Purchasing Leaders New Focus for 2025 

We surveyed large and mid-size manufacturing purchasing leaders on their priorities for 2025.  Over 50 shared their thoughts, and we conducted follow-up interviews with many to understand their concerns – and plans – for the coming year. 

This article focuses on the top 3 issues cited as a high priority by those surveyed. 

1. Preparing for U.S. Policy Changes 

A new issue added to this year’s survey after the 2024 U.S. elections, it’s not surprising that a majority of manufacturing purchasing leaders are concerned about supply chain impacts of U.S. policy changes. 

The latest message from the incoming administration is to expect an immediate 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, as well as an additional 10% tariff on goods made in China. 

Some of the comments we hear on this issue: 

• We’re expecting tariffs on goods from China to be as high as 50% and we’re working on moving the source of items we currently get from China to India. 
• We’re keeping a close eye on the imports & exports of competitors to understand where we cannot pass on trade-policy-related costs to customers due to competitors not having similar exposures. 
• We have been able to pass tariffs along to customers with no problem. 
• We are planning to do a lot more resourcing to get out of China and are establishing their first manufacturing operation in Mexico  
• Our biggest worry is inflation and labor shortages that could affect customer demand for our products. 

2. Not Leveraging Artificial Intelligence 

Cited as a high priority by 55% of those surveyed. Purchasing leaders we talked to are hopeful that AI tools can be used to relieve their teams of some of the administrative work that is holding them back from focusing on strategic purchasing activities.

However, most have not started exploring what is available.   

Some of the comments we hear on this issue:

• One useful use case is Inputting the item code and exemption rules to have the AI generate the tax codes that apply.  
• We are not using AI chatbots for procurement due to confidentiality concerns. 
• I’m finding ChatGPT useful for administration tasks when company-specific information is not required – it’s excellent for coding and generating dashboards. 
• I use ChatGPT 4o daily for drafting policies and contracts and analyzing data 
• We use ChatGPT for building training programs, brainstorming with our team, and identifying best procurement practices. 
• I’m using the free version of ChatGPT to update job descriptions. 

3. Little Time to be Strategic 

Cited as a high priority by 51% of those surveyed, this issue has been a top 3 concern every time we’ve surveyed manufacturing purchasing leaders since 2015.

Some of the comments we hear on this issue: 

• Our biggest opportunity is to automate is to automate and digitize to free up time for more strategic activities 
• We’re focusing on SIOP efficiency in 2025. 
• 60-70% of our cost savings have come from collaborating with engineering – we’re going to strengthen our focus on that. 
• We’ve automated a ton, but there are so many details, and administrative tasks are still our biggest problem – I’m hoping AI can help. 

Conclusion

As 2025 approaches, purchasing leaders face shifting U.S. policies, untapped AI potential, and the ongoing challenge of creating time for strategic work.

Success will come from adapting sourcing strategies, leveraging AI to streamline tasks, and deepening cross-department collaboration.

Join us as we delve deeper into the survey results and highlight the top 10 issues purchasing leaders are struggling with on our latest on-demand webinar “Top 10 Purchasing Pains for 2025”

Bookmark the U.S. Trade Policy Topic Hub to stay updated on supply chain impacts of U.S. government policy changes!