2026 Proactive Supply Chain Planning Guide

Ongoing disruptions in 2025 reinforced the entrenched volatility in the wholesale and distribution industry. With change as the only certainty in a modern supply chain, it is clear that businesses must adapt to avoid falling behind.

While the majority of larger, more complex ANZ wholesalers and distributors were not directly affected by new tariffs, they still felt the widespread impact across the supply chain. Investigating how other global businesses responded to this disruption can give you the information and experience to respond to new or similar threats in the future.

Tariffs redefined planning

Tariffs were the most significant global disruption of 2025, and their impact will continue shaping decisions well into 2026. Businesses responded in different ways, but one choice stood out: 44% absorbed the added cost to protect customers and avoid stock outs.

Tariffs triggered several shifts in supply chain management and demand planning:

• Fewer long-term supplier contracts
• More cautious sourcing and supplier diversification
• A small but meaningful lift in domestic sourcing
• Increased scrutiny on supplier reliability and performance

Tariffs are now a permanent planning factor in the global supply chain, and they must be planned for, simulated, and modelled. The companies that managed tariffs best were the ones that approached tariffs and their effect on the supply chain proactively.

The rise of strategic stock

One of the most notable trends to combat the impact of tariffs from 2025 was a strategic buffer stock. Many businesses intentionally purchased additional inventory at the start of 2025 to protect against rising tariffs, lead-time variability, and sudden demand changes. But this introduced increased cash flow risk as dead stock levels also increased.

When planning for 2026 and beyond, your key focus should be determining the appropriate level of strategic overstocking, so that you do not silently drain margin and tie up capital. Having reliable, real-time visibility of your inventory holding is what makes that distinction possible.

Why 2026 will reward proactive planners

2025 exposed the impact of manual workflows, slow decision cycles, limited visibility, and fragile networks in the global supply chain. But there were common trends among businesses that thrived:

• They planned more frequently using real-time data.
• They leaned on AI tools to make faster decisions, addressing challenges before they became problems.
• They redesigned supplier relationships for flexibility instead of dependency.

Benchmarks are your navigation system for 2026

Benchmarks allow you to understand the significance of the challenges your business is facing and identify if it is a wider industry trend or something that you have more direct control over. Furthermore, understanding how industry and other factors affect the metrics prevents overreaction or overcorrection when your business is not actually impacted.

Netstock is a global leader in predictive supply chain planning software. After conducting exhaustive research, drawing insights from anonymised and aggregated data from its 2,400+ customers worldwide and conducting in-depth surveys with mid-market inventory businesses, they produced their 2025 Benchmark Report.

Across the benchmark, five themes dominated:

1. Tariff impacts reached 63% of mid-market businesses, forcing difficult cost trade-offs
2. AI adoption doubled from 2024, solidifying its role in inventory planning
3. Service levels increased above 90% despite volatility
4. Supplier collaboration models expanded rapidly through Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) and consignment
5. Product launches and expansions continued even as markets shifted

The AI Leap: from curiosity to daily co-planner

Artificial Intelligence officially became part of mainstream supply chain planning in 2025. Adoption doubled, confidence improved, and larger, more complex organisations began using AI for real work rather than one-off experiments.

Popular AI-supported activities included:

• Demand forecasting
• Risk and exception alerts
• Reorder and safety stock optimisation
• Supplier performance analysis
• Scenario modelling
• Daily insight summaries

The maturity signal around AI adoption is unmistakable. More than 75% of businesses are now comfortable sharing or delegating inventory processes to AI.

In 2026, leaders will treat AI as a co-planner that accelerates decision cycles and strengthens accuracy.

How to plan for 2026 using benchmark insights

Here is the blueprint shaping resilient supply chains in the year ahead:

1. Use benchmarks as guides, not goals. Service levels, stock turns, supplier performance, and forecast accuracy should all be compared to industry performance to inform your priorities.
2. Plan in scenarios, not single forecasts. Tariffs, supplier volatility, and unexpected demand require multiple what if models, so you are never caught by surprise.
3. Make AI part of your daily workflow. Let it classify, recommend, alert, and automate. Focus human effort on strategy, relationships, and exceptions.
4. Be smarter with inventory instead of simply holding more. Maintain clarity around strategic and excess stock and be intentional with what you hold and when.
5. Rethink supplier strategies. Reduce reliance on any one partner and actively evaluate performance to ensure you are making the right decisions.
6. Shorten your decision cycles. Move from monthly or weekly planning to daily adjustments informed by up-to-date data.
7. Keep cash flow at the centre. Use data to guide investments in new lines and products. Every SKU should earn its place.

How to stay resilient in 2026

2026 may not be calmer or easier, but you can be more prepared. Businesses that succeeded during the tariff shocks did not have perfect supply chains. They had clear inventory visibility, faster planning processes, AI-assisted decisions, and a willingness to rethink long-held assumptions. These are the behaviours that will define resilient operations in 2026.

Reach out to our friendly team for more information on how to stay resilient in 2026 and how technology can improve efficiency in your inventory teams. Call 1300 857 464 (AU) or 0800 436 774 (NZ), or email to acsa@kilimanjaro-consulting.com.