The supply chain has undergone a dramatic shift in the past few years, to the point that processes we once took for granted can no longer be expected to run smoothly. The pandemic was largely to blame to begin with, though shifts in the workforce have also made their mark — as have evolving customer expectations, rising inflation costs, and tariffs. The result? Continued unpredictability throughout the supply chain operations, which can make a variety of seemingly ordinary processes difficult to handle.
Thankfully, new technologies and automated solutions that are becoming more prevalent in 2025 can help businesses handle many of the biggest challenges that lie ahead. If you know about the supply chain challenges to expect — and which solutions are most likely to mitigate these issues — your enterprise will be better capable of maintaining peak efficiency and profitability regardless of which issues you’re faced with this year.
6 Supply Chain Management Challenges
Though the supply chain industry has certainly learned to better deal with many of the complications that have come about since 2020, there are still challenges that remain along with new ones that have arisen.
To illuminate the complications that play into today’s supply chain, we’ve highlighted a few of the most pressing management concerns. Some of these may be more relevant to your industry or situation than others, but all of these issues are worth addressing:
1. Continued Disruptions in the Global Supply Chain
Even small supply chain disruptions can create ripple effects, turning minor delays or shortages into broader operational challenges. While the pandemic initially exposed major vulnerabilities in 2020, many of its impacts are still felt today—and new challenges continue to emerge.
In 2025, tariffs, regulatory changes, and rising costs are contributing to increased complexity in global supply chains. Tariffs, in particular, can affect pricing, sourcing decisions, and overall supply chain reliability, making it harder for businesses to plan long term.
While companies, especially small and mid-sized ones, can’t control these external factors, they can prepare for them. A comprehensive risk management plan helps identify vulnerabilities across the supply chain and creates a framework for rapid response.
Automation technologies like autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), RFID, and machine vision can play a key role in reducing the impact of disruptions by improving:
- Labor efficiency
- Inventory visibility
- Material handling
- Compliance tracking
By combining smart planning with advanced tools, businesses can build greater supply chain resilience and adaptability in the face of ongoing change.
2. Supply Chain Data Visibility
Because the supply chain is so difficult to predict, data visibility is more important than ever. It’s impossible to make meaningful changes until you know what is happening and where top problems occur. This concept seems simple, but it can be surprisingly difficult to execute. Ideally, data visibility will encompass real-time analytics such as raw material status, fill rates, or cycle times.
Supply chain visibility extends beyond simply collecting relevant data and metrics—it should also encompass dissemination. This concept is known as data democratization and it references the need for data to be made available throughout the entirety of the supply chain. Only then can effective supply chain planning occur.
Solutions such as artificial intelligence (AI) powered image recognition can help to automate quality control and streamline workflows along with capturing real-time data, which can then be used for decision-making moving forward. Peak Analytics offers image recognition solutions that use AI technology to enable automated parcel sorting. The actionable data collected along the way can be used to diagnose maintenance issues, find systemic issues, and automatically find problem packages.
3. High Customer Expectations
Pandemic-induced supply chain issues would have been problematic enough in the midst of constant material and labor shortages, but the issues were exacerbated by swift changes to customer expectations and behaviors.
Today’s consumers are more demanding than ever, but also more likely to turn to eCommerce to meet their heightened demands. Shoppers have lofty customer experience expectations, especially in regards to the timing of order fulfillment and shipping.
Customers simply aren’t willing to wait. They assume at this point they can order and receive the products they desire within a few short days, with no issue.
Major corporations began offering one or two-day shipping and oftentimes customers expect that smaller enterprises follow suit. This places a huge burden on small businesses as they can’t be expected to emulate Amazon shipping times. Unfortunately, customers don’t always realize this.
Thankfully, several advancements and opportunities allow SMBs to meet or even exceed customers’ lofty expectations. Route optimization software, for example, integrates with scheduling systems to enhance driver availability. This advanced software also accounts for potential issues such as limited vehicle ability or unexpected scheduling constraints. Incorporate electronic proof of delivery (ePOD) into your route planning strategy to enhance monitoring and determine the circumstances behind unacceptable delays.
4. Consumer Demand Fluctuations
The last few years have proven that customer demand can be somewhat unpredictable. There have been waves of customer spending increasing, decreasing, then increasing again. eCommerce has continued to thrive as customers enjoy the convenience of online shopping, however inflation and other economical impacts have certainly caused spending fluctuations so far in 2025.
As a result of varying demand, scalability is prized like never before. Businesses must be capable of rapidly ramping up production and fulfillment to keep a growing or shrinking customer base happy. That’s not to say patterns have disappeared altogether; they just look different now. Strong data collection can help businesses make sense of fluctuating interest, and adjust accordingly.
5. Inventory Management Challenges
Effective inventory management is crucial for limiting lead times in the supply chain. Unfortunately, a whole host of issues can get in the way. Visibility is a definite source of concern, as is outdated tech.
Some enterprises avoid these issues by implementing advanced asset tracking or POS systems, but this approach sometimes backfires. If they are not implemented properly or multiple systems are used but remain poorly integrated, the vast volumes of data they produce cannot be properly disseminated or analyzed.
Another issue? An enduring reliance on manual processes. While most business leaders are well aware of the benefits that automation can deliver, many still struggle to implement these alternatives. It’s simply too easy to remain stuck in the status quo. Unfortunately, those who fail to switch up their approach will continue to suffer excessively high operational expenses.
Radio frequency identification (RFID) can produce an immediate boost in visibility. Under this approach, systems of tags and readers provide a wealth of data while bypassing delays produced by barcode-oriented line-of-sight scanning. Similarly, machine vision boosts efficiency, but with human-like visual perception. RFID and machine vision can work together to significantly transform inventory tracking.
6. Productivity in Workflows
Small workflow changes can produce huge boosts to productivity, even while dealing with the major challenges outlined above. First, however, it’s important to determine which everyday processes cause unacceptable slowdowns — and how advanced technology can be implemented to resolve these issues.
As mentioned previously, automation will often prove the most viable solution. This can be implemented through numerous strategies, such as fixed industrial scanning, machine vision, warehouse robotics, and RFID. At minimum, voice-directed services should be used to help employees avoid visual scanning, which can waste a shocking amount of time.
Facing These Challenges in 2025 and Beyond
While it’s virtually impossible to predict with any accuracy how the supply chain will evolve beyond 2025, businesses can be prepared by implementing the latest technologies and advancements that are available for supply chain operations. Businesses need to develop flexible, data-heavy processes that make it possible to pivot when needed.
Businesses that manage to mitigate these challenges with a solid supply chain strategy will hold a huge competitive advantage in 2025 and beyond.
Peak Technologies can help. With our assistance, you can continue to satisfy customer demands as you deal with the complications of the modern supply chain. Our team can help you determine which automated solutions will prove most effective for your operation. From there, we’ll assist with customization and implementation. Contact us today to get started.
