Company news·16 Sep 2026
Company news
18 Sep 2026
Andreas Kiel, Group Director Procurement, on Building Resilient Supply Chains at Mehler System
FULDA, GERMANY (18 September 2026)
“Procurement at Mehler Systems is evolving from a traditional purchasing function into the architect of global partner networks and resilient value chains.”
That is how Andreas Kiel, Group Director Procurement at Mehler Systems, describes the changing role of procurement.
Traditionally associated with purchasing materials and negotiating contracts, procurement has evolved into a strategic capability that helps shape innovation, strengthen resilience, and support long-term competitiveness. As defence programmes become more technologically advanced and geopolitical uncertainty continues to reshape global supply chains, procurement now connects technologies, manufacturing capabilities, supplier expertise, and regional market knowledge into resilient global value chains.
In our latest interview, Kiel explains why procurement is no longer simply about securing materials, but about building the trusted partnerships and supplier ecosystems that enable innovation, reduce risk, and support sustainable growth across the Mehler Systems Group.
Building Value Through Global Partnerships
Modern defence solutions depend on far more than the companies delivering finished components. Behind every ballistic vest, tactical garment, platform protection system, or load-carrying solution is a network of specialised material manufacturers, textile producers, technology providers, and manufacturing partners distributed across multiple countries and supplier tiers.
Managing these networks requires procurement to look beyond commercial negotiations. Success depends on balancing innovation, quality, resilience, availability, and long-term supply security while understanding regional market requirements, cultural differences, and supplier capabilities. As Kiel explains:
"The objective is not to achieve the lowest purchase price, but to deliver the highest long-term value for our customers, our suppliers and the Mehler Systems Group."
This long-term perspective is reflected in the philosophy that guides procurement across Mehler Systems: “Act Global – Think Local.” It means developing global strategies, standards, and partnerships while acting with local market knowledge, cultural understanding, and close collaboration with regional partners.
This responsibility is particularly significant in the defence sector, where procurement decisions can directly influence operational readiness and user safety. Long product lifecycles, specialised materials, export controls, security regulations, and increasingly complex geopolitical conditions require procurement to balance immediate programme requirements with long-term resilience.
Innovation Starts Across the Supply Chain
Innovation rarely happens in isolation. While engineering teams transform ideas into products, many of the technologies shaping future capabilities originate elsewhere. Suppliers continuously develop new materials, manufacturing processes, and production technologies that influence how products can ultimately be designed, produced, and scaled.
Procurement helps connect these external capabilities with internal development teams, ensuring promising technologies are identified early while assessing whether they can be industrialised reliably and supported throughout the product lifecycle.
As Kiel explains: “Many technological advances originate within the supplier network. By involving procurement early, we can identify emerging technologies, evaluate supply chain readiness, assess industrialisation risks and accelerate development timelines.”
Early supplier involvement also creates visibility across the value chain. Rather than focusing solely on direct suppliers, procurement increasingly analyses second- and third-tier supplier structures to understand where critical materials, technologies, and manufacturing capabilities actually originate. This makes it possible to identify bottlenecks, reduce single-source dependencies, and anticipate potential disruptions before they affect production.
In an industry where supply chains are influenced by export controls, changing industrial capacities, and geopolitical developments, understanding the complete production network has become a significant competitive advantage.
As Kiel summarises: “Procurement turns concepts into industrial reality.” Its role extends beyond sourcing components. Procurement helps ensure innovative ideas can ultimately become scalable, reliable production solutions supported by resilient global supply networks.
Building One Global Procurement Network
As collaboration across Mehler Systems continues to expand, procurement increasingly connects expertise across the group’s brands.
Bringing together body armour, platform protection, tactical apparel, and load-carrying solutions under a common procurement strategy allows the organisation to consolidate supplier knowledge, strengthen relationships, share market intelligence, and leverage sourcing capabilities more effectively across multiple product areas.
It also strengthens collaboration between engineering teams, manufacturing partners, suppliers, and customers by aligning technologies, production capabilities, and programme requirements throughout the value chain.
"One of the greatest advantages of operating as an integrated group is our ability to combine global scale with local expertise."
That philosophy has become increasingly important as global supply chains continue to evolve.
Innovation, specialised manufacturing capabilities, and strategic suppliers are increasingly emerging outside the traditional European sourcing landscape, while parts of Europe’s textile value chain continue to experience consolidation and declining industrial capacity. Remaining competitive therefore requires procurement to be present where future technologies, supplier expertise, and manufacturing capabilities are developing.
This thinking was one of the key drivers behind establishing Mehler Systems Asia.
Rather than functioning simply as a regional sourcing organisation, Mehler Systems Asia strengthens procurement’s ability to build closer relationships with suppliers, accelerate development cycles, improve transparency across the value chain, and identify market developments at an earlier stage.
Regional procurement teams contribute more than geographical proximity. Their understanding of local business practices, cultural dynamics, regulatory frameworks, and supplier ecosystems enables faster decision-making while ensuring that sourcing activities continue to meet Mehler Systems’ global standards for quality, compliance, sustainability, and performance.
