As tariffs change and supply chains shift, procurement leaders are racing to adapt. In this Q&A, Dharani (DJ) Jeyaprakasam, Principal Solutions Architect at ORO Labs, shares how procurement orchestration can help companies streamline supplier onboarding, manage risk, and stay compliant as they navigate an increasingly volatile trade environment.
Supply Chain 24/7: What are you hearing from procurement leaders about these on-again, off-again tariffs?
Dharani Jeyaprakasam: Procurement leaders are increasingly frustrated by the pace and unpredictability of tariff shifts. These changes are often announced with little warning, and many teams still rely on fragmented systems and manual workarounds to respond, leading to slow reactions, inefficient decisions, and missed sourcing opportunities.
According to a recent Hackett Group report, 100% of organizations are actively monitoring cost models and scenario plans to stay ahead of volatility. But monitoring alone isn’t enough anymore. We’re seeing leaders turn to orchestration platforms that provide more control, with centralized supplier data, automated responses, and workflows that can be triggered the moment conditions change. The organizations adapting fastest are those that accept volatility as the new normal and build their operations to move with it.
SC247: How are companies adapting their procurement strategies as country-specific tariffs come into play?
DJ: Country-specific tariffs are forcing a major reset in how procurement teams structure their supply networks. We’re seeing a clear move toward regionalization, with companies actively investing in alternative sourcing across India, Vietnam, Mexico, and other lower-risk geographies.
Dharani Jeyaprakasam of ORO Labs.
To keep pace with policy changes, procurement leaders are relying on orchestration tools that analyze tariff impacts by supplier, geography, and category in real-time. That visibility allows teams to act quickly, whether it’s rerouting a purchase to a lower-tariff region, flagging contract risks, or automatically rerouting workflows. We’re seeing more teams design their systems to act the moment policies change, so instead of scrambling, they execute predefined playbooks that adjust sourcing routes, pricing, and contracts automatically.
SC247: Are you seeing more reshoring or nearshoring efforts? If so, which sectors are leading the charge?
DJ: Absolutely. We’re seeing this acceleration particularly across electronics, automotive, and life sciences as these sectors have high exposure to tariff-sensitive imports and long lead times, making them ripe for reshoring and nearshoring moves.
SC247: How does procurement orchestration help companies respond more quickly to policy shifts?
DJ: Procurement orchestration functions as a strategic command center, enabling companies to respond to trade and policy changes with unprecedented speed and precision.
When a new tariff is introduced or trade policies shift, orchestration software automatically detects the impact on costs, flags affected contracts, and triggers predefined workflows to realign sourcing strategies. These changes cascade instantly across the organization—no retraining, no delays.
This real-time adaptability is proving critical, especially amid the growing trend of nearshoring. Companies aren’t just relocating operations closer to home—they’re using orchestration to make those shifts executable. You can’t pivot to a new supplier in Mexico or Vietnam if your onboarding process still takes three months. Orchestration compresses those timelines—what once took months now takes days.
The value isn’t just in getting ahead of disruption; it’s in the ability to move the moment it happens. Procurement orchestration transforms reactive chaos into coordinated, repeatable responses. And in a world where every delay incurs cost, that kind of agility delivers measurable advantage.
SC247: Compliance is always a concern during major trade changes. What tools or processes are helping companies stay compliant?
DJ: Compliance now has to move at the speed of policy. That’s why more procurement teams are building business rules directly into their workflows. According to The Hackett Group, half of the companies are already using automation, like rule-based tools, to enforce
tariff compliance and apply cost policy updates in real time.
Instead of relying on after-the-fact audits or retraining, these systems update automatically. When the new rules immediately govern a tariff policy change, every transaction that follows is affected. There’s no room for interpretation errors or lag time. Compliance isn’t something you check at the end of the process anymore. It’s baked into how the process runs from the start.
SC247: How are procurement teams managing risk while also trying to reduce cost exposure from tariffs?
DJ: Procurement teams are managing risk by eliminating the lag between risk detection and response. In today’s volatile tariff environment, the cost of delay is measurable and steep. Manual reviews and reactive renegotiations simply don’t cut it anymore.
Instead, procurement teams are using orchestration tools to continuously track supplier geography, logistics cost trends, and contract exposure. When risk thresholds are met, like a tariff spike or a policy shift, the system automatically triggers the next steps, whether rerouting an order, launching a new supplier search, or escalating a contract review. The Hackett Group found that half of companies are already renegotiating supplier agreements or front-loading inventory to stay ahead of disruption – and the ones responding fastest aren’t doing it manually, they’ve built risk response into their workflows.
SC247: For companies just beginning to rework their sourcing strategies in response to tariffs, what’s the first step you recommend?
DJ: Start by building full visibility into what you already have, because you can’t improve what you can’t see. Cost modeling and contract exposure analysis are the foundation for all tariff resilience strategies. You need to know your total landed cost structure before you can pivot effectively.
From there, implement simple rule-based workflows to automate contract changes, supplier rerouting, or price index adjustments. Don’t try to overhaul everything at once. Focus on high-impact categories first, where volatility hits hardest. The goal isn’t to create a perfect system; it’s to create one that can move quickly and adjust often.
SC247: What are the biggest misconceptions companies have about switching suppliers or reshoring production?
DJ: One common misconception is that switching suppliers or reshoring production is always slow, disruptive, or risky. But with the right systems in place, the process can be far smoother than most teams expect.
Orchestration platforms help by embedding supplier rules directly into the buying process. Buyers don’t need to change their day-to-day behavior – they’re presented with updated, compliant options that reflect the company’s current sourcing strategy. It’s not about retraining teams. It’s about redesigning the infrastructure so the right decisions happen by default.
Cost is another area where assumptions can be misleading. Many companies still believe that reshoring will be prohibitively expensive. But once you account for freight volatility, tariffs, and supplier risk, the numbers often tell a different story. Orchestration tools surface those tradeoffs in real time, giving teams the visibility they need to make confident, data-backed decisions.
SC247: Looking ahead, how should procurement leaders be thinking about long-term strategy in a world of recurring trade policy shifts?
DJ: The most forward-thinking teams are moving from prediction to preparedness. You can’t forecast every new tariff or policy change, but you can build a sourcing function that doesn’t stall when one lands. Today’s climate favors companies that treat volatility as a constant, not an exception. Procurement leaders should ask: Can our systems respond the moment trade policy changes? Because that’s not a theoretical question anymore – it’s a baseline requirement.
Dharani Jeyaprakasam is a Principal Solutions Architect at ORO Labs.