Four Calling Birds Illuminating the Supply Chain Shadows

12 Days of Christmas Predictions for 2026 — Beyond’s View of What’s Next 

Welcome to Day 4 of our Christmas Predictions for 2026. Today, we shift from AI agents and immersive worlds to something far more grounded; the physical flow of goods and the information gaps that have plagued it for decades. 

Four calling birds illuminating the supply chain shadows

Because by 2026, we predict something deceptively simple yet profoundly transformative: Real-time supply chain visibility becoming the norm. 

And it happens not because of blockbuster innovation, but because boring, practical, powerful technologies finally reach maturity. 

Prediction: Real-Time Visibility Across Supply Chains Becomes a Competitive Advantage 

Supply chains have always had “information shadows”: 

• missing pallet-level data 

• lost stock 

• delayed scan events 

• partial handover records 

• blind spots between nodes 

• ambiguous ownership once goods leave a facility 

These gaps cost organisations millions annually in waste, shrinkage, working capital and operational inefficiency. But in 2026, the shadows will lift because cheap sensors, durable low-energy tags, and edge-connected IoT devices can now make end-to-end tracking commercially viable at scale. 

Why This Shift Is Happening Now 

1. Sensors are getting dramatically cheaper and more energy-efficient 

According to Deloitte, the cost of industrial IoT sensors has fallen by 60% over the past decade, while battery life has improved by 3–5× thanks to low-power networks like NB-IoT and LoRaWAN. 

This changes everything. What was once feasible only for high-value assets (pharma, aerospace) is becoming viable for everyday inventory. 

2. Persistent visibility is becoming the new baseline expectation 

Gartner reports that by 2026: Over 75% of large enterprises will have real-time supply chain visibility platforms as their default operating standard. This reflects a shift in mindset: visibility is operational hygiene. 

3. Retailers and logistics giants are setting a new benchmark 

Amazon, Maersk, Walmart and DHL are all investing heavily in “sensorised ecosystems”. 

• Walmart now tracks perishable goods with real-time freshness sensors. 

• Maersk uses IoT-enabled containers for temperature, location, and shock monitoring. 

• DHL’s SmartSensor platform provides granular shipment telemetry globally. 

4. Supply chain volatility has made blind spots intolerable 

The past few years have seen unprecedented disruption: material shortages, geopolitics, port congestion, labour gaps.  

McKinsey estimates that companies now face a disruption lasting 1+ months every 3.7 years, and that firms with real-time visibility recover 30% faster. 

The old adage you can’t manage what you can’t see, is true! 

What Real-Time Visibility Enables 

1. Vastly reduced shrink, theft and loss 

Persistent tracking creates accountability at every node. This is especially powerful in sectors like retail, food supply chains and consumer goods. 

2. Improved forecasting and replenishment 

When inventory is visible in motion, forecasting improves because the data feeding them is better. 

3. Reduced working capital 

If you know where your stock is and how fast it’s moving, you can hold less of it. 

4. Faster customer response 

Real-time ETA accuracy has become a key differentiator and customers expect precision. 

5. Operational agility 

Dynamic rerouting, real-time risk alerts, environmental monitoring  all become business-as-usual. 

What Leaders Must Prepare For 

1. Integrating legacy systems with real-time telemetry 

The bottleneck isn’t the sensor — it’s stitching together ERPs, WMS, TMS and IoT data streams. This requires robust data governance and interoperability. 

2. A mindset shift from snapshots to streams 

Traditional supply chains operate on delayed batch data. Real-time visibility means shifting organisational behaviours, not just technology. 

3. Data quality becomes mission-critical 

If your master data is inconsistent or incomplete, real-time tracking will magnify the problem, not fix it. 

4. Ethics and transparency matter 

Tracking goods can also mean tracking people and partners. Policies must adapt, especially across borders. 

Case Study Signals 

• Zara adopted RFID tagging early and reduced inventory discrepancies by as much as 70%. 

• Amazon uses real-time telemetry to optimise routing and reduce dwell time. 

• Tesco has piloted sensor-enabled temperature tracking to reduce food waste. 

• Unilever reports improved planning accuracy from real-time logistics data. 

Beyond: Putting Data to Work 

Supply chain visibility is ultimately a data problem, not a sensor problem. The technology exists, the challenge is making the information usable, reliable and actionable. 

At Beyond, we help organisations: 

• integrate real-time IoT data with legacy systems 

• build visibility dashboards that drive decisions, not just reporting 

• cleanse and structure inventory data so sensors actually add value 

• use AI to predict disruption and optimise stock flow 

• identify where “information shadows” are costing the business the most 

• design supply chains that are transparent, adaptive and resilient 

Real-time visibility is powerful only when the data behind it is trusted and connected. 

If you want 2026 to be the year your supply chain flies - let’s talk!