ANA delivers
guaranteed savings across tail spend
Merlin ANA finds tail spend opportunities and negotiates with every supplier, within your guardrails.
Trusted by procurement teams at
Delta Air Lines
Swissport
Regeneron
Tail spend is 20% of what you buy, spread across 80% of your suppliers. Every unnegotiated invoice leaks a little. Nobody has time to negotiate the tail. So Merlin ANA does it.
across tail categories
from RFQ to award
tail sourcing teams
From sourcing PR to award, one connected flow.
Opportunity detection
Low value per order. High dollars in total.
- Merlin ANA picks up sourcing PRs that qualify as tail spend, by your budget and category rules.
- Describe the need in plain language, and the full sourcing event is drafted for you.
- Get category-specific supplier questions, then review and approve.
Price benchmarking
It knows the right price.
- See a target price built from your own purchase history.
- Check it against the live market, with every record behind it visible.
- Set the target yourself, with a confidence score to guide you.
Supplier recommendation
The right suppliers, surfaced.
- No more manual vendor lookups.
- Get a ranked table of qualified suppliers, from your history and beyond.
- Invite the operational ones, with live contacts, in a single click.
Bid analysis
Every bid, read against your benchmark.
- Bids are collected and validated as suppliers respond.
- See each one side by side with your target price.
- Know where to push before negotiation starts.
Negotiation
Offer, counter, response.
- Merlin ANA negotiates with every supplier in parallel, over multiple rounds.
- The price improves round by round, always within your policy.
- Delivery and warranty are negotiated alongside price, against your targets.
Award
AI insights for award.
- See the recommended winner, the savings and the reasoning.
- Review every stage of the journey before you decide.
- Send award and regret notifications in one click.
| Sr | Item | Description | Qty | UOM | Category | Est. price/unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ball bearings | For industrial and manufacturing applications | 100 | EA | Bearing ball (31171539) | $75.00 |
- Can you deliver to our Hampshire, United Kingdom site?
- What is the load capacity (dynamic and static) of the bearings?
- Which certifications do your bearings comply with (e.g. ISO, DIN)?
I’ve gathered internal pricing data for your ball bearings. Here’s what I found:
| Source | Item name | Supplier | Date | Price (USD) | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PO | SMITH BEARING Yoke Style Track Rollers | FASTENAL | 2026-03-18 | $98.01 | High (91%) |
| Catalog | SMITH BEARING Stud Style Track Rollers | FASTENAL | 2025-10-13 | $55.00 | High (91%) |
| Catalog | SMITH BEARING Stud Style Metric Cam Followers | FASTENAL | 2025-10-13 | $88.00 | High (91%) |
| Catalog | Bearing, Ball-Spare Parts | GRAINGER | 2025-01-06 | $115.90 | Medium (84%) |
Excellent. I’ve found 12 qualified suppliers for your ball bearings. Here are my recommendations:
| Rank | Supplier name | Source | Status | Contact details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✓ | 1 | GRAINGER | PO, Catalog | ✓ Operational | Michelle W. |
| ✓ | 2 | FASTENAL | PO, Catalog | ✓ Operational | Adalbert F. |
| 3 | ERIKS | iAnalyze | Not onboarded | No contacts available | |
| 4 | BKB INC DBA ESCOD INDUSTRIES | iAnalyze | Not onboarded | No contacts available | |
| 5 | HD SUPPLY FACILITIES MAINTENANCE | iAnalyze | Not onboarded | No contacts available | |
| 6 | WHOLESALE ELECTRIC SUPPLY | iAnalyze | Not onboarded | No contacts available |
Both invited suppliers have responded. Here’s the bid analysis against your benchmark:
| Rank | Supplier | Contact | Initial bid | Total (100 EA) | vs benchmark | Questions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GRAINGER | Michelle W. | $65.00/unit | $6,500 | $6.62 below | 6 of 6 answered | ✓ Validated |
| 2 | FASTENAL | Adalbert F. | $70.00/unit | $7,000 | $1.62 below | 6 of 6 answered | ✓ Validated |
Bid review
✓Offered a discount
Item and bid detailsView all items
| Bid amount | Received on |
|---|---|
| $62.50 | 14-04-2026 |
| $65.00 | 14-04-2026 |
Negotiation complete. Here’s my recommendation, with the full picture.
