By Klaus Andersen, CEO of Tacton, the CPQ buyer-experience platform
As manufacturers across the globe get geared up for 2026, a clearer picture is emerging of what the sector truly requires going forward.
According to the 2025 State of Manufacturing Report, based on responses from more than 200 senior leaders, the industry is moving past broad digital experimentation and narrowing its focus to the operational areas that directly protect margins, stabilize production, and reduce day-to-day risk.
Supply Chain Visibility is Becoming Key
The most pressing priority in 2026 is supply chain visibility, according to surveyed manufacturers. Even after several years of investment, manufacturers continue to struggle with forecasting accuracy and supplier unpredictability. Visibility remains the most frequently cited digital focus area, with leaders emphasizing the need for real-time data that connects demand signals, supplier performance, and production capacity.
In an environment defined by volatile lead times and geopolitical uncertainty, visibility is the core infrastructure that manufacturers say they must strengthen before anything else.
Automation is shifting from Efficiency to a Workforce Stabilizer
Another core focus underway involves automation. With workforce shortages and retiring experts thinning out institutional knowledge, manufacturers are turning to automation as a stabilizer. Leaders describe automation not merely as a cost-saving tactic, but as a way to reduce cycle times, standardize key processes, and ensure that critical knowledge isn’t lost when experienced employees leave. Growth is especially strong in sales operations, configuration, engineering workflows, and service areas that have long depended on manual work.
Complex Engineering has hit a breaking point
No area is feeling this strain of increased product complexity more than complex engineering. As customization becomes an expectation rather than a feature, engineer-to-order processes are buckling under pressure. Many companies still rely on spreadsheets or institutional memory to manage product rules, pricing logic, and configuration knowledge.
This has prompted leaders to identify engineering and product-line efficiency as one of their top priorities for the coming year. Without standardized systems for capturing and applying product knowledge, manufacturers risk slower lead times, inconsistent quoting, and margin erosion.
Operational Order Drives Competitiveness
Despite the rise of AI and predictive technology, manufacturers remain focused on the core fundamentals: cost reduction and quality control.
Executives increasingly evaluate digital initiatives through the lens of how well they reinforce operational discipline. Improvements to first-pass yield, rework rates, and margin protection carry more weight than any emerging technology trends.
Predictive Intelligence Marks the Next Stage of Digital Maturity
One of the most notable shifts in this year’s report is the move toward predictive operations. After years of digitizing data, manufacturers now want systems that anticipate problems rather than simply flag them after the fact.
Demand forecasting, sourcing risk identification, price modeling, and configuration error prevention are emerging as key predictive capabilities. Manufacturers view these as essential stepping stones toward more controlled, resilient operations.
2026, a Year of Stability by Design
Taken together, these priorities signal a broader realignment across the industry. Manufacturers are no longer chasing every new digital tool; they are designing their organizations for long-term stability. That includes building transparent supply chains, tightening engineering workflows, standardizing product and pricing rules, and creating seamless feedback loops between sales, engineering, production, and service.
After half a decade of disruption, the sector is intentionally engineering predictability back into its operations. As 2026 approaches, that may prove to be the most significant transformation underway in modern manufacturing.
