Mart® transforms sourcing, logistics, and lifecycle services into a strategic design enabler

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Design, Delivered Through Smarter Procurement

In an increasingly complex Middle Eastern market, procurement has evolved beyond cost control to become a key design enabler. This story looks at how Mart® aligns sourcing, logistics, and lifecycle services to support design intent across large-scale commercial projects.

What Is Mart?

Mart_® is an end-to-end contract furniture business delivering sourcing, procurement, logistics, installation, and lifecycle services for complex commercial projects.

Built as the independent furniture arm of regional fit-out leader KPS, Mart_®combines more than 30 years of sourcing expertise and supplier relationships with a digital platform that simplifies specification, availability, and procurement workflows — enabling faster decision-making, reduced risk, and more sustainable furniture outcomes.

Find out more at kpsmart.com

Why procurement is now a design and business issue, not just a cost one

For much of the past two decades, procurement in design-led projects has been treated as a downstream function. Something that followed the creative work. Something primarily focused on cost control, negotiations, and delivery logistics. That separation no longer reflects reality.

Across the Middle East, designers are being asked to deliver more complex projects, at greater speed, under tighter commercial scrutiny. Clients expect faster programmes, better performance, longer warranties, and fewer surprises, often while pushing budgets harder than ever. In this environment, procurement is no longer simply about buying products. It has become a strategic factor that directly shapes design outcomes, project risk, and long-term value.

The result is a fundamental shift: procurement is now as much a design and business issue as it is a financial one.

Designers under pressure: more, faster, with greater accountability

Designers today are operating in a very different landscape to even five or ten years ago. Beyond creativity and spatial intelligence, they are expected to understand supply chains, anticipate risk, and help safeguard project timelines.

Philippa Jones, Senior Manager at Mart®

“Designers are being asked to deliver more, faster, and with greater accountability for what happens beyond the drawings,” says Philippa Jones, Senior Manager at Mart_®. “Procurement decisions now sit much closer to the design phase because they directly affect what can realistically be delivered, when, and at what level of quality.”

Late-stage procurement issues such as unavailable products, long lead times, or unclear specifications, can quickly undermine carefully considered design intent. What once might have been seen as a delivery problem now feeds back into design decisions much earlier in the process. In practice, this means designers are increasingly required to balance creativity with commercial realism, often under intense time pressure.

The complexity of a global marketplace

At the same time, the furniture and interiors marketplace has become more global and more complex than ever before. On paper, access to international brands and suppliers should be an advantage. In reality, the sheer volume of choice can introduce new risks. Quality benchmarks vary. Ergonomic standards are not always clear. Information about aftermarket parts, maintenance, or lifecycle performance is often fragmented or difficult to verify.

“For many designers and clients, there’s a lack of transparency around what they’re actually specifying,” Philippa explains. “It’s not just about how something looks on day one, but how it performs over time, from ergonomics and durability to spare parts availability and warranties.”

These knowledge gaps are not trivial. In large commercial or institutional projects, a single specification decision can affect hundreds or even thousands of items. When information is incomplete, risk multiplies.

From cost control to risk management

While cost remains important, it is no longer the only, or even the primary concern for many clients. Increasingly, the bigger risks lie elsewhere: delays, re-specification, compliance issues, or unexpected lifecycle costs after handover.

End clients today want more value, not just lower prices. They expect extended warranties, reliable performance, and products that support long-term operational efficiency. Procurement, in this context, becomes a tool for managing risk rather than simply negotiating cost. This shift has changed the role procurement plays within projects. It now sits at the intersection of design quality, programme certainty, and business performance.

Why smarter sourcing is a competitive advantage

Against this backdrop, the idea of “smarter sourcing” has gained real traction. Not as a buzzword, but as a practical response to growing complexity. Smarter sourcing is less about buying cheaper products and more about improving visibility, reducing uncertainty, and enabling better decisions earlier in the process.

It relies on shared information, clearer workflows, and systems that support collaboration rather than fragmentation. This is where technology, when applied thoughtfully, can play a transformative role.

Bharat Sankar, Digital Product Manager Mart®️

“Much of today’s procurement process is still slow, manual, and fragmented,” says Bharat Sankar, who heads platform development at Mart_®. “Highly skilled professionals spend huge amounts of time chasing information, checking availability, and managing spreadsheets, instead of focusing on the value they bring.”

In large contract furniture projects, the challenge is magnified. Designers and procurement teams may be sourcing hundreds or thousands of complex product configurations from multiple international vendors, across different time zones and languages. Uncertainty around stock levels, lead times, or specifications creates delays and forces late-stage compromises.

“Technology should remove that uncertainty,” Bharat explains. “It should take the guesswork out of availability, configuration, and delivery, and simplify the entire end-to-end process.”

Technology as an enabler, not a distraction

Importantly, the role of technology in procurement is not to replace design expertise, but to support it.

“The goal isn’t to add another layer of complexity,” Bharat says. “It’s to simplify and accelerate the process so designers have more time to do what they do best, designing.”

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Design Middle East

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