Ormazabal (Spain), a global expert in personalised and high-tech electrical solutions with over 55 years of experience, is partnering with Bork, a Chilean startup specialised in AI-powered price forecasting tools, within the EU-LAC Digital Accelerator. The collaboration focuses on integrating Bork’s predictive technology into Ormazabal’s procurement planning, with the objective of assessing how artificial intelligence can help the company anticipate raw material price fluctuations, particularly for copper, aluminium and galvanised steel, and make smarter, more strategic purchasing decisions.
The volatility of raw material prices affects profit margins
Ormazabal, a global leader in high-tech electrical solutions, builds complex, high-spec systems that transform the electrical grid into an infrastructure for the future: more reliable, resilient and sustainable.
Behind every transformer, switchgear, or low-voltage board unit produced lies a volatile cost structure, driven by the ever-fluctuating prices of raw materials such as copper, aluminium, and galvanised steel.
However, once a contract is signed with a client, prices are locked, even if material costs increase dramatically the next day.
As a result, without a way to forecast these changes, procurement becomes a gamble. And the risk of this gamble grows exponentially with the dozens of contracts that Ormazabal signs monthly, the multiple markets in which the company delivers its services, and the thousands of tonnes of metal they purchase every year.
In other words, a “bad” procurement gamble can seriously erode profit margins or simply cancel them.
AI-Powered price forecasting to enhance procurement decisions
Bork, a Chilean data science firm, offers AI-powered tools that predict raw material prices using machine learning models trained on vast datasets, including market behaviour, economic indicators, geopolitical events, and supply-demand dynamics in key sectors such as construction and energy.
The system continuously learns and refines its predictions as new data becomes available, allowing it to adapt to emerging trends and anomalies, something traditional forecasting methods struggle with.
By leveraging this dynamic, data-rich approach, Bork aims to deliver actionable insights that can help Ormazabal’s procurement teams anticipate cost movements weeks or even months in advance. This enables:
- Better negotiation timing with raw material suppliers,
- Smarter contract terms,
- More resilient sourcing strategies (the process to find, evaluate, and select suppliers).
In this pilot, Bork’s system provides Ormazabal with 10-day-ahead forecasts and response protocols, helping the corporate decide when to buy and how to act before the market moves.
An overview of the EU-LAC Digital Accelerator’s services
This game-changing collaboration takes place in the EU-LAC Digital Accelerator, which will provide the following services:
- Open Innovation Bootcamp (delivered by IESE Business School):
The bootcamp gave Ormazabal’s team the tools to work successfully with startups like Bork and align both open innovation strategies. The bootcamp equips the two companies with the mindset and practical tools to work together efficiently despite differences in corporate cultures and sectors.
- FitCamp (delivered by Wayra):
The FitCamp offered a structured process to evaluate Bork’s AI solution through Ormazabal’s lens, testing feasibility, business alignment, and scale-up potential. At the same time, Bork receives valuable feedback to refine its solution and better understand the expectations and constraints of a large industrial partner, accelerating mutual learning and reducing the risks of future collaboration.
- Mentoring & Strategic Guidance (delivered by IESE Business School):
Ongoing support to keep both teams aligned, tackle roadblocks early, and ensure results lead to real-world adoption by turning promising pilots into scalable, impactful solutions.
Looking ahead: Proactive buying to protect margins
By combining Ormazabal’s industrial & technological innovation with Bork’s predictive technology, the two companies are working towards a procurement process that is more agile, forward-looking, and resilient.
Instead of reacting to market shifts, Ormazabal can now anticipate cost fluctuations and adjust its purchasing strategy in advance, making informed decisions that are timely and better aligned with operational needs.
Concretely, the corporate can buy copper in advance if a price hike is expected, postponing purchases when a drop is likely, or negotiating better supplier terms using reliable price forecasts.
As a consequence, the firm is better equipped to limit budget shocks and thus has more control over margins.
