TAKEAWAYS Shaping the Future of the Global Supply Chain HOW MANUFACTURERS CAN CLOSE THE AI READINESS GAP THE MATH BEHIND HOLIDAY INVENTORY By Shana Wray By Michael Hart Head of Product, Industry Strategy & Growth, Rockwell Automation
Principal Solutions Architect & Supply Chain Analyst, FourKites
For years, manufacturing investments focused on isolated automation and task-level execution. Now, as factory floors become more intelligent, digital maturity—the ability to seamlessly connect systems, contextualize data, and act in real time—has emerged as the single biggest differentiator for manufacturers. According to Rockwell Automation’s latest report*, nearly half of manufacturers rank AI and machine learning as their top outcome drivers over the next five years. Yet, only 43% of collected data is used effectively . Many manufacturers remain trapped in the “connected plant” stage. They have digitized workflows and moved off paper, but decision-making remains reactive and data remains siloed. While 93% of manufacturers have a manufacturing execution system (MES) in place, only 28% have deployed it enterprise- wide, with just 23% reporting full integration . This suggests that there’s still heavy reliance on manual decision-making, disconnected data, and reactive processes. These organizations typically see little operational improvements as any new AI initiative will face resistance and be difficult to scale. The difference between the “connected plant” stage and the next stage of digital maturity that enables predictive analytics is huge— systems can proactively guide decisions, enable supply chain visibility in real-time, and model outcomes before they happen. Manufacturers become closer to enabling true autonomous operations, where systems are modular, closed-loop, and capable of self-optimizing with minimal intervention. Intelligent industrial environments require contextualized data from connected shop floors to learn, adapt, self-optimize, and have visibility of operations anywhere and anytime as well as a high degree of predictability. Digital maturity enables faster response times, resilience, better quality, and less downtime. * This report gathered input from 1,560 hardware, software, and services decision- makers across manufacturing and industrial operations globally. Respondents represent 17 leading manufacturing countries, spanning discrete, process, and hybrid industries; 54% are primary decision-makers .
Consumers won’t think about the holidays for months, but by July, retailers had already made the decisions that determine what’s on shelves this winter, and what it costs to get there. Shipping costs from
China climbed 61% year-over-year this summer, driven by continued Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz disruption, giving many shippers reason to pull holiday inventory forward. Earlier isn’t automatically safer. Every extra week in a distribution center adds to carrying costs that commonly run 15% to 25% of inventory value annually once capital, insurance, labor, and space are factored in. For seasonal goods with a hard sell-by window, a few additional weeks of dwell time can erase the savings an early booking was meant to protect. That’s why freight rate alone is the wrong lens for this decision. Paying a premium to move a shipment now can be justified if a delay threatens a product’s entire selling season. Pulling every SKU forward regardless of risk just trades one cost for another, tying up working capital and warehouse space months before that inventory generates a dollar of revenue. What matters is whether the team can tell , shipment by shipment, which shipments warrant the early move and which can safely wait. That requires visibility into where inventory sits today, how much buffer remains before it’s needed, and which exceptions actually justify intervention. By the end of summer, most holiday inventory is already in motion. Retailers now have to make sure they aren’t paying to avoid one risk only to create a costlier one elsewhere in the network.
14 Inbound Logistics • August 2026
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