This year's program grows from four categories to six with the addition of the APEX Architect and APEX Synergy Awards.

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- LeanDNA, a leading intelligent supply chain execution platform, today announced the 26 finalists for its second annual APEX Awards, which recognize manufacturers and individuals driving measurable supply chain transformation through people, process, and technology. LeanDNA will announce winners live on stage at the third annual LeanDNA Manufacturing Excellence Summit, taking place from Oct. 28-30, 2026, in downtown Austin.

Named after LeanDNA's AI-powered expert execution platform, the APEX Awards honor customers and teams who have moved beyond fragmented, reactive supply chain management toward proactive, AI-supported decision-making.

This year's program expanded on two fronts. LeanDNA introduced two new categories: The APEX Architect Award, honoring an individual power user who has mastered APEX's newest capabilities, and The APEX Synergy Award, recognizing a team that broke down departmental silos to adopt APEX as a single source of truth. For the first time, LeanDNA also opened nominations beyond its own staff to its customer community, inviting customers to nominate themselves, their peers, and their teams.

"This year's APEX Awards reflect just how far our customer community has taken supply chain transformation, and how eager they are to celebrate it alongside each other," said Jordan Slabaugh, Chief Marketing Officer at LeanDNA. "It's important to recognize the people and teams doing the unglamorous work of changing culture, not just implementing software. These finalists represent what's possible when people, process, and AI-driven execution come together."

The 2026 APEX Award finalists are:

Peak Performance Award – Account

Awarded to the top-performing companies over the past year based entirely on measurable data.

• Daikin
• Johnson Controls
• Spirit AeroSystems
• Current Lighting

Peak Performance Award – Site

• MSA Safety (USM1)
• Safran Cabin Marysville
• Mercury Systems (Hudson)
• Modine (Lawrenceburg 2)
• Cirtec Medical Corp (NC1)

APEX Impact Award

• Husky
• Astec
• Ingersoll Rand Haskel Europe Ltd. (Sunderland)
• MSA- The Safety Company

Trailblazer Award

• Vatsal Gandhi, Ford
• Praveen Kanagaraj, Daikin
• Patrick Quade, Enjet
• Meagan Long, Stanadyne
• Tej Savant, Carrier

APEX Synergy Award (new for 2026)

• Carrier Montilla SA
• Johnson Controls
• Safran Electronics & Defense
• Siemens

APEX Architect Award (new for 2026)

• Eduardo Cardoso, Carrier
• Gladys Maziarz, Ford
• Max Denton, Husky
• Homero Garza, Daikin

Congratulations to all of this year's finalists. LeanDNA thanks everyone across its team and customer base who submitted a nomination this year.

About LeanDNA

LeanDNA powers the world's discrete manufacturing with a single source of truth for factory-first supply planning, materials management, and inventory optimization. APEX, the AI-powered expert execution platform from LeanDNA, transforms data into optimized decisions and action. LeanDNA empowers manufacturers in aerospace, HVAC, industrials, automotive, and medical to improve on-time delivery and working capital levels. Leading manufacturers including Caterpillar, Daikin Applied, Safran, and Siemens use APEX for supply chain orchestration to gain visibility into current and incoming materials, take action based on inventory criticality, collaborate in real time with suppliers, and track progress toward inventory optimization goals. Learn more at LeanDNA.com.

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SOURCE LeanDNA Inc