Supply chain principles used to involve a manufacturer and a buyer, possibly with a distributor or vendor in the mix to keep things moving smoothly. However, the last few years have given us more curveballs in the supply chain than the last few decades combined.
Here RLB’s Head of Supply Chain and Procurement, Jake Bush and Head of RLB Digital, Michelle Zompi, talk to Digital Construction Plus about how procurement planning in the data centre sector has become increasingly complex and the role of digital solutions in managing the supply chain.
The Current State of the Data Centre Supply Chain: Fragmentation and Disruption
With data centre development projected to grow by nearly 300% since 2023, driven largely by surging AI demand, procurement planning and supply chain management is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s business-critical. Yet, projects remain complicated, involving global vendors, intricate logistics and limited real-time visibility.
RLB’s 2025 Data Centre Trends report reveals a concerning gap, with only 44% of the industry using technology to track suppliers and asset. That gap suggests that many current project frameworks are misaligned with the speed and volatility of today’s market. Resilient supply chains require both visibility and accountability, often supported through structured digital reporting and contract models that reward transparency.
Digital Tools for Proactive Supply Chain and Procurement Planning
To stay ahead, organisations need a dedicated link with their supply chain. Real-time updates along with mitigation strategies are key for staying on track. Digital tools offer powerful solutions: dashboards and analytics platforms can help monitor every component across a project’s lifecycle, and by aggregating data from regional vendors across all their active projects into a single dashboard, teams gain instant insights into equipment status by vendor, location, package and deadline.
Equally valuable are vendor prequalification tools that assign dynamic risk scores based on ESG performance, financial resilience, cybersecurity and prior delivery reliability. As supply chain fragility increases, this level of upfront visibility is critical for mitigating exposure across interconnected delivery partners.
Weekly vendor touchpoints can flag potential disruptions -whether it’s delays in permits, changing regulations, or logistics snarls. Combine this with an understanding of the data that is already available but structured in a way that can be used properly, and incorporated into a digital system, can reduce risk, save time and cut costs.
Procurement scenario planning tools can also simulate the impact of disruptions, such as shipping delays, currency fluctuations, or regional instability, on long-lead items. This kind of foresight helps inform strategies like early procurement, dual sourcing or buffer stock agreements.
The results speak for themselves – in our experience, digital tools produce significantly better delivery outcomes such as our 95% on-time delivery rates for our clients, reduce manual data chasing, and produce long-term cost efficiencies. Most importantly, this approach strengthens vendor relationships, improves collaboration and brings greater clarity across the project delivery lifecycle.
Thinking Beyond the Project
However, the benefits of digital supply chain tools extend far beyond a single development. By capturing and structuring project data within an information framework, organisations can identify trends, improve long-term planning, and support smarter negotiations, without the need for expensive software that demands constant updates.
Cloud-based playbooks and digital governance frameworks, outlining escalation routes, contingency protocols and substitution rules, are also helping clients institutionalise supply chain resilience across portfolios, not just projects. These tools make continuity and knowledge transfer simpler as teams and suppliers change over time.
The next evolution in supply chain strategy isn’t just about adopting digital tools, it’s about embedding intelligence into the decision-making frameworks that link design, procurement, and delivery. That’s where resilience will become a true differentiator.
This is an abridged version of an article that first appeared in Digital Construction Plus.
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