In many ways, Mehler Systems Asia represents procurement’s next stage of evolution—from managing suppliers to building global ecosystems of trusted partners that support innovation, resilience, and long-term competitiveness.
Supporting Programmes Where Reliability Matters Most
Procurement’s strategic role becomes even more apparent when supporting major defence programmes.
While every programme shares the same objective—delivering reliable capabilities to customers—the path to achieving it can differ significantly. Procurement strategies must therefore adapt to programme requirements rather than follow a single model.
Long-term programmes such as MOBAST, one of the largest programmes in Mehler Protection’s history, demand stability above all else. Maintaining consistent quality and production over many years requires resilient supplier networks, long-term agreements, proactive capacity planning, and the ability to anticipate changes in market conditions before they affect delivery.
Success also depends on people. According to Kiel, experienced strategic buyers combine commercial expertise with technical understanding and deep knowledge of manufacturing processes, supplier capabilities, and qualification requirements. Their ability to align customer expectations with supplier capabilities over many years makes them trusted partners throughout the entire programme lifecycle.
As Kiel explains: “Success is not built on short-term transactions, but on trusted relationships that are developed and strengthened over many years.”
Those relationships create transparency, enable joint planning, and provide the stability required to support critical defence programmes throughout their lifecycle.
Other programmes require an entirely different approach.
The Ukraine programme, one of the first major initiatives bringing together products from multiple Mehler Systems brands, demonstrated the strength of the One Mehler approach. Procurement coordinated suppliers, production capacities, material allocation, and logistics across several business units while responding under demanding timelines.
Rather than optimising for long-term efficiency alone, procurement had to combine speed, transparency, and close collaboration with resilient supplier relationships to ensure that customer requirements could be met without compromising quality.
Although every programme requires a different procurement strategy, they all rely on the same foundation: trusted partnerships, resilient supplier ecosystems, and the ability to connect global capabilities with local execution.
Quality Is Built Across the Entire Value Chain
For procurement, quality begins long before a product reaches the production line.
Supplier qualification extends beyond technical capability and certifications. Manufacturing performance, process stability, continuous improvement, and long-term reliability all influence whether a supplier can support demanding defence programmes throughout their lifecycle.
Increasingly, however, quality depends on understanding far more than the direct supplier.
Materials, specialised manufacturing processes, and critical technologies often originate several tiers deeper within the production network. Gaining visibility across those supplier tiers allows procurement teams to identify vulnerabilities early, strengthen business continuity, and ensure that quality standards are maintained consistently across the entire value chain. “Quality is non-negotiable,” says Kiel.
That commitment is reinforced through long-term supplier relationships built on transparency, trust, and shared responsibility. Rather than simply qualifying suppliers, procurement works to develop strategic partners that contribute to mission success and customer confidence over many years.
Balancing Speed, Availability and Reliability
Recent years have shown that resilience is measured not only by quality, but also by how quickly organisations can respond to changing conditions.
For procurement, that means balancing three priorities that cannot exist independently.
"Speed without quality creates risk, while quality without availability creates operational challenges. The goal is therefore to achieve all three simultaneously."
Achieving that balance requires proactive risk management, diversified sourcing strategies, framework agreements, and trusted supplier partnerships. Equally important is transparency throughout the value chain.
Understanding production technologies, manufacturing capacities, material dependencies, and supplier interconnections allows procurement teams to identify bottlenecks before they affect programmes, respond faster to market changes, and make more informed decisions under pressure.
Regional sourcing capabilities further strengthen that responsiveness. Being closer to suppliers and innovation markets provides earlier access to market intelligence while improving visibility across global supply networks.
Procurement in a Changing World
Over the past few years, procurement has changed fundamentally.
Geopolitical uncertainty, export controls, supply chain disruptions, and shifting industrial capacities have demonstrated that resilience is now just as important as cost, quality, and delivery performance.
For Mehler Systems, this has reinforced the importance of understanding complete supplier ecosystems, reducing single-source dependencies, and developing sourcing strategies capable of maintaining continuity even in volatile market environments.
Supplier relationships have evolved as well.
Where procurement was once primarily transactional, it increasingly focuses on building long-term partnerships based on trust, transparency, and shared growth. These relationships not only strengthen resilience but also provide earlier access to emerging technologies, specialised manufacturing capabilities, and future innovation opportunities.
Looking ahead, Kiel believes procurement will continue evolving from a transactional function into a strategic enabler of business success. Its role is no longer defined simply by managing suppliers or securing materials, but by building trusted global ecosystems that connect technologies, manufacturing capabilities, supplier expertise, and regional market knowledge into resilient value chains.
"Ultimately, success in defence procurement is not defined by individual transactions but by the ability to connect global supply networks with local market and supplier expertise, ensuring that critical capabilities remain available, scalable and resilient when they are needed most," Kiel concludes.
Press Release
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