Supply chain planning provider b2wise is using IMTS 2026 to make a pointed argument: many manufacturers' planning systems may be too rigid to keep up with the pace AI now demands.

Global CEO Kevin Boake will lead the conversation with a September 14 session at the IMTS Technology Hub, "Are Advanced Planning Systems (APS) Killing Your Competitiveness? And Why AI Will Make It Worse!" The talk (11:30 am – 12 pm) will dig into a question a lot of plant and operations leaders may not have asked yet: does a highly optimized planning system actually slow a manufacturer down when markets, supply chains, or customer demands shift faster than the software can be reconfigured?

"Manufacturers have spent decades investing in systems designed to make planning more sophisticated, but sophistication isn't the same thing as competitiveness. If your planning system takes months to change when your business can change overnight, you have a fundamental problem. AI has the potential to solve that problem, but it can also make it worse if we simply put AI on top of systems that were never designed to adapt."

For manufacturers handling volatile demand, inventory swings, and tangled supply networks, the pitch is that planning tools need to flex with the business, not the other way around.

The 48-Hour Challenge

b2wise is backing its argument with a live demonstration at its booth (#135644, East Building, Level 3). Manufacturers can bring in a real planning problem, such as forecasting, inventory, capacity, scheduling, diagnostics, or reporting, and b2wise promises to offer a working solution within 48 hours.

Select challenges are also being turned into 30-minute build sessions as part of a 12-part LinkedIn Live series (hosted by Martin Sewell and Laura Monroe, running since September 1); everything else still gets a 48-hour turnaround.

The company frames this as AI-assisted, not AI-autonomous—the tools help planners build and adjust faster, but a human still validates the logic and makes the call.

"IMTS is exactly the kind of environment where this conversation belongs. You're bringing together manufacturers who are investing heavily in automation, digitalization, and AI, but technology investment only matters if it helps a manufacturer respond faster and compete better. We want to talk about what happens when the planning system itself becomes the constraint."