For manufacturers, supply chain disruption is no longer an exceptional event. Tariffs and changing trade policies, geopolitical uncertainty, transportation constraints, material shortages and supplier issues are now challenges manufacturers have to deal with as part of normal business. We know there will be further disruption. What we don't know is where it will come from or when it will happen, which makes preparation increasingly important.
Supply chain resilience can sometimes be interpreted as the ability to respond quickly once something has gone wrong. In our experience, much of the work that determines how effectively a manufacturer responds should have happened months, or even years, earlier. You can't predict every disruption and you certainly can't prevent them all, but there is a great deal you can do to mitigate risk before it's too late.
Our new State of Supply Chain Resilience 2026 research gives an indication of how seriously manufacturers are taking the issue. Some 94% of respondents said supply chain resilience is a higher business priority than it was five years ago, while 82% remain concerned about disruption over the next 12 months.
We're also seeing manufacturers take action in several different areas. Almost two-thirds of survey respondents are increasing inventory and more than half are diversifying suppliers, while others are expanding nearshore and regional sourcing, investing in forecasting and improving supply chain visibility.
Carrying additional inventory can buy valuable time if a shipment is delayed or a supplier temporarily stops production. We see that as one part of the answer. Manufacturers also need to understand the dependencies behind those risks and know what other options are available if an established source can no longer supply.
Dual sourcing is a good example. Having the name of a second supplier in a database doesn't mean you have a viable second source. If disruption occurs and that is the point at which you begin assessing whether another supplier can manufacture the component to the required specification, quality and volume, you may already be too late. A genuine alternative needs to be ready before it is needed.
At Supply Technologies, that can mean working with our global supplier network to identify alternative sources, assessing manufacturing capability and using our engineering, quality and laboratory resources to evaluate and qualify components. We want to know that an alternative can support production before circumstances require the customer to use it. There is an important difference between knowing another supplier exists and knowing you have a qualified option available.
There is another dimension to resilience that receives less attention: the administrative and operational burden created by the supply chain itself. Manufacturers can be managing large supplier networks, thousands of individual components, inventory requirements, quality documentation, logistics, forecasting and replenishment. At the same time, every additional supplier or sourcing strategy intended to reduce risk has the potential to add another layer of complexity.
This creates an interesting challenge: how do you increase sourcing flexibility without increasing the burden on the manufacturer?
One answer is what I think of as complexity transfer: moving more of the day-to-day sourcing, supplier qualification, inventory and logistics complexity to a specialist supply chain partner while the manufacturer retains visibility and control. It isn't about outsourcing responsibility or creating distance between the manufacturer and its supply chain. It's about deciding which complexity the manufacturer genuinely needs to manage itself and where a specialist partner can absorb that workload more effectively.
That's an important part of what Supply Technologies does. We take on complexity and reduce the administrative load for customers by bringing sourcing, engineering, quality, inventory management, logistics and point-of-use delivery together within a broader supply chain solution.
Technology supports that approach too. Visibility into inventory and demand, forecasting, analytics and increasingly AI can help identify patterns and potential risks earlier, while our Total Supply Management™ platform helps turn that information into practical supply chain decisions. Technology alone doesn't solve the problem; what matters is what you are able to do with the information it provides.
If visibility tells you a problem is coming, you still need an option when it arrives.
Our research found that 80% of manufacturers rate their current supply chain resilience at seven out of 10 or higher. That is encouraging, particularly given the range of risks businesses are managing, although nobody should assume that resilience is something you achieve once and then stop thinking about.
For us, it is an ongoing process. It means understanding where dependencies and vulnerabilities exist, determining the right inventory strategy, creating qualified alternative sources, improving visibility and forecasting, and having the expertise and flexibility to act when circumstances change. Increasingly, it also means deciding how much of that complexity manufacturers need to manage themselves.
The research supports that direction. Manufacturers particularly value supply chain partners that provide inventory management, visibility, supplier diversification, engineering support and forecasting and planning capabilities.
What that tells me is that manufacturers increasingly expect more from their supply chain partners. Reliable supply remains fundamental, but there is growing value in partners that can take on complexity, spot potential issues earlier and put practical alternatives in place before those issues begin to affect production.
Ultimately, supply chain resilience isn't about predicting what happens next. It's about doing the work now that gives you options when it does.