What has RELEX Found About the State of Supply Chains?

Today's supply chain market is one of uncertainty and constant change. 

With ongoing conflict, trade wars and an increasing number of extreme weather events, supply chains have been in a constant state of reaction. 

As a result, a growing number of organisations are turning towards the use of AI to increase decision making capabilities.

Implementation of AI

In its recent report, the State of Supply Chain 2026: Volatility, Trade-Offs & the Rise of AI, RELEX Solutions has explored how organisations are utilising AI in their supply chain operations. RELEX offers a unified, AI-native platform for retail and supply chain planning, helping retailers, manufacturers and more optimise inventory, supply and production and demand in order to improve efficiency and availability. 

The company aims to help organisations with their supply chain transformation as they develop agility and resilience in an increasingly volatile world. The Supply Chain 2026 report was developed from a January 2026 survey of 514 retail, wholesale, manufacturing and supply chain leaders across Europe. 

The report explains that the use of AI is increasing throughout supply chain operations, moving away from experimentation into operational decision support throughout supply chain planning. It is becoming a core tool for organisations around the world, particularly as manual processes have proven too time-consuming amid a time of constant change.

RELEX have discovered that 67% of manufacturing and retail leaders have become increasingly confident in using AI for supply chain decision-making in the last year. In the UK, Germany and France, this is higher at 71%. 

However, 53% of leaders say that the AI tool makes recommendations whereas it is still human input that makes the final decisions. Moreover, only 15% of leaders say they would trust AI to make supply chain decisions, fully independently. 

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Changing supply chains

Leaders are putting their AI investments into various formats. Throughout the survey, 42% of leaders said they are using or planning AI-driven inventory and supply optimisation, while 44% are using it for logistics and routing.

With those in charge planning ahead regarding their investments into AI, with 68% planning to invest in generative and agentic AI, as well as 55% planning to invest in predictive AI, in the next three to five years. 

As supply chains around the world become more turbulent and consumer demand is changing, 32% of leaders state that consumer demand volatility is a top challenge in the next three years.

This is leading to the investments in intelligent and responsive planning systems in order to stay afloat amid constantly changing environments.

"AI is becoming part of everyday supply chain decision-making," says Dr. Madhav Durbha, Group Vice President of Manufacturing Industry Strategy at RELEX Solutions.

"As volatility persists, companies are investing in AI-driven forecasting, optimisation and decision support to respond faster and operate with greater confidence, even when conditions change quickly."

Retailers are significantly facing the downstream effects of demand uncertainty, with 31% of leaders saying they are facing challenges adapting to sudden consumer demand shifts. This shows the need for greater demand visibility and more responsive planning processes. 

In order to respond to volatility better, retailers are turning towards AI-driven forecasting, decision-support tools and inventory optimisation. These tools gain thorough insights into consumer behaviour, tracking changes in trends in order to protect margins and availability in stock.

Meeting regulations

A significant issue for manufacturers in the UK, Germany and France is more about the product itself. In the survey, 65% of leaders report that disruption to raw material production is the main cause for concern at the supply chain – this is above the global average of 57%. 

Moreover, as the world is facing increasing pressure to adapt to ESG regulations and trade wars are implementing further regulations, this is causing other issues for supply chains. Regulatory and compliance pressures was cited as a growing operational concern for 40% of respondents.

As a result, AI is increasingly being applied to help manufacturers improve forecast accuracy, mitigate supplier risk and maintain flexibility. It is connecting demand signals with procurement and production decisions, allowing for better responsiveness regarding material, regulatory and geopolitical volatility. 

This has led to an increasing shift from reactive disruption response to technology-enabled planning. Organisations are increasingly investing in AI capabilities that can help improve these key concerns of forecasting accuracy and response times.

Moreover, the role of sustainability in the supply chain has changed into an operational constraint, with 63% of leaders saying that it has become a higher priority in their supply chain strategy. However, 34% of manufacturers have stated that regulations and compliance have become a source of disruption. 

As companies are constantly adapting to uncertainty, they are finding AI-enabled planning capabilities as a key aid to ensuring operational efficiency.