German Company Holocene Launches Supply Chain AI Agent Creation Feature

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On November 12, German supply chain software company Holocene GmbH launched an AI agent creation feature in its supply chain management platform EPOCH, allowing corporate procurement, logistics, and supply chain teams to create and activate automated business agents through a single natural language instruction. The new feature requires no separate IT development project and no customization of existing software; after users describe a specific task, the system can generate the corresponding agent on the same day. The feature is now available to EPOCH platform customers.

The new feature primarily targets the large volume of non-standard business processes in supply chain management that rely heavily on manual handling. Manufacturing companies differ in supplier document formats, import tariff rules, purchase order management, and factory arrival reports, and generic software often struggles to cover these individualized processes. EPOCH allows users to select ready-made tools from a preset agent library or create dedicated agents based on their own business rules, converting exception items that previously required manual item-by-item handling into automated tasks.

In practice, EPOCH first reads the supplier emails, freight forwarder notifications, packing lists, and delivery documents that manufacturing companies receive daily, extracts information such as purchase order numbers, material quantities, shipment status, and estimated arrival dates, and continuously updates the status of each material line in the purchase order. Based on this real-time updated data, AI agents can automatically send follow-up inquiries to suppliers, reconcile purchase orders against shipping documents, correct order records, and send arrival notifications to factory production and planning departments. Customers do not need to ask suppliers to register on a new platform or change their existing email communication methods.

The system also includes human oversight mechanisms tailored to different companies. Each agent executes tasks according to business rules set by the customer team, all operational records are traceable, and companies can pause agents at any time. For situations such as discrepancies between purchase orders and supplier delivery information, missing shipping documents, and changes in material arrival times, agents can verify and handle matters according to preset rules, while items beyond their authorized scope remain subject to human judgment and confirmation.

EPOCH is a transportation management system for inbound logistics at manufacturing companies, primarily obtaining supply chain information not timely recorded in traditional enterprise resource planning systems by parsing existing emails. The platform can establish data linkages among purchase orders, suppliers, transportation, and material arrivals without requiring suppliers to use a separate portal or undertaking large-scale system integration. Holocene states that its email information processing technology has obtained a European patent. The newly added AI agent feature builds an automated execution layer on top of the existing supply chain information recognition and logistics network analysis capabilities.