Enlight Metals uses AI to compress steel procurement into 24 hours

Enlight Metals has launched what it describes as India's first artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled platform offering 24-hour procurement and delivery of ready-stock steel, as manufacturers increasingly turn to automation to improve supply-chain efficiency and reduce production delays.

The Pune-based company said on Wednesday that its platform uses AI to analyse supplier availability, inventory, pricing, logistics readiness and regional demand in real time, enabling manufacturers to source steel more quickly and improve procurement planning.

The launch comes as manufacturers across sectors such as automotive, renewable energy, engineering and infrastructure accelerate digital transformation beyond factory operations and into procurement and supply-chain management. While AI adoption has gained momentum in production, quality control and predictive maintenance, procurement processes have largely remained dependent on manual coordination, fragmented supplier networks and lengthy approval cycles.

According to Enlight Metals, the AI-enabled platform has reduced end-to-end transaction processing time by 75% and increased its daily order handling capacity tenfold without expanding administrative headcount. The company said it has consistently maintained a 24-hour delivery commitment for ready-stock steel.

The platform also uses AI-driven demand forecasting and supplier matching to optimise procurement decisions. Enlight Metals claims the technology has helped reduce inventory carrying costs by more than 30%, lowered manual administrative effort by over 60%, accelerated supplier discovery and price matching by 80%, and improved order processing accuracy to 99.4%. The company said it has achieved a 98.5% success rate in meeting its 24-hour delivery commitments.

"Manufacturing has embraced AI on the factory floor, but procurement has largely remained dependent on manual processes and delayed decision-making," said Dhananjay Goel, managing director of Enlight Metals.

"Our AI-enabled 24-hour delivery model enables manufacturers to move from reactive sourcing to predictive procurement, helping them reduce delays, optimise working capital and build more resilient supply chains," he said.

The company said the platform is already serving manufacturers across automotive, renewable energy, industrial equipment, electrical engineering and infrastructure sectors, where uninterrupted raw material availability is critical.

Going forward, Enlight Metals plans to expand its AI capabilities with predictive sourcing, automated replenishment and deeper integration with enterprise systems to help manufacturers anticipate demand and automate procurement workflows.