
Inflationary concerns (68%) and labor shortages (50%) are named as key complexities supply chains hope to address with new innovations this year, according to Kenco’s 2025 Supply Chain Innovation survey, Yet, 51% of supply chain professionals with existing innovation budgets saw an increase earmarked for 2025, suggesting an even greater emphasis on investing in new technologies to meet rising demand.
“Avoiding AI entirely is no longer an option. Implementing it strategically can give supply chain-focused companies a serious competitive advantage,” says Kristi Montgomery, VP, innovation, research and development at Kenco. “Now’s the time for organizations to explore and experiment with the tech, especially for automating data-heavy operations such as demand planning, shipping and receiving to optimize your operations and unlock true efficiency.”
Key takeaways:
- Forty-one percent are making AI a key part of their innovation strategy, with one-third already leveraging it for data visibility, 29% for quality control and 26% for labor optimization.
- More than one-third – 35% – said they’re largely prevented from using AI because of company policy, leaving an opportunity to streamline operations on the table.
- Professionals looking to adopt physical automation tools offered an essentially three-way tie for which technology will be most popular in the coming year: robotics (43%), sensors and automatic identification (40%) and 3D printing (40%).
- Forty-five percent said they work with a mix of new and established developers, compared to 39% who work with established technologies only.
- Only 13% said their 3PL identified a need for innovation, and just 8% partnered with a 3PL to bring a technology to life.