Procurement at sea: Amazon Business helps Carnival Cruise

Scott Thompson, Vice President Logistics - North America at Carnival Corporation, paints a vivid picture of the procurement complexities his team faces on a daily basis: "Our ships operate as floating cities and we serve many functions beyond hospitality, so you can imagine how many different segments we fulfil when procuring supplies," he explains.

Unlike traditional land-based operations, Carnival's procurement challenges extend far beyond standard cost management and vendor relations. The maritime environment creates distinct operational complexities that most procurement teams never encounter. For example, Scott notes that Carnival’s ships are "built to various international standards, which means that our procurement team must account for compatibility issues most businesses never have to deal with. Even something as simple as different electrical systems require us to source compatible equipment or conversion solutions across our ships."

The time-critical nature of cruise operations adds another layer of complexity. "Unlike land-based businesses that are more flexible with their deliveries, our ships maintain strict departure schedules—missing a delivery window means waiting until the next departure date," Scott emphasises.

Perhaps most challenging is the sheer diversity of procurement needs. In a single week, Carnival might source specialised lighting equipment for theatre technicians, costumes for entertainers, medical supplies for onboard health centres, culinary equipment for restaurants and engineering components for ship maintenance. 

This breadth requires what Scott describes as "procurement versatility and specialised knowledge across multiple domains—from entertainment technology to maritime engineering."

Transforming maritime procurement through strategic collaboration

Amazon Business has worked closely with Carnival to address these unique challenges through a tailored approach that combines familiar consumer-grade shopping experiences with enterprise-level procurement capabilities.

Brenda Spoonemore, VP, Commercial, Public and Strategic Sectors at Amazon Business, explains how her team approached Carnival's complex requirements: "Amazon Business tailors the shopping experience customers already know and love from Amazon.com—including speed, convenience and innovation—to meet the operational complexities of Carnival Cruise Line."

This approach has yielded remarkable results. By combining intuitive purchasing tools, an extensive supplier network and resilient logistics capabilities, Amazon Business has helped Carnival procure specialised goods precisely when needed, enabling the company to operate its floating cities efficiently at sea.

Solving real-world procurement bottlenecks

The collaboration's impact becomes clear through specific examples of solved procurement challenges. Brenda recounts how "Carnival previously faced weeks-long delays trying to source replacement parts for industrial sewing machines used to repair onboard upholstery, often without a clear supplier path or reliable lead time. Without those parts, the team sometimes had no choice but to scrap the machines altogether."

This scenario, common in maritime operations where equipment failure can mean costly replacements, has been transformed: "With Amazon Business, they can now locate and order those parts quickly and directly, keeping essential equipment in service and avoiding unnecessary replacement costs," Brenda notes.

The scale of transformation is impressive. In just the first six months of using Amazon Business, Carnival ordered more than 6,000 unique items across 500 commodity subgroups. Since implementation, the company has relied on the platform for everything from over 1,200 pounds of espresso pods to 250 gallons of disinfectant cleaning solution in the past year alone.

Technology integration driving efficiency

The collaboration's success stems partly from sophisticated technology integration that addresses maritime-specific challenges. A key breakthrough came after integrating Amazon Business with Oracle's iProcurement system, which Scott says "reduced purchase order processing times from two weeks to just minutes, drastically increasing procurement speed and responsiveness."

Advanced logistics enhancements have proved equally transformative. By implementing advance shipping notices (ASNs) and barcode scanning systems, ship crews now receive digital records of incoming goods before delivery. This allows them to prepare for arrivals and quickly route items to correct departments, eliminating manual steps like circulating printed documents during tight turnaround windows.

Scott highlights the impact of these technological improvements: "The scanning system that generates ship- and department-specific labels has nearly eliminated even the rare instance of errors in manual sorting, improved package traceability and accelerated distribution through our warehouse facility in Miami."

Empowering autonomous decision-making

One of the collaboration's most significant achievements has been empowering Carnival's teams to make informed procurement decisions autonomously. Amazon Business's "good, better, best" categorisation feature exemplifies this approach, enabling teams to quickly select appropriate products based on operational priorities—whether prioritising price, durability or brand reputation—whilst staying aligned with company policies.

Brenda explains how this works in practice: "If a department needs a durable, high-use maintenance tool, they can select a top-tier option. For more routine needs—like cleaning supplies or basic electrical components—they can go with a more economical choice."

This autonomy has been crucial for Carnival's operations. Scott notes that "Amazon Business has enabled our teams to efficiently get what they need, when they need it. It's allowed us to consolidate vendors and drastically reduce lead times, creating a smoother, more autonomous experience for our team members."

Automation reducing administrative burden

The collaboration has significantly reduced manual administrative tasks through intelligent automation. Before integration, Carnival's teams managed approvals through what Brenda describes as "a patchwork of emails, spreadsheets and scanned documents”. Today, automated approval workflows and integrated spend tracking have eliminated much of this administrative burden.

The impact on staff productivity has been substantial. Scott explains that "tasks that previously consumed significant staff time, from shipment receiving to destination labeling, now leverage scanning technology and automated systems that complete the same work in seconds rather than minutes. This is empowering our team to focus on higher-value work rather than repetitive manual tasks."

In an industry where supply chain disruptions can have immediate operational impact, the collaboration has enhanced Carnival's resilience against global disruptions. The flexibility provided by Amazon Business's extensive supplier network has proved invaluable during recent supply chain challenges.

"Rather than depending on multiple supplier relationships, with Amazon Business, we can rapidly pivot between vendors when faced with availability issues, price fluctuations or delivery constraints," Scott explains. 

The platform's global supplier network has enabled Carnival to develop multi-source strategies for critical items, ensuring they're never completely dependent on single suppliers or regions.

Looking towards the horizon

Both organisations view this collaboration as a foundation for continued innovation. Scott expresses excitement about future possibilities: "Technology is forever evolving, and so is our relationship with Amazon Business. We're excited about the opportunities to work together to create new solutions that continue improving how we operate at sea and ashore."

Brenda echoes this commitment to ongoing innovation, noting: "As customer needs grow, Amazon Business grows with them." She emphasises that Amazon Business continually innovates to meet the scale and complexity of customers' needs, particularly for organisations operating on a global stage with high stakes and tight timelines.

The Carnival-Amazon Business collaboration offers valuable insights for procurement professionals across industries. It demonstrates how understanding unique operational challenges—whether maritime logistics, tight scheduling constraints or diverse procurement needs—can drive innovative solutions that transform traditional procurement approaches.

The success also highlights the importance of technology integration, autonomous decision-making tools and supplier network diversification in building resilient procurement operations. For organisations facing similar complexity in their supply chains, this collaboration provides a blueprint for leveraging modern procurement platforms to achieve operational excellence while maintaining the flexibility needed in today's dynamic business environment.

As Scott concludes: "Managing the scale and complexity of operations across an entire fleet and coordinating those needs across different departments, sailing schedules and different geographies is a massive undertaking. Luckily, we have an amazing, hard-working team and relationships like that with Amazon Business that continue to rise to the challenge and help us operate as efficiently as possible."

Originally published in Procurement Magazine