New Supply Chain Metrics That Will Matter in 2026
A year-end report from KMPG looked a number of trends that will appear in 2026.
One of the trends concerns metrics. "The traditional metrics that once guided boardroom discussions, such as cost per unit, customer DIFOT (delivery in full on time), delivery lead times, and inventory turnover, are now being expanded to reflect today’s complexities and stakeholder expectations," the report said.
Some examples of these new supply chain measurement areas include:
Visibility and real-time data: Data from IoT sensors, ERP systems, and logistics partners, including metrics related to the time it takes to detect and respond to disruptions.
Resilience and total value -- With a focus on both internal resilience and customer satisfaction, metrics include recovery time after disruptions, supplier diversification and sourcing agility, revenue growth from improved experiences, cost savings, and employee engagement.
AI and automation decision accuracy -- Metrics around forecast accuracy, business value realization, and automation rate of transactional and planning processes.
Digital twin utilization -- Metrics on scenario testing and simulation accuracy (how predictions align with real-world outcomes).
Human-machine collaboration -- Tracking how effectively people and technology augment each other, such as human override frequency, trust and adoption rate of AI systems, and productivity ratio between human-led and machine-led tasks.
Cybersecurity and risk management -- Metrics include incident frequency and severity, response and recovery times, supplier cybersecurity, compliance rate, and backup system maturity.
ESG -- As more ESG related regulation aligns to the supply chain, metrics include carbon footprint (Scope 3), sustainable procurement rate, and supplier ESG compliance rate.
Multi-modal supply chain orchestration--As multiple transport modes are engaged, metrics include on-time transfer rate, transit time variability, and modal agility score (the ability to switch modes based on disruption or cost).