4 in 5 Supply Chain Leaders Expect Disruptions to Persist for Two More Years, Maersk Survey Finds

According to the Maersk survey, 80% of supply chain leaders expect disruptions to persist for another two years, highlighting the need for rapid, targeted action. The data shows pockets of vulnerability across manufacturers, shippers, and your suppliers, with capacity shifts often concentrated in peak months.

Begin with a focused approach: map your network, identify pockets of vulnerability, and define allocation of resources where disruption hits hardest. An interesting dynamic shows that disruptions cluster in a handful of pockets, so prioritizing those areas yields the biggest payoff. Tie each action to a KPI–on-time delivery, inventory availability, or supplier lead time–and review progress over the coming months.

Run an experiment-led program to create pockets where you can automate routine tasks, creating measurable value quickly. Each experiment should stay small, with a clear success criterion and a go/no-go decision. If an initiative is announced, confirm it ties to a concrete KPI and review results within two to three cycles.

In a world where disruptions ripple across regions, keep teams supported with clear priorities and practical tools. Maintain a steady pace and focus on the last mile to avoid bottlenecks, and ensure your allocation supports everything from forecasting to replenishment in the near term. A pandemic-aware lens helps you balance speed with reliability.

Within your strategy, embed a continuous improvement loop: set an announced target, measure progress, and adjust allocation. This approach keeps you focused and nimble while supporting everything your team must deliver.

Maersk, Disruptions, and the 2-Year Outlook: Practical Takeaways for Supply Chains

Lock in alternate routes and suppliers now to withstand two years of ongoing disruptions. Build optionality into your network by securing additional capacity, acquisitions or partnerships to broaden reach, and focusing on a tight set of reliable container lines and services across Europe and other markets within supply chains. Drawing on experiences from past disruptions helps you target the right tasks and investments.

Actions to implement in the next months:

• Network design and risk: Map your critical deliveries and segment suppliers by impact, maintaining focus on the largest spend items and pockets of constraint. From past disruption patterns you can forecast months ahead, guide your tasks, and reduce variability in delivery.
• Capacity and routing: Secure additional capacity with multiple carriers across the line; target the largest ports and alternative hubs to bypass congestion and keep your delivery on track.
• Tariffs, energy, and costs: Build a tariff risk plan and energy hedge to stabilize landed costs; adjust plans monthly as tariffs shift in the market, and keep buffer budgets for volatility.
• Inventory strategy: Establish a 1-2 month cushion for top SKUs in Europe and other critical regions; use scenario planning to align inventory with expected demand and avoid backlogs.
• Visibility and tools: Deploy end-to-end visibility tools and practical solutions covering orders, containers, and ETA; integrate with your system for real-time alerts and proactive contingency decisions.
• Acquisitions and partnerships: Explore acquisitions or strategic partnerships to fill gaps in coverage or services, expanding your network and reducing delivery risk in key routes.
• Operations and focus: Rebalance tasks to the most impactful efforts, simplify handoffs, and align procurement with S&OP cadence to stay focused on high-risk segments.
• Customer experience and obligation: Maintain proactive updates about potential delays, offer alternatives, and fulfill your obligation to deliver value even when risks flare.
• Market intelligence: Pull data from источник and other reliable sources to ground decisions; monitor market shifts, container rates, and energy prices to adjust your plans.

Building resilience requires disciplined execution across sourcing, logistics, and IT. By applying these actions, you strengthen reach, shorten response times, and sustain service levels through the 2-year outlook, even as tariffs and market conditions evolve.

4 in 5 Leaders Expect Disruptions to Persist: What Shippers and 3PLs Should Do Now

Begin with end-to-end visibility across the network and secure multi-sourcing to reduce single-source risk. Implement a control tower approach using a dedicated integrator and real-time tools that track transportation status, inventory position, and carrier performance. This builds a reliable baseline to manage disruption and measure progress over time.

Diversify your supplier base to include a third european set of suppliers to mitigate regional shocks. This change helps achieve steadier input when disruptions spike and allows you to manage changes in demand without over-reliance on a single region. Build flexible contracts, balance inventory with a targeted goods buffer, and align procurement ambitions with finance and operations.

Map a two-year disruption plan anchored in what to start with now. Use scenario planning across best-case, mid-case, and worst-case demand and capacity, and tie actions to measurable milestones. Track price volatility and use forward pricing when possible to protect margins; maintain a cost-curve view that highlights high-impact nodes in the network. This also addresses growing cost pressures from high transportation costs.

Strengthen ties with integrator-led 3PLs and run quarterly business reviews to keep service levels aligned. Look for acquisitions that fill gaps in capacity, technology, or geographic reach. This collaboration shifts the outlook from risk to resilience and reduces tensions in the place where you operate.

Advance supply-chain finance and pricing strategies: lock in rates with forward contracts, negotiate flexible terms, and keep working capital healthy during price spikes. Use online companys portals with shared dashboards to give every partner a common view, from shippers to suppliers.

