Despite growing digital maturity and AI investment, less than half of manufacturers are confident in their ability to deliver effectively on their sales promise to customers
CHICAGO & STOCKHOLM — Tacton, a global leader in Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) solutions for manufacturers of complex, highly configurable products, today released its annual State of Manufacturing report, revealing that rising product complexity is exposing critical cross-functional gaps despite continued investment in digital transformation and AI.
Based on a survey of 280 manufacturing leaders in eight countries, the research found that 67% now describe their products as “very” or “extremely” complex, a 20-point increase in just one year. At the same time, only 7% use the same product configuration rules across every team and system involved in selling and building products, which is critical for reducing margin risk because of siloed functions and data.
The report highlights a growing industry reality: while digital transformation has modernised operations, rising complexity is exposing disconnects between systems, team, and data throughout the manufacturing lifecycle.
"Digital transformation laid the foundation, but many manufacturers are still operating with disconnected systems, fragmented data and inconsistent processes,” said Klaus Andersen, CEO of Tacton. "The companies leading the next phase of industrial growth are those treating configuration logic as the backbone of their entire lifecycle. As AI adoption accelerates, the organisations seeing the greatest impact are building on a connected foundation of shared data, consistent processes, and lifecycle-wide visibility.”
Complexity Is No Longer Isolated to Engineering
The report found that complexity now impacts every stage of the manufacturing value chain:
- 43% of manufacturers cite customisation as their top quoting challenge
- 62% experience moderate to severe margin erosion between quote and delivery
- 40% are “not very” or “only somewhat” confident in delivery commitments at quote time
- 93% of engineering teams spend moderate to very high effort maintaining configuration logic across disconnected systems
- Only 23% automatically generate valid manufacturing Bills of Material directly from sales quotes
The findings suggest that while manufacturers have made progress modernising operations, handoffs across engineering, quoting, production, and supply chain are breaking at each stage.
AI Momentum Accelerates, But Foundations Matter More Than Ever
The report also shows manufacturers rapidly increasing investment in AI and automation:
- 79% are actively investing in or exploring AI, up from 64% in 2025
- AI-driven automation and optimisation ranked as the top digital transformation priority overall
- Manufacturers already investing heavily in AI demonstrated significantly stronger visibility into product and configuration performance data
- U.S. manufacturers are more likely to be heavily investing in AI (34%) compared to European manufacturers (20%), while European organisations continue to lag behind in configuration-level visibility and analytics maturity
However, Tacton’s research warns that AI alone will not solve manufacturing complexity without connected, reliable data across the lifecycle.
Building a More Connected Manufacturing Lifecycle
The report points to a broader shift in how manufacturers are approaching growth, customisation, and operational scale. As product portfolios become more complex and customer expectations continue to rise, leading organizations are working to better connect commercial, engineering, and operational processes through shared data and consistent configuration logic.
Manufacturers with stronger lifecycle connectivity are better positioned to reduce downstream rework, improve delivery confidence, protect margins, gain deeper visibility into configuration-level performance, and apply AI more effectively across sales and operations.
Nils Olsson, Chief Strategy Product and Customer Officer, Tacton
“It’s clear from Tacton’s 2026 State of Manufacturing Report that internal complexity is spilling into the customer buying experience. As product options become more customisable, buyers face longer decision cycles and uncertainty. The engineering feasibility of some of these demands must be considered, especially for manufacturers selling configurable products.
“This year, our survey uncovered a widening gap between investment in digital tools and manufacturers' ability to connect sales, engineering, production and delivery. Central to this challenge is the rising product complexity. In the end, this results in delays and stalled purchasing decisions for buyers. Closing that gap requires more than additional point solutions. It requires a single digital thread running from the first customer interaction through to order fulfilment. That is the foundation of what we call the Buyer-Centric Smart Factory.
“Many are trying to find a solution in artificial intelligence, with 79% of manufacturers investing in (or exploring) AI usage and ranking AI-driven automation as a top digital transformation priority. However, in order to see desired gains from this investment, manufacturers must enforce better data discipline.”
Nils Olsson, Chief Strategy Product and Customer Officer, Tacton
As chief strategy officer at Tacton, Nils Olsson is passionate about bridging the gap between sales, engineering and order fulfillment - maximizing the potential of products to achieve sustainable profitable growth based on real customer value. Before joining Tacton, he held various leadership roles at Tetra Pak, a leader in packaging and containers manufacturing, including Manager of Portfolio Management and Manager of Product Configuration. Previously, he was Head of Product Support for Sidel, a provider of equipment, services and complete solutions for packaging liquids, foods, home and personal care products.
About the Report
The State of Manufacturing 2026 report is based on a survey of 280 manufacturing leaders across North America and Europe and explores six critical stages of the manufacturing lifecycle, from managing rising complexity and customized quoting to protecting margins, improving connectivity, increasing data visibility, and optimising with AI. Findings are segmented by department, region, and digital maturity to reveal how manufacturers are building more connected and resilient operations.
The full report is available here.
About Tacton
Tacton is a global leader in software for manufacturers of complex, highly configurable products. Tacton delivers the Buyer-Centric Smart Factory, connecting buyer engagement with engineering and order fulfillment through a single source of truth. By uniting Configure, Price and Quote (CPQ), Configuration Lifecycle Management (CLM), and Configured Order Fulfillment (COF), Tacton helps manufacturers manage complexity, protect margins, and deliver with confidence across the lifecycle.
