The United States’ over-reliance on China for rare earth materials is no secret. But realization of the problem isn’t translating into meaningful progress toward solving the problem.

In modern electronics manufacturing, absolute lean is structural fragility.

The pressures reshaping supply chains today — trade uncertainty, rising customer expectations, and the need for faster decisions — are not temporary. They are the new operating conditions.

For the chief operating officer (COO), the importance of an orchestrated supply chain cannot be overstated, particularly where speed and agility can mean the difference between strong and weak performance. Read the Spotlight from IDC based on recent research that explores the benefits of an orchestrated supply chain, as well as related challenges and obstacles.

AI can compress the time between seeing a problem, understanding the tradeoffs, and deciding what to do next.

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, Chief Supply Chain Officers face a critical challenge: building leadership teams that can break through functional silos, navigate competing priorities, and align around a shared purpose.

Supply chain planning has never mattered more. As organizations navigate continued volatility, shifting customer expectations, economic uncertainty, and the rapid acceleration of AI and new technology, the ability to plan, adapt, and make smarter decisions will be a critical competitive advantage over the next 12 months.

As technology, particularly agentic AI, is poised to change everything, the reality of “my supply chain is good enough” has faded. It has been the view of IDC for some years now that a truly end-to-end, orchestrated supply chain should be the ultimate goal to support the speed, agility, and efficiency of the overall business. 

The 2026 Buyer's Guide to Real-Time Shipment Visibility from Tive provides a practical framework for evaluating today's leading shipment visibility technologies and selecting the solution that best fits your organization's needs.

While crude prices can move almost overnight, the costs that manufacturers and distributors actually incur often take weeks or months to adjust.