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Before debating solutions, supply chain leaders are confronting a more fundamental problem: the operating environment itself is no longer stable. 

Across logistics, warehousing, and cargo operations, research is converging on a clear conclusