay’s journey

Discover how Solvay is reshaping its procurement processes by leveraging Keelvar's cutting-edge tools and automation capabilities.

Kerrie Kennedy

August 23, 2024

Sourcing automation – where to start?

Discover how sourcing automation can revolutionize your strategy by increasing efficiency, reducing costs, and driving strategic value.

Kerrie Kennedy

August 15, 2024

What is the secret sauce to complex sourcing?

Struggling with complex, strategic sourcing tenders? Discover the key ingredients to transform your procurement process.

Kerrie Kennedy

August 1, 2024

A week with our (Sievo) friends in Helsinki

The Sievo Friends event in Helsinki was a whirlwind crammed with insightful workshops, connectivity and collaboration, writes Jacob Fernow.

Jacob Fernow

June 6, 2024

Keelvar + Overhaul: sourcing optimization and security

Supply chains are the lifeblood of commerce, but the intricate network of suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors is not without its challenges.

Marc Schrader

May 2, 2024

Keelvar Konnect 2024: Atlanta edition

Keelvar Konnect Atlanta was a whirlwind crammed with panels, keynotes, and plenty of networking, writes Ruth Bergin.

Ruth Bergin

April 24, 2024

Keelvar goes full circle and back to university

Keelvar was born of the education system and is now giving back.

Michelle Punch

March 21, 2024

Shattering Stereotypes: Women Making Waves in Procurement and Tech

In celebration of International Women's Day, we spoke to some of our incredible Keelvar customers, partners, and employees about their chosen career paths, and why women’s contributions to these industries are more critical than ever.

Keelvar

March 8, 2024

Strategic Sourcing Process - Complete Guide

This guide explores the essence of strategic sourcing, its significance, associated benefits, key steps, real-world examples, and essential tools.

Keelvar

March 5, 2024

Will procurement embrace automation in 2024?

In 2024, the procurement landscape is set for a seismic shift, propelled by the burgeoning use of AI and automation.

Kerrie Kennedy

February 8, 2024

Predictions for procurement tech in 2024

It's 2024, and the Procurement Technology landscape is evolving faster than ever.

Alan Holland

January 17, 2024

The Ultimate Guide to eAuctions

Explore our ultimate eAuctions guide for expert insights and strategies in digital negotiations.

January 4, 2024

Basic eSourcing or Sourcing Optimization?

Explore the crucial differences between basic eSourcing and advanced sourcing optimization in our 2024 guide.

Kerrie Kennedy

January 3, 2024

Keelvar & SupplyShift : Transforming Supply Chains for a Resilient Future

Read the key takeaways from this insightful webinar.

Keelvar

Kerrie Kennedy

November 30, 2023

Making sense of AI in Sourcing at Keelvar Konnect and DPW

Much-discussed Generative AI will have a role in procurement, but not all AI in procurement will (nor should) be Gen AI.

Keelvar

Diarmuid Cahalane

November 17, 2023

Employee Spotlight: Geraldine Brouste - Customer Success Manager

We shine a light on the individuals who make Keelvar a vibrant and innovative workplace.

November 13, 2023

Strategic Sourcing Best Practices for Better Outcomes

How to achieve better results with strategic sourcing best practices and tools.

Keelvar

November 10, 2023

How Benchmarking Data Can Unlock Hidden Savings

Learn how benchmarking data enables you to make better sourcing decisions this tender season. 

David Siedt

November 3, 2023

Strategic Transportation Sourcing

Strategic transportation sourcing isn't just about striking deals and cutting costs. So what underpins this critical business function?

Keelvar

November 2, 2023

Bridging the Data Gap with Keelvar and Sievo

A joint webinar between Keelvar and Sievo explored how with more and more data available, procurement has an opportunity to close the data-to-action gap.

Kerrie Kennedy

October 27, 2023

Keelvar's Amsterdam Takeover: Keelvar Konnect & DPW

Keelvar Konnect Amsterdam 2023 brought together procurement professionals for a day of sharing insights and best sourcing practices.

Jamie Maidment

October 23, 2023

Seven Procurement Sourcing Strategies

This guide explores the essence of strategic sourcing, its significance, associated benefits, key steps, real-world examples, and essential tools.

Keelvar

October 18, 2023

How Stanley Black & Decker Nailed Sourcing Excellence

In a recent webinar, Stanley Black & Decker shed light on topics ranging from embracing automation to harnessing data analytics for better decision-making in sourcing.