In the european industry, invest in regional transportation options and agile warehousing to shorten cycles and reduce last-mile delays. Maintain an open channel for feedback with customers and vendors, and use those insights to adjust routes and modes in real time. This growing collaboration helps achieve continuity even as tensions rise and the market remains price-sensitive. источник: Maersk survey notes that disruptions will persist into the next two years.

With these moves, shippers and online companys can reduce risk without sacrificing speed. The ambition is clear: maintain reliable goods flow, protect margins, and support growth in a shifting market.

Translate the 4-in-5 Forecast into a 90-Day Action Plan

Form a cross-functional team today and set three measurable targets for the next 90 days to translate the 4-in-5 forecast into action. Focus on reducing disruption exposure, increasing visibility along the network, and protecting service levels for customers with carriers and an integrator partner. This aligns with the year ahead and keeps the head of operations aligned with the plan.

Map the top 20% of risk events by region and mode within two weeks, using a simple scoring that compares forecast disruption probability to current performance. Create a guardian role in the team to own data quality, which ensures timely updates from carriers and small providers, and to counter surprises. Build dashboards with tech that connect ERP, WMS, and TMS data, and pair them with event calendars to see overnight changes and look for early flags.

Revise workflows from traditional to more agile, enabling near-real-time decision making. Directly connect with carriers and a giant carrier network to secure capacity buffers. Deploy three tech-enabled playbooks: contingency routing when a lane tightens, alternate carrier selection, and invoice reconciliation to counter hidden costs. Increase collaboration with small carriers and the integrator to diversify capacity and close gaps in resilience.

During weeks 7-9, test the plan with live drills across top corridors. Run counterfactuals to see how the plan would respond to an overnight disruption and determine where to reallocate capacity. Build visible metrics on service level, cost-to-serve, and on-time performance, and compare progress against the baseline year. Align the team and direct actions to targets that track increase in resilience and financial stability.

Audit and refine after 90 days; share learnings with the broader network and adjust the plan to protect against future shocks. Even small wins compound and build momentum for bigger tech investments that modernize traditional workflows and keep the team aligned against the targets. The tremendous upside comes from disciplined execution, clear metrics, and a direct link between field actions and financial results.

Leverage ShipBob, Bringg, and GoFor for Visibility and Last-Mile

For a company that wants to stay ahead of disruptions, link ShipBob, Bringg, and GoFor into a single visibility spine that feeds a unified data layer. This setup keeps hundreds of warehouses within sight, delivering line-level statuses and ETA updates in real time, helping you reduce delays during peak seasons and when customs shifts occur. The result is safer operations, stronger earnings, and a golden standard for reliability across a giant, global network. Industry leaders told us that clear policies reduce rework; involving suppliers in planning speeds alignment and helps you expect fewer surprises across the line.

• Integration and data model: Establish a single source of truth by streaming events from ShipBob’s WMS, Bringg’s last-mile status, and GoFor pickups into a common systems layer. Map key statuses (ordered, picked, packed, shipped, in-transit, arrived, out-for-delivery, delivered) to a line-view that covers each warehouse, so specialists can act without chasing multiple portals.
• Visibility and alerts: Build dashboards that show route progression, ETA accuracy, and exceptions by region. Set policies to alert when ETA deviates beyond two hours or when a customs hold is detected; keep the line open for proactive reallocations before impact hits earnings or targets.
• Inventory allocation: Create allocation rules that route orders to the nearest warehouse to minimize transit time and maintain stock within safety thresholds. This reduces stockouts, lowers carrying costs, and supports hundreds of SKUs across hundreds of warehouses, aligning with ambitious targets.
• Operational roles: appoint a guardian of data quality and a team of logistics specialists to monitor performance, escalate issues, and verify that changes stay within strong governance. This structure enables rapid change while preserving compliance during a pandemic or peak season.
• Cross-border and compliance: leverage Bringg and GoFor to handle customs documentation, duties, and broker coordination, ensuring data flows support compliant declarations and safe handling across borders.
• Change management and ambitions: document what success looks like with a golden KPI set, and tie improvements to earnings growth. Communicate clearly what changes each team must implement and track progress against targets.
• Implementation plan: Phase 1 – connect feeds and standardize statuses; Phase 2 – deploy real-time alerts and dashboards; Phase 3 – optimize allocation rules and last-mile routing; Phase 4 – review outcomes and iterate.
• Operational nuance: design processes that handle hundreds of daily events involving multiple carriers and customs bodies, with a strong line of escalation so issues never linger.

With this approach, your organization stays resilient, meets wants, and builds a data-driven last-mile operation that scales with growth in a world that keeps shifting. The combined platform provides a guardian-level view across functions, turning ambitions into measurable outcomes and ensuring you stay within policies while safeguarding earnings during disruption.

Maersk’s Inland Expansion: Implications for Warehousing and Cross-Border

Begin now with an ai-driven, integrated inland network to unlock faster cross-border execution and tighter cost control. Prioritize three actions: align warehousing with cross-border lanes, implement real-time systems, and embed gemba walks to validate operations on the floor.

Maersk announced substantial investments to expand inland capacity, bringing new warehousing facilities closer to production and consumption hubs. This expansion moves inventory management closer to the head of the supply chain and improves allocation accuracy across lanes. It also creates substantial jobs in regional logistics hubs and shifts some cost pressure away from traditional port-centric models. For shippers, this means more reliable inventory availability, better service levels, and more predictable prices in select markets.