| Parameter | Your target | Result | Achievement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per unit | $71.62 | $60.00 | ✓ Beat by $11.62 |
| Delivery time | 10 days | 10 days | ✓ Met |
| Warranty | 24 months | 36 months | ✓ Beat by 12 months |
- RFQ event created (ID 263666)
- Price benchmark set: $71.62 per EA
- 2 suppliers invited
- Bids collected and analyzed (2 of 2)
- Negotiation completed: $60.00 per unit
- Award recommended
Everything a tail spend negotiation needs, from sourcing PR to award.
Opportunity detection
Picks up sourcing PRs that qualify as tail spend, plus repeat buys and expiring contracts, before they slip through or auto-renew.
Autonomous RFP creation
Turns a plain-language need into a complete sourcing event, with the right technical questions for the category.
Internal and external price benchmarking
Suggests a target from your own purchase history, checked against the live market. You see every record and set the target.
Supplier recommendations
Ranks qualified suppliers from your history and beyond, so there are no more manual vendor lookups.
Autonomous negotiation, pricing and non-pricing
Negotiates with every supplier in parallel, over multiple rounds, on price, delivery and warranty, within your policy.
AI insights for award
Recommends the winner with the savings and the reasoning. You review, you decide, and notifications go out in one click.
Negotiates any tail spend category
Thousands of low-value purchases happen every month: MRO parts, facility services, office supplies. Each one is too small to prioritize, leaving millions in unrecovered savings. Merlin ANA handles them across 18+ categories.
MRO
Hand tools, spare parts, electrical supplies
Merlin ANA gets competing bids on every MRO purchase and negotiates the best price and terms, within your rules.
Office and administrative supplies
Stationery, printer supplies, toner
Merlin ANA brings every office supply order to competitive bidding and negotiates the best deal, within your rules.
IT and technology accessories
USB cables, keyboards, mice
Merlin ANA invites suppliers to bid on every IT accessory order and negotiates the best price and terms for you.
Facilities and janitorial consumables
Cleaning chemicals, paper towels, trash bags
Merlin ANA puts every facilities supply order out to bid and negotiates the best price and terms, within your rules.
Packaging and shipping materials
Corrugated boxes, bubble wrap, packing tape
Merlin ANA gets competing bids on every packaging order and negotiates the best price and delivery terms.
Marketing and promotional items
Branded merchandise, trade show giveaways, banners
Merlin ANA collects bids on every promotional order and negotiates the best price and terms, within your rules.
Breakroom and pantry supplies
Coffee, tea, snacks
Merlin ANA gets competing bids on breakroom and pantry orders and negotiates the best deal for every office.
Automotive and fleet consumables
Oil filters, air filters, fluids
Merlin ANA invites suppliers to bid on every fleet purchase and negotiates the best price and terms, within your rules.
Lab and safety consumables
Gloves, lab coats, testing materials
Merlin ANA gets competing bids from approved lab and safety suppliers and negotiates the best price and terms.
Professional and freelance services
Ad-hoc design work, copywriting, consulting assignments
Merlin ANA gets competing bids on every freelance engagement and negotiates the best rate and terms, within your rules.
Marketing services
Social media management, content creation, digital ad campaigns
Merlin ANA invites agencies to bid on every marketing project and negotiates the best rate and scope.
Facility services
HVAC repairs, cleaning services, pest control
Merlin ANA puts every facility service contract out to bid and negotiates the best price and service terms.
IT services
Hourly tech support, small development tasks, hardware setup
Merlin ANA gets competing bids on IT service work and negotiates the best rate and terms, within your rules.
