According to www.macegroup.com, procurement and supply chain now define major programme success — not as support functions but as strategic disciplines shaping ambition, influencing design, and determining feasibility from day one. The report cites global pressures including suspended maritime bookings into the Persian Gulf, diversions from the Strait of Hormuz, and rising war-risk premiums. In the Americas, suppliers face overlapping infrastructure and energy pipelines; in Asia Pacific, manufacturing variability disrupts sequencing; in Europe, long-lead dependencies and labour shortages slow progress; and in the Middle East, localisation demands compound ecosystem immaturity. Integrated, early-stage procurement is now essential to delivery certainty.
According to www.macegroup.com, Mace Consult launched as a new and independent business on 5 March 2026, following a carve-out from Mace Group — with Mace Consult and Mace Construct now operating as two independent entities. The report, published on 1 May 2026 by Jade Marjurum, Procurement & Supply Chain Service Line Lead, Global, asserts that procurement and supply chain functions have moved from ‘downstream’ support roles to the strategic core defining feasibility and delivery certainty for major infrastructure and capital programmes worldwide.
Strategic Shift: From Transactional to Programme-Defining
The source states that traditional, package-by-package procurement can no longer meet today’s demands. Instead, clients expect procurement to shape ambition from the outset — clarifying feasibility, identifying risks across long-lead items and specialist systems, aligning commercial models with market realities, and defining delivery pathways that are both ambitious and achievable. This early integration delivers plans that ‘can withstand real-world pressure’.
Digital Intelligence + Delivery Experience
Digital capability is essential, but the report stresses it is most effective when paired with lived delivery experience. According to the report, procurement teams are combining data-driven forecasting, supplier analytics and transparent governance frameworks with insight from complex programme delivery. This enables standardised commercial assurance, real-time visibility of supply chain readiness, feasibility and sequencing modelling at programme scale, and accelerated decisions through consistent, evidence-led insight.
Global Supply Chain Pressures
The source states supply chains across all major regions remain under strain. Recent geopolitical developments — particularly the conflict in the Middle East — have disrupted key shipping and aviation corridors. Suspended maritime bookings into the Persian Gulf, diversions from the Strait of Hormuz, and rising war-risk premiums are affecting movement of major construction materials and industrial commodities. These disruptions extend transit times, increase logistics costs and introduce new uncertainty into programme sequencing.
- In the Americas: suppliers stretched across overlapping infrastructure, energy and aviation pipelines
- In Asia Pacific: manufacturing variability and logistics volatility affecting sequencing
- In Europe: long-lead dependencies, inflation and specialist labour shortages slowing acceleration
- In the Middle East: programme ambition outpacing ecosystem maturity, with localisation adding demand
Redefining Procurement for Programme Certainty
The report outlines an emerging model positioning procurement as an ‘integrated, intelligence-led function shaping the entire programme lifecycle’. Key shifts include:
- Integrated operating models connecting strategy, design, commercial governance and delivery planning
- Collaborative, outcome-based contracts promoting shared accountability and early supplier input
- Earlier supplier involvement to surface capability and long-lead constraints upfront
- Ecosystem development across multi-tier supply chains to secure long-term capacity and localisation
- Strategic partnerships across manufacturing, logistics, commissioning and specialist systems
- Digital intelligence as the backbone for transparent governance and performance insight
“In this landscape, procurement and supply chain have moved to the centre of programme feasibility. Once treated as ‘downstream’ activities, they are now strategic disciplines that shape ambition, influence design, determine commercial pathways, and ultimately define what is achievable.” — Jade Marjurum, Procurement & Supply Chain Service Line Lead, Global
Source: www.macegroup.com
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
