How Manufacturers Can Build Supply Chain Resilience for 2026

Global manufacturing is facing real pressure right now. Supply chain disruptions, regulatory changes, and evolving data challenges are complicating operations and squeezing the bottom line.

Tariffs and sanctions are no longer one-off obstacles. They have become fixed, structural risks that impact long-term planning. And today’s multitiered supply chains often obscure business vulnerabilities, making it harder for supply chain risk managers and procurement professionals to see risks lurking deep in their supplier networks.

Data is a big part of this challenge. Many manufacturers find themselves stuck with poor-quality data and disconnected systems. This makes it tough to roll out new strategies or capitalize on automation and artificial intelligence (AI).

“In today’s manufacturing landscape, supply chains are no longer linear or simple. They are multitiered ecosystems spanning multiple geographies and supplier layers,” said Dun & Bradstreet manufacturing expert Björn Gerster. “While Tier 1 suppliers (direct partners) are typically well-managed, the real complexity and risk lie deeper in Tier 2, Tier 3, and beyond, where visibility sharply declines.”

According to Dun & Bradstreet’s Manufacturing Pulse Survey Report, based on responses from more than 2,000 supply chain and procurement leaders from manufacturing firms across five major markets, the industry is in flux. As global supply chains grow even more complex, leaders are being forced to rethink how they approach supply chain risk management (SCRM), solve procurement challenges, maintain business tenacity, and drive innovation.

External Threats Are No Longer Temporary

While manufacturers recognize that perseverance and agility can set them apart from competitors, they're struggling to survive an ongoing "perfect storm" of tariffs, sanctions, geopolitical uncertainty, and fragmented data systems.

Dun & Bradstreet's survey report reveals that 33% of procurement and SCRM leaders cite regulatory changes (such as the U.S. tariffs and sanctions against Russia) as their biggest obstacle, followed closely by supply chain resilience in the face of geopolitical and macro-economic shifts and supplier dependency. Supply chain risk and procurement teams expect these risks to persist, yet many still lack the data needed to understand the impact of these issues on their suppliers and other third parties.

Visibility Is the New Currency of Resilience

The Manufacturing Pulse Survey Report indicates that U.S. manufacturers typically operate in moderately complex supply chains, with most extending to Tier 3 suppliers. However, monitoring for compliance with rules and regulations typically stops at Tier 2, with only 11% assessing their full multitiered supply chain.

Currently, 47% of U.S. manufacturers are prevented from monitoring deeper supply chain tiers by lack of data, and 45% are hindered by a lack of time and resources. Many have concerns that monitoring would create more work than their team can handle. Only 43% of U.S. manufacturers say supply chain visibility has improved at their organization in the last five years.

This lack of Tier N visibility is creating blind spots that lead to quality control issues, delivery delays, and increased operational costs. In fact, 97% of manufacturers reported experiencing disruption due to supply chain complexity.

Assuming global disruptions persist, improving transparency beyond Tier 3 will be critical for mitigating risk and ensuring continuity. However, rather than increase visibility into supplier risk, companies are backing up their projects with alternative suppliers. In fact, 85% of U.S.-based manufacturers build safeguarding into at least half of their projects.

Nearshoring Is Slowly Rising

While 61% of manufacturers plan to nearshore more than half of their supply chain, only 8% say it’s a priority in the next 12 months. This signals a long-term strategic shift rather than a short-term fix.

Currently, U.S. manufacturing firms are focused on sourcing locally, with 61% of suppliers based in the region, and a further 14% in Central America. Other notable regions are the Americas (11%) and Asia (9%).

Of all the regions surveyed, the U.S. has the highest percentage of national and local suppliers. Localized sourcing in the U.S. is set to continue, as 67% of manufacturers are looking to nearshore a majority or all of their supply chains. However, it appears to be a longer-term strategy, as only 7% of U.S. manufacturing businesses plan to execute on nearshoring in the next 12 months.

Ethical Oversight Remains a Blind Spot

Just 24% of manufacturers have data on modern slavery in their supply chains, and only 14% consider ethical sourcing a key future priority. Financial compliance still dominates the risk agenda. Only 36% say their business has shifted to more sustainable and ethical sourcing over the last five years.

Data Quality Is Stalling Innovation

Worryingly, only 36% of manufacturers feel confident that they can make informed decisions with their current data. Poor data quality, siloed systems, and manual processes are undermining efforts to adopt AI and automation. Nearly 44% of firms have experienced failed AI projects due to data issues.

This lack of reliable and integrated information means that leaders often operate without a holistic view of their supply chains, creating additional risks and inefficiencies. Consequently, organizations may struggle to identify vulnerabilities, delay response to disruptions, and miss opportunities for process improvements.

 

What’s Next for Manufacturing Leaders?

Despite the threats, opportunities are emerging for manufacturers. To benefit from these opportunities in 2026, the Manufacturing Pulse Survey Report outlines four strategic imperatives:

1. Prioritize multitier supply chain visibility. Manufacturers must shift from reactive operations to a proactive strategy that starts at the highest levels. Start by investing in tools and partnerships that enable monitoring of lower supply chain tiers as a foundation for building a resilience strategy. Manufacturers also need to create strategies for handling disruptions in lower tiers, such as second sources and building up stock levels.
2. Invest in tools that enable end-to-end supply chain transparency. Develop agile frameworks, and invest in digital infrastructure and data, to monitor and respond to evolving tariffs, sanctions, geopolitical shifts, and other areas of risk across the full end-to-end supply chain.
3. Accelerate digital transformation initiatives. Focus on automating manual processes like supplier onboarding and risk assessments to drive operational efficiencies. Ensure data infrastructure is robust enough to support strategic and AI initiatives. For example, think about consolidating siloed systems, eliminating duplicates, and adopting cloud-based platforms to support real-time decision-making.
4. Reconfigure supplier networks to align with regional sourcing trends. Understand what can be localized versus what makes more sense to move offshore, by balancing the costs, risks, and complexities of different sourcing locations.

Rethink Supplier Risk Management for a Resilient Future

Building resilience is not only about reacting to immediate threats; it also requires businesses to address hidden vulnerabilities and foundational challenges, like data quality, that can halt progress and innovation.

By investing in trusted, high-quality data, enhancing supply chain visibility, and expediting procurement and sourcing analysis, teams can discover supply chain issues and opportunities more efficiently. These investments can help teams accelerate improvements in SCRM, better prepare their organizations to weather the next disruption, and uncover new pathways to growth.