Logistics and courier
One-time courier services, local transport, expedited shipping
Merlin ANA gets competing bids from carriers on every shipment and negotiates the best price and delivery terms.
Training and workshops
Online training sessions, skill workshops, professional development
Merlin ANA invites providers to bid on every training booking and negotiates the best rate, within your rules.
HR and staffing (low value)
Temp staff for short assignments, one-off recruitment support, contract workers
Merlin ANA gets competing bids from staffing agencies and negotiates the best rate and terms for every role.
Events and hospitality
Venue support, catering for small events, AV rental
Merlin ANA collects bids on venues, catering and AV and negotiates the best price and terms, within your rules.
Print and creative services
Printing brochures, basic graphic design, presentation decks
Merlin ANA gets competing bids on every print and creative job and negotiates the best price and turnaround.
Why procurement leaders choose ANA over BPO and other tools.
P-cards, marketplaces and outsourced buying desks cover the purchase. None of them negotiate it at scale.
What our customers say.
“The process that has improved the most with Zycus’ digitization has been our true visibility on spend on a one-click basis. Something that used to take us weeks is now done in 2 seconds.”
Delta Air Lines
advisor
“Now our procurement team is clearly considered a ‘trusted advisor’ across the business.”
“This AI-powered tool has transformed how we manage Source-to-Pay requests, providing real-time notifications to keep us informed and enabling seamless on-the-go approvals.”
Regeneron“I’m impressed with Zycus for providing a single platform that fosters team collaboration and customizing solutions to meet our needs at Regeneron. Their quick turnaround on change requests has been excellent.”
not bolted on
“The only partner able to cover the procurement transformation journey with AI built into it, not bolted onto it.”
Swissport
Universal recognition, undisputed leadership.
Questions buyers ask about Merlin ANA
Still have a question?
Bring a few recent tail purchases and we’ll walk through how Merlin ANA negotiates them.
Talk to usWhat is Merlin ANA?
Merlin ANA, the Autonomous Negotiation Agent, is the Zycus agent for tail spend on the Merlin Agentic Platform. It finds negotiation opportunities, drafts the sourcing event, benchmarks the price, invites compliant suppliers, negotiates with them in parallel over multiple rounds and recommends the award, all within guardrails your team sets.
What is tail spend, and why does it go unnegotiated?
Tail spend is the long list of low-value, high-frequency purchases spread across a large share of your suppliers. Each buy is too small to justify a buyer’s time, so it is paid at list price, renewed automatically or bought off policy. Across a year, those small leaks add up to millions.
How is Merlin ANA different from a negotiation bot or an e-auction tool?
Merlin ANA is built into the Zycus Source-to-Pay suite, so it finds opportunities on its own instead of waiting for someone to set up an event. It covers any tail category with one agent, negotiates terms such as delivery and warranty alongside price, explains every recommendation, and passes the award straight into the PO and contract.
What stays under my team’s control?
Your team sets the guardrails, approves the event and target price, and makes the final award decision. Merlin ANA does the work in between and records every step for audit. AI decides. Suite governs. Enterprise stays in control.
Which categories can Merlin ANA negotiate?
Merlin ANA covers 18 tail spend categories, nine in goods and nine in services. They include MRO, office supplies, IT accessories, packaging, facility services, logistics and courier, marketing services and low-value staffing, each with its own negotiation playbook.
Does Merlin ANA work with the suite or ERP we already run?
Yes. Merlin ANA runs natively on the Zycus suite and also works with other Source-to-Pay suites and ERPs. Zycus connects through 1,121 APIs and an MCP server, so negotiated awards can flow into the systems you use today.
How does Merlin ANA work with Merlin Intake?
Merlin Intake is the front door for every request. When a request qualifies as tail spend by your budget and category rules, Merlin Intake routes it to Merlin ANA with the full context attached, so negotiation starts without anyone re-keying the request.
Bring your tail spend. See what Merlin ANA would negotiate.
Share a few recent purchases. We’ll show you how Merlin ANA handles them, from first signal to award.
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