Manhattan launches AI tool for supply chain design
Thu, 21st May 2026 (Today)
Manhattan Associates has launched Solution Design Studio, a product aimed at business users configuring supply chain systems.
The software lets users describe how parts of a warehouse, transportation network or wider operation should run in natural language, then converts those instructions into live configuration across Manhattan Active applications.
Natural configuration
Solution Design Studio is part of the company's ActivePlatform and sits alongside ProActive, used to create extensions to Manhattan's applications, and Agent Foundry, where users build AI agents. The launch reflects a broader push to apply artificial intelligence beyond task-based agents and into the design and configuration of supply chain and commerce software.
Instead of using multi-step configuration screens, users create what Manhattan calls blueprints: business-language descriptions of operational processes. These can be written directly in the product's editor or uploaded from existing documents, then reviewed, edited and approved before deployment.
Once approved, platform agents translate those blueprints into live system settings. The blueprint remains the system of record, allowing users to update operational intent as business conditions change and redeploy the revised design.
Business users
The product is aimed at operational staff rather than technical specialists, including roles such as warehouse operations leaders and transportation managers rather than architects or software developers.
That focus addresses a long-standing issue in supply chain software projects, where system design and configuration can add months to implementation timelines and often require specialist technical support. By shifting more of that work into natural-language instructions, Manhattan is seeking to reduce reliance on conventional configuration processes.
"As supply chain and commerce grow more complex, the design and configuration phases are often where speed-to-value suffers," said Sanjeev Siotia, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Manhattan Associates.
"Solution Design Studio simplifies configuration by translating it into natural language for business users, helping customers move faster," said Siotia.
Faster rollout
Internal testing showed the software could configure most of ActiveWarehouse using designs created outside the system.
"During testing, Solution Design Studio autonomously and successfully configured the majority of ActiveWarehouse using externally created designs. What once took months can now be done in minutes, saving significant time," added Siotia.
The product is already being used by Manhattan's services teams in selected implementations, with a broader customer rollout expected in stages.
The launch comes as software providers across logistics, warehousing and commerce seek to embed generative AI tools into operational systems, particularly in areas that have traditionally depended on specialist consultants, implementation teams and lengthy design workshops. Configuration has been a persistent bottleneck in many large-scale software deployments because it sits between business requirements and working systems.
For users, the main change is a shift in who can define system behaviour. If the product works as intended in customer environments, warehouse and transport managers may be able to make operational changes directly in business language, while the underlying platform converts those decisions into application settings within controlled parameters.
The blueprint remains central to that process, acting as the maintained description of how an operation should function as conditions change.