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Sensolus’ Supply Chain Velocity Index found that about one in three tracked industrial assets in aerospace, automotive and equipment manufacturing did not move at all in a typical month over the past year.
"Orders tell you what the market wants. Output tells you what was built. What happens in between, the physical flow of parts and packaging, is where stress shows up first," says Kristoff Van Rattinghe, CEO of Sensolus. "A returnable rack does not have a forecast or a target. It moves when parts move, and it sleeps when they do not. That makes it the cleanest signal a manufacturing chain has."
Key takeaways:
- Across both regions, tracked assets moved an average of 10.6 hours a month, compared with 10.4 hours a year earlier.
- Velocity fell to 64.8% from 69.7% a year earlier, and more packaging sat idle.
- In the United States, velocity held at 69.4%, and movement rose from 10.1 to 12.8 hours a month.
- In Europe, velocity fell from 69.8% to 64.6%.
- European movement dropped to 7.5 hours a month from 9.9 in July, a summer slowdown that also appeared in August 2025. U.S. assets kept moving at 12.8 hours, up from 12.6 in July.
