Building on the heritage of our long-running Future Shopper research, the study reveals both the forces reshaping enterprise purchasing and the sector differences across seven priority industries that determine how suppliers earn attention, build confidence, and turn preference into decision.
Manufacturing procurement has entered a high-stakes era. While automation, connected operations and AI drive urgent needs for innovation, procurement is under unprecedented scrutiny from corporate gatekeepers.
VML’s "The Future Buyer: Manufacturing" report examines how manufacturing buyers research, evaluate and select suppliers for major investments – and what it takes for suppliers to win their business.
Download our 2026 Manufacturing report
Procurement is increasingly controlled by corporate gatekeepers whose focus is on financial control and compliance. Buyers are increasingly risk-averse, with concerns over professional reputation. This creates a "defensibility bias" towards choosing safe, established suppliers.
Manufacturing buyers expect digital convenience and access to human experts when they face complexity, negotiation or a problem after the sale. Digital tools handle much of the routine work in manufacturing procurement, and AI is becoming an essential tool.
Buyers no longer wait for formal RFPs or trade shows to identify prospective partners. Most manufacturing buyers frequently or always use Generative AI throughout the supplier evaluation cycle. Less than half of buyers begin research via traditional search engines.
Today, automation, connected operations, AI and new production technologies are changing how businesses compete.
The world of B2B marketing is being disrupted. 55% of buyers now begin supplier research with Generative AI. To win, your brand must be found by AI, trusted by people and approved by the buying group. Introducing The Future Buyer Report series by VML – a comprehensive study of modern B2B buying behavior based on first-party research with 750 buyers across eight international markets. Seven reports, seven industries – delivering a clear view of what influences buying decisions and how brands can act.
A typical manufacturing buying group averages 5.2 people. While operational needs start at the plant level, decision-making is centralized across finance (64%), central procurement (60%), C-Suite executives (58%), and IT/Technology leaders (55%).
Generative AI now acts as both the starting point and the filter for manufacturing procurement. 55% of manufacturing buyers use GenAI for initial supplier discovery, 73% use it across research, and 51% use AI algorithms to score and rank suppliers against internal criteria.
The primary reasons manufacturing procurement stalls or ends without a decision are compliance and risk concerns (42%), followed by sudden changes in business strategy or operational direction (40%), and unclear ROI models (33%).
No. Lowest price ranks as a top priority for only 13% of manufacturing buyers making a major investment decision. Buyers prioritize proven track record (52%), verified ROI (51%), brand reputation (50%), and system compatibility (54%) well above price.
Manufacturing buyers are increasingly open to AI-led evaluation. 75.5% would feel fairly or fully comfortable approving a significant purchase where AI conducted the primary evaluation - provided the criteria were defined by a trusted human (45.5%) or AI was considered more consistent and less biased than human review (30.1%).
Yes. A supplier’s AI capability was the primary differentiating factor for 28.0% of manufacturing buyers when choosing between comparable competitors. It also contributed meaningfully to the decision for a further 41.3% - meaning 69.2% say supplier AI capability has already influenced selection in some way.
Brand reputation has clear commercial value, but it is not unlimited. 33.6% of manufacturing buyers say a strong brand can justify a significant premium, while 51.1% would pay a more modest premium with a clear ceiling. Only 1.4% say brand carries no commercial premium at all.
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