Kerrie Kennedy

September 18, 2023

Employee Spotlight: Shane O’ Sullivan - Product Manager

Introducing Employee Spotlight, where we shine a light on the individuals who make Keelvar a vibrant and innovative workplace.

Keelvar

"I was offered the opportunity to become a Product Manager. Since then, I've been working as a PM for Autonomous Sourcing."

September 11, 2023

How to Transform Your Business’ Sourcing and Procurement Process

When it comes to sourcing transformation, best-of-breed sourcing solutions can rapidly drive value through modernization and scalability.

Kerrie Kennedy

September 8, 2023

Is Your Procurement Digital Transformation Truly Transformative?

Procurement transformation initiatives can be cosmetic only – even if it impacts multiple areas of the procurement function.

Keelvar

September 5, 2023

Mastering the Recipe for Successful Sourcing - webinar recap

Concocting a recipe for success is essential for organizations aiming to optimize their sourcing processes, cut costs, and enhance supplier relationships.

Kerrie Kennedy

September 5, 2023

How System Reliability & Support Fuel Keelvar's Success

Customers have come to rely on our services with confidence, knowing that their critical operations will remain uninterrupted.

Dylan Alperin

August 16, 2023

Tender Season Sets Sail for Strategic Sourcing

For those in logistics and shipping, tender season is a crucial period that significantly influences market dynamics and pricing strategies.

Kerrie Kennedy

August 10, 2023

Optimization & Automation: The 'Secret Sauce' to Sourcing Excellence

To meet the diverse needs of the business, procurement leaders must tailor their sourcing strategies. That's where the 'secret sauce' comes in.

Magnus Bergfors

July 13, 2023

How Keelvar and Searoutes Help Optimize Savings and CO2: Webinar Takeaways

In a world increasingly aware of the environmental impact of business operations, businesses with supply chains must step up their game.

Kerrie Kennedy

June 8, 2023

What’s Driving Procurement Burnout?

Did you know that 55% of sourcing teams are experiencing higher levels of burnout than ever before?

Adam Callaby

May 31, 2023

Partners Tackling Carbon Emissions in Procurement

In a world increasingly aware of the environmental impact of business operations, businesses with supply chains must step up their game.

Kerrie Kennedy

May 25, 2023

5 Tips For Attracting Gen Z Talent To Procurement

How often do you really stop and think about what drew you to procurement in the first place?

Kerrie Kennedy

April 20, 2023

Keelvar Konnect 2023 Goes Stateside

Taking place March 23, Keelvar Konnect 2023 was the perfect opportunity to bring together procurement professionals from different industries for a day of sharing insights and best sourcing practices.

Eddie McDaid

April 11, 2023

How Carlsberg Brewed Up a Winning Sourcing Strategy

Carlsberg's Logistics explains the unique challenges the company has faced in the past few years and how they have leveraged technology including sourcing optimization to overcome many of these obstacles.

Kerrie Kennedy

April 11, 2023

Keelvar & SAP Ariba: The Perfect Sourcing Duo

Keelvar's best-of-breed Sourcing Optimizer enhances SAP Ariba by enabling customers to effortlessly manage sophisticated spend areas such as logistics, packaging, and MRO right from SAP Ariba.

Eddie McDaid

April 11, 2023

CJ Logistics America's 3PL Sourcing Transformation

Transportation sourcing has had some rough times to contend with recently. But for CJ Logistics America, key to overcoming many of the challenges they faced was to leverage technology.

Kerrie Kennedy

April 6, 2023

Navigating Through Port Congestion and the Container Shortage

Tips from David L. Buss, CEO of DB Schenker USA, for navigating through global port congestion and the ocean container shortage.

David L Buss

March 28, 2023

A Look at Sourcing Optimization vs Excel

Sourcing optimization offerings like Keelvar's offers a more dynamic and efficient way to manage sourcing processes. Sourcing Optimizer allows for the construction of a new price schedule to replace historical Excel spreadsheets.

Keelvar

March 2, 2023

Sourcing Challenges Where Optimization Shines

Sourcing optimization delivers powerful benefits for mid-sized and enterprise organizations alike, and we consistently see four common drivers for sourcing optimization.

Keelvar

March 2, 2023

Reasons To Love Autonomous Sourcing

This Valentine's Day, why not take a moment to appreciate the technology that is changing the game for the procurement industry and making workloads a whole lot easier?

Kerrie Kennedy

February 16, 2023

Keelvar & SAP Ariba Combine for More Spend Competitively Sourced

Keelvar just announced some big upgrades to our Sourcing Optimizer Connector available on the SAP Store to bring customers even more savings and speed in their sourcing projects.

Keelvar

February 16, 2023

Survey Shows Sustainability Isn't A Compromise For CPOs

In this blog, we consider how the procurement industry can make this priority a reality, by getting on top of supplier-related Scope 3 emissions, and treating sustainability as a value that can’t be compromised.

Adam Callaby

February 8, 2023

Getting to Grips with Autonomous Sourcing

Autonomous Sourcing refers to self-service, automated procurement workflows, typically for tactical and tail spend. But when it comes to bringing this kind of technology into your business, where do you start?

Keelvar

January 30, 2023

Keelvar's 12 Days of Sourcemas

Welcome to Keelvar's Twelve Days of Sourcemas: A Diary of a Stressed Sourcing Manager.

Keelvar

January 13, 2023

Seasons Greetings & Wishes for Procurement

Keelvar

December 22, 2022

Tealbook & Keelvar: Driving Fantastic Gains for Procurement

Strategic procurement teams are hampered by disparate data. Tealbook in partnership with Keelvar will provide the data intelligence to power the procurement rocket ship to the future.

Mo Ahmad

December 20, 2022

Why Rudolph May Really Be an AI Bot

Could Santa's most famous reindeer be an AI-powered Bot?

Keelvar

December 12, 2022

How ‘Win-Win’ Sourcing Optimization Reduces Supplier Friction

Good procurement and sourcing teams are adept at managing purchaser-supplier interactions, but a user-centered e-sourcing tool can enable teams to maintain robust relationships at scale.

Chris Walsh

November 25, 2022

Keelvar Konnect: Back With A Bang In 2022

Keelvar Konnect was back with a bang in procurement hub Zurich, writes Keelvar CEO, Alan Holland.

Alan Holland

November 7, 2022

Sourcing Excellence From Strategic To Tail

The key to achieving sourcing excellence across strategic, tactical, tail spend? Stop treating spend separately.

Adam Callaby

November 4, 2022

Keelvar at Digital Procurement World 2022

Digital Procurement World 2022 drew a full house of procurement professionals from across the globe, marking a clear departure from the events that we became familiar with during COVID times.

Alan Holland

October 4, 2022

Sourcing Tech (of Jurassic Proportions) That Unlocks Your Potential

If deploying multiple RFQs for the effort of a single annual bid request or saving millions of dollars on cost aren’t reason enough to invest in dynamic market sourcing technology, then here are three more for you to consider.

Adam Callaby

September 30, 2022

Why Microsoft Shifted Their Sourcing Strategy

In this webinar recap, see how Microsoft shifted their sourcing strategy with the help of Keelvar’s sourcing solution.

Kerrie Kennedy

September 27, 2022

The Past, Present and Future of eSourcing

This blog details the rapid acceleration of e-sourcing since its inception in 1990, and how this will influence tomorrow’s best practice in procurement.

Rich Wilson

September 16, 2022

New Paper Shows The Benefits of Optimizing Procurement

In order to compete for suppliers' business and pursue more limited supplies, buying organizations need to enter the market more frequently. Read how businesses are reaping the benefits of optimizing their procurement using a dynamic sourcing strategy.

Keelvar

August 31, 2022

Logistics Spot Buying: Let Sourcing Bots Handle It

For logistics procurement in particular long-term commitments have taken a backseat as the practice of spot buying has become more routine.

August 26, 2022

How To Tackle Logistics Sourcing Challenges With Tech

Against the backdrop of a disrupted freight procurement market, innovative sourcing teams are increasingly looking to understand how people and sourcing software might best interact to achieve the business results they’re striving for.

Keelvar

August 26, 2022

What Logistics Sourcing Leaders Do Differently

Some distinctive features appear less in the sourcing processes of ‘laggards’ when compared with the ‘leaders’ who have adopted resourceful sourcing strategies.

Glenn Gardner

August 26, 2022

What’s New on the CPO’s Agenda? Ardent Partners Report

According to Ardent Partners' 17th annual State of Procurement report, while some trends continue on the same trajectory as in previous years, many CPO priorities are now notably different in the report's latest iteration.

Keelvar

August 26, 2022

Getting Ahead in Ocean Sourcing

AI-powered Sourcing Bots can offer procurement teams an extra edge to get ahead in ocean freight sourcing when agility matters, explains Keelvar's Alan Holland.