Inland expansion tightens cross-border timing by consolidating services on a unified platform, which reduces handoffs and accelerates dwell times. The integration with existing systems and emma-enabled dashboards gives logistics teams a single source of truth for allocation, capacity, and rates. The approach leans ai-driven optimization in routing and space planning, which helps market teams react to disruptions faster and capture insights across the network.

Post-pandemic volatility remains a factor, and the new footprint helps moving parts of the chain closer to demand centers. By basing warehouses near major corridors, Maersk can counter swings in market demand, reduce fuels usage on long-haul runs, and dampen price spikes caused by congestion. The balance between traditional models and digital services will determine how fast the organization can achieve service consistency and financial objectives across regions.

Acquisition Signals: Which Firms Could Maersk Buy Next

Recommendation: Target mid-market European 3PLs with substantial cash flow and a dense footprint of warehouses and fleets that complement Maersk’s services, then deploy capital within months to secure a strategic asset. These firms bring a predictable revenue curve, a deep customer base, and cross-selling potential into Maersk’s world of ocean, air, and inland operations.

Signals to watch include revenue scale (roughly 200-600m per year), a European network of warehouses, and a service mix that covers customs, cross-border moving, and last-mile tasks. Firms with even modest additional fleets can accelerate integration, while those still relying heavily on manual processes pose a transition risk. Tariffs remain a lever, and a safe, scalable platform is a must for realized gains.

Profile archetypes: 1) European integrated freight forwarders with both import/export lanes and regional warehousing; 2) niche players in high-volume corridors such as automotive, consumer goods, or perishables; 3) digital-first 3PLs with API integrations and a deep client base in Europe. These targets already operate substantial cash flows and can be folded into Maersk’s fleets and services, lowering integration risk for Moller’s long-term ambitions.

Value creation centers on three areas: adding Maersk’s ocean and inland networks to acquired warehouses, consolidating tasks across multi-modal routes, and leveraging price transparency to win share in Europe. The impact depends on the speed of IT alignment and organizational fit; the cleanest deals have standardized systems, shared data, and a flexible cost model.

Financial discipline matters: target deals with substantial EBITDA margins, not just top-line revenue. Use a disciplined cap table and keep a close watch on the cash outlay; the signals from major sellers show that prices compress as competition heats up, so timing and due diligence are critical. A counter to risk is to anchor formal earnouts and staged closings tied to measurable milestones over the next year.

Regional emphasis: focus on European platforms with a strong service backbone, a robust network across warehouses and cross-border routes, and a track record of profitable operations even in volatile market conditions. By aligning with Maersk’s existing services and moving toward integrated platforms, the company can unlock tremendous efficiencies and revenue synergies in just a few months and maintain safe, balanced growth in the world of tariffs and supply chain volatility.

Digital Transformation KPIs: Track Progress with Manhattan Associates, OneRail, and Relex Solutions

Recommendation: deploy three integrated KPI dashboards from Manhattan Associates, OneRail, and Relex Solutions to track data across the network and uncover bottlenecks fast. Use a single data model that lets teams become aligned among associates, retailers, and carriers. The seamless integration of warehousing, transport, and sourcing metrics reveals where giant cargo flows stall and where capacity sits idle.

The dashboards should surface OTIF and forecast accuracy in a unified scorecard, with inventory turnover, warehouse capacity utilization, and transport cost per unit down to SKU level. A deep view ties root causes to actions on the floor via gemba data, enabling a coordinated response from associates and carriers.

In Europe, set targets that reflect market realities: a significant improvement in OTIF from 88% to 92% within 90 days, forecast error reduction from 9% to 4-5%, and a 10-15% boost in warehouse capacity utilization during peak periods. The model finds that multi-echelon stock optimization reduces safety stock by 15-20% while keeping service levels intact, a result that a moller model can help quantify.

The three vendors play distinct roles in the model of transformation. Manhattan Associates optimizes network-wide execution, OneRail coordinates cargo across modes, and Relex Solutions sharpens replenishment and demand planning. The combined data allows deep analyses of sourcing efficiency, and supports a shift to seamless operations for retailers and manufacturers alike.

To ensure adoption, anchor dashboards to a few additional metrics: capacity utilization in warehouses, dwell time at hubs, and tangible savings in transport spend. Case studies from europe include specialists such as lars and clerc from European retailers, who note that coordinated data flows make it easier to keep sequences tight and to react to disruptions in real time.

Operational steps: map data sources from each vendor, assign owners among associates in warehouses and in sourcing teams, and set a 12-week rollout with weekly checkpoints. Use gemba observations to validate dashboards and adjust the model parameters. Track capacity and jobs impacted by the transformation, and communicate progress through a shared story of continuous improvement.

European retailers and manufacturers report that the combined approach increases visibility, reduces friction in cargo movements, and helps keep warehouses prepared for peak demand. The next step is to extend the piloted coordinated data flows to additional sites, creating a scalable blueprint for retailers and suppliers.