Age of Agility: Corporate Supply Chain Strategy Themes in 2026

Risk is routine and governance matters

Managing risk is now part of everyday supply chain strategy. Uncertainty as a driver of demand shortfalls has surged, yet companies are still reluctant to hold extra inventory. Cost control remains king even as volatility becomes the norm.

Cyberattacks, factory fires, compliance issues, and financial instability all hit supply chains in 2025. The lesson? Governance matters more than ever, especially with concentrated risks in semiconductors that can disrupt entire industries.

Sentiment, shortages, and memory cycles

Most firms sounded upbeat about supply chains in late 2025, but autos told a different story. Semiconductor shortages dragged sentiment negative, while tech optimism faded as memory chip concerns crept in.

South Korea’s memory chip exports have swung through three major peaks in a decade. The latest surge, fueled by AI demand, has left the market tight. Shortages aren’t going away soon as capacity expansion lags.

Semiconductor outlook and investment

Electronics manufacturing investment is set to rise 5.1% in 2026, hitting nearly 470 billion dollars. Long term growth looks strong, but the risk of overcapacity later in the decade is real as firms race to build.

Tariffs, pricing, and inflation pass through

Tariffs are still pushing US manufacturing prices higher, especially for capital equipment and intermediate goods. Consumer goods inflation is slower, but cost pressures are far from over.

Retail prices for tariff sensitive goods like home furnishings and apparel are climbing after months of deflation. Even computing equipment is feeling the pinch as tariff driven costs ripple through.

Reshoring economics and the ASEAN equation

US tariffs have wiped out much of ASEAN’s labor cost edge. Vietnam’s apparel advantage shrinks from 21 percent to just 1 percent after tariff adjustments, forcing firms to rethink sourcing strategies.

Intelligent manufacturing adoption signals

Exports of industrial robots and additive manufacturing equipment are rising fast, but widespread adoption is still years away. AI enabled robotics is coming, but the big wave won’t hit until the 2030s.

AI infrastructure meets power bottlenecks

Global trade in power transformers grew nearly 9 percent in 2025 but will stall in 2026 as factories hit capacity limits. Mainland China leads exports, followed by the EU, underscoring supply bottlenecks for AI infrastructure.