Keelvar

August 26, 2022

Procurement Automation: Parallels With Wall St

How the evolution of procurement automation is following a similar path to that of Wall Street trading

Keelvar

August 26, 2022

How to Develop an Intelligent Sourcing Bot that Will Change your Procurement Process Forever

Keelvar’s inaugural Konnect event focused on the future of Sourcing Automation.

Benjamin Jakobus

August 23, 2022

Four Webinars to Inspire Sourcing Success

Sourcing leaders have had a lot to say last as they simultaneously navigated disruptions and modernization projects.

Keelvar

August 17, 2022

A Strategic Sourcing Solution To Win In Unstable Markets

The pandemic and dramatic shifts in buying have caused dramatic disruptions in the supply chain. Dynamic Market Sourcing might be the answer to increase your operational efficiency and reduce tactical firefighting.

Kerrie Kennedy

August 12, 2022

Time For A Digital Procurement Transformation? Think Sourcing Optimization

If you're considering a digital procurement transformation, Keelvar explain's why Sourcing Optimization technology might be the best choice for your sourcing team.

Keelvar

August 12, 2022

The Human Benefits of Transportation Procurement Digital Transformation

While technology is starting to play an important role in some shape or form in the logistics industry, it will be the digital transformation in freight procurement that separates the wheat from the chaff when it comes to world-class performance and world-class operations.

Katherine Barrios

August 2, 2022

Broadening The Reach of Modern Sourcing Software

‍Sourcing optimization solutions may have been around for over two decades, but they haven’t truly gone mainstream...yet.

Kerrie Kennedy

August 2, 2022

Sourcing Optimization: The Most Under-Utilized e-Sourcing Tool in Procurement

This short article outlines the most underutilized e-sourcing tool in procurement, namely sourcing optimization.

Keelvar

July 28, 2022

New ‘Voices of Sourcing Report’ Puts Spotlight on Current Pains and Opportunities

The procurement industry is in a state of flux. New challenges are emerging every day that play havoc with even the best and most strategically laid plans of sourcing professionals around the world. For many teams, the annual RFP has taken a backseat in favor of increasingly more routine sourcing, with logistics, in particular, seeing ever-more-frequent spot-buying needs.

Kerrie Kennedy

July 28, 2022

A New Visual Guide: Logistics Spot Buys and Smart Automation

Henry Ford is cited as having said, "if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got." Like many memorable quotes, the message is both simple and powerful; if you are looking for an improved outcome from your efforts, you need to assess what can be done differently to ensure superior results.

Keelvar

July 28, 2022

Digital Procurement Trasformation: How To Elevate Your Transformation Journey

Often, small but significant steps can be vital to elevating organizations' procurement functions into the next stage of their digital transformation.

Keelvar

July 8, 2022

Dynamic Market Sourcing: A Strategy for Procurement Leaders

The tactics best-in-class sourcing teams use to regain control of capacity and costs while ensuring procurement excellence.

Kerrie Kennedy

June 29, 2022

Keelvar to Discuss Sourcing Modernization at Digital Procurement World 2021

In just a few short years, digital transformation in procurement has shifted from a fleeting consideration in board meetings to the top of the business agenda for myriad companies in the supply chain industry. According to Procurement Leaders (April 2021) research, there are multiple drivers for procurement’s accelerated march towards digital transformation, ranging from data-driven business objectives to contemporary supply chain challenges and the expanding scope of disruptors such as Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.

Keelvar

June 8, 2022

Our Journey Continues: $24 Million Series B investment led by 83North

We're excited to announce that we've completed our Series B, a $24M round led by 83North. Our Series A investors also doubled down on their previous investments.

Alan Holland

May 20, 2022

Supply meets demand: New sourcing automation solution targets ocean freight procurement

Keelvar provides new AI-powered ocean freight sourcing automation software to help procurement teams respond in disruptive climates.

Keelvar

May 9, 2022

Striking A Balance With eSourcing solutions

eSourcing solutions can help your organization optimize its sourcing strategies and improve supplier performance. This article looks at the difference between basic eSourcing and optimization

Keelvar

May 5, 2022

What is the most important KPI for an eSourcing solution?

Unfortunately, if we measure the adoption of Sourcing Optimization technology over the last 15 years, it’s not a rosy picture of success. Despite long years of development, many facelifts and refocused efforts in converting business models from customized projects into “self-service” solutions, the adoption rate of these technologies is still hovering at a small percentage of the organizations that could benefit.

Alan Holland

May 4, 2022

A Shift in Air Freight Procurement Strategy

Global supply chains have been affected in countless ways -- read why air freight procurement has been particularly impacted.

David Siedt

April 21, 2022