Inside the Great Supply Chain Rethink, and How the World Will Move in 2026

Over the course of a decade of traveling to manufacturing hubs, warehouse floors, and trade corridors stretching from East Asia to North America to Europe, I’ve seen the impacts of disruption arrive with uncanny predictability, like a shifted tariff regime here, a regulatory tweak there, a new supply node emerging overnight, etc.

While disruption is constant, preparedness is optional when it comes to global supply chains.

As we look ahead to 2026, I believe three major developments will reshape how companies deploy connected supply chain technology, and how platforms will evolve to meet them.

Tariffs Will Drive a New Wave of RFID Adoption

The World Trade Organization projects that global trade volume growth in 2026 will slow to roughly 0.5%, signaling constrained flows and heightened competition for margin. Companies will continue to face waves of tariff adjustments, regional origin rules, and shifting incentives toward near-shoring or friend-shoring.

The upcoming United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) review is a case in point. Scenarios range from stricter rules of origin to higher labor-cost thresholds in Mexican manufacturing. Exporters and importers are bracing for renewed scrutiny of where and how goods are produced.

In this environment, RFID technology will become a strategic compliance tool. It’s no longer enough to know what is in a container or where it is located. Businesses will need to know which sub-component came from which supplier, under which tariff schedule, and during which production cycle (including the ability to verify country-of-origin and flag potential transshipment as tariff volatility continues). RFID tags linked to enriched digital records, supported by things like digital twins and ERP integrations, offer the only scalable path to that level of transparency.

When tariff structures fluctuate, the companies best positioned to adapt will be those with granular, real-time visibility extending beyond their first-tier suppliers.

Multi-Enterprise Collaboration Will Replace Linear Supply Chains

Supplier diversification used to mean sourcing the same part from two factories. In 2026, it means orchestrating a global network of suppliers, logistics partners, and manufacturers that can shift production or routing in real-time. That requires multi-enterprise collaboration platforms, systems that integrate data and workflows across company boundaries. When a component in Southeast Asia suddenly falls into a new tariff category, organizations must be able to instantly identify qualified alternatives, reroute shipments, and recalculate landed cost. RFID data is the connective tissue that enables those rapid pivots.

In practice, that means moving beyond siloed track and trace programs. Instead, RFID becomes part of a decision framework, one that answers not only “Where is it?” but “What are our options?” and “What happens next?”

Next year, businesses will view supply chain visibility as an active, predictive ecosystem that informs every sourcing and logistics decision.

Compliance Mandates Will Enrich RFID Metadata

Emerging policy trends, especially in North American and Europe, suggest that digital traceability will soon encompass far more than product identification. The 2026 USMCA review, for instance, may introduce tighter requirements on labor standards, wage levels, and regional content. Similarly, new regulations in the EU and US are expanding the definitions of origin, sustainability, and ethical sourcing.

These shifts will change what is encoded in an RFID tag. Beyond part numbers or batch IDs, tags will carry structured metadata that includes supplier identifiers, country of origin, production conditions, tariff codes, and certification details. RFID will thus evolve from a logistics enabler to a compliance instrument, a dynamic data node that underpins audits, connecting procurement, operations, finance, and compliance in ways few organizations have achieved before.

Lessons from the Field

Across the globe, I’ve witnessed first-hand how supply chains are transforming from linear models into fluid, adaptive networks. A textile supplier in Bangladesh rerouted orders overnight to avoid new tariffs. A Mexican electronics manufacturer added RFID-based wage-tracking to meet anticipated USMCA revisions. A German automaker now uses RFID to monitor steel origin in anticipation of carbon-border adjustments.

These examples emphasize the same point, being agility now depends on interoperability. The next generation of RFID ecosystems will not live inside of one company, they will connect dozens.

For supply chain leaders, preparing for 2026 means:

• Investing in metadata-rich RFID systems that integrate with sourcing, compliance, and logistics data.
• Building supplier diversification readiness, ensuring rapid transitions between production nodes.
• Scenario-based testing for regulatory shifts, using RFID data to simulate tariff, labor, or origin challenges.
• Fostering cross-functional alignment among IT, procurement, legal, and operations teams so that compliance becomes proactive.

An Overview of 2026

This year will not be defined by a single disruption but by overlapping layers of change like tariffs, regulations, labor costs, and sustainability mandates. The real opportunity for supply chain leaders lies in bridging those layers into one intelligent, responsive network.

The future of supply chain resilience lies in multi-enterprise collaboration, networks where data flows freely between buyers, suppliers, logistics partners, and even regulators. Digitalization enables those networks to evolve from reactive systems to proactive ones, where decisions about sourcing, compliance, and cost are informed by shared, real-time intelligence.

RFID will continue to play an important role as a foundational visibility tool, but the larger story is about integration. The winners in 2026 and beyond will be the companies that transform visibility into actionable connectivity, where insight travels as seamlessly as goods themselves.