FEATURE Editor’s choice
To stay competitive
and secure, manufacturers will need to build multi-node, digitally enabled supply-network ecosystems that integrate resilience, transparency and sustainability by design
10 SUPPLY CHAIN TRENDS FOR 2026
Simon Thompson, VP Northern Europe at JAGGAER, manufacturing supply chain this year
T
he manufacturing sector is headed into 2026 facing geopolitical turbulence, trade-policy shifts, accelerating digitalisation and
mounting sustainability expectations. These factors all call for a radical change in how supply chains are architected, operated, and governed. In particular manufacturers will need to balance cost competitiveness with structural resilience, build real-time visibility into tier-n suppliers, and adopt digital technologies that improve decision making. Here are ten of the major trends that will in the year ahead:
1. Real-time information on regulatory
change Sanctions, trans-shipment risks and export bans are taking place at unprecedented rates across the globe. To stay ahead of these shifts, manufacturers will increasingly invest in predictive trade-compliance engines that consumption, and engineering responsiveness
2. From sourcing to engineered multi-node supply networks Single-source strategies revealed their risk multiple times in the last decade. The shortages experienced during and critical mineral shortages revealed the structural weakness of the model. As a result, more and more manufacturers are moving to dual-sourcing models and regional supply alternatives. Investment in formal supply- network design functions that use digital twins and scenario modelling to optimise cost, resilience, and service will separate the leaders from the pack.
3. Acceleration of digital technologies Digital ecosystems that seamlessly connect
34 March 2026 | Automation
procurement, production, and logistics will become pervasive. At the same time, a number of other key technologies will drive more strategic decision making: AI will support predictive risk management and autonomous planning; IoT will provide real-time operational data; blockchain will support solid sustainability claims; and cloud platforms will unify data to reduce latency. 4. Data quality and governance Inconsistent or siloed master data can cause even the most sophisticated tools to fail so data quality will emerge as a key step to fully achieve any AI or analytics investment. As data is increasingly seen to be a strategic asset, governance, taxonomies, and cross-system integration will become board-level issues.
5. Circular supply chains and sustainability Consumer expectations, net-zero commitments and forthcoming waste-reduction legislation will transform sustainability and circularity requirements from compliance obligations transparency in scope 1 - 3 emissions data, accurate product-level footprinting and tier- 2/3 traceability will be required and new tools enabling this level of scrutiny will become essential. Similarly, circular supply chains will become increasingly common. 6. A widening digital skills gap
Organisations must start redesigning roles, building digital academies, and creating new career paths blending supply-chain expertise with analytics and systems thinking to support talent transformation. Technical skills alone, however, will not be enough. Supply chain leaders of tomorrow will also need systems thinking: the ability to understand how interconnected variables across procurement, logistics, manufacturing, and demand 7. Security embedded by design The
10 SUPPLY CHAIN TRENDS FOR 2026
2025 cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover’s supplier systems was a stark reminder that one compromised tier can cascade disruption across an entire manufacturing network. Cybersecurity will need to evolve into a supply-chain-by-design capability. Secure collaboration architectures, zero-trust models, continuous monitoring of IoT/OT environments, and cybersecurity-scoring will be necessary to protect systems from OT vulnerabilities to freight theft and supplier breaches.
8. Granularity and resilience Repeated supply chain shocks have shifted how organisations approach risk and value, forcing them to quantify not only material costs but the value of operational continuity. A single disruption can cascade into lost revenue, damaged customer relationships and reputational harm that far outweighs savings from lean inventory or single-source procurement.
Cost-to-serve modelling addresses this by attributing true end-to-end delivery costs, and resilience. Paired with real-time supply chain visibility, these models help decision- makers anticipate pressure points, respond to logistics volatility and navigate sustained cost
Flexibility and security will need to be balanced so that modular network architectures are capable of rapid pivots, shifting suppliers, geographies, and transport modes without putting intellectual property or operational integrity at risk. A radical rethink and integration of systems into a platform- based supply-chain models will be required rather than ad-hoc, “band-aid” tools that only address one facet of interconnected issues. 10. The supply chain as a source of competitive advantage Perhaps the most supply chain increasingly being recognised as a core value creator. Its role in accelerating time-to-market, strengthening sustainability credentials, optimising networks, and elevating advantage and help shape commercial success.
JAGGAER
www.jaggaer.com
automationmagazine.co.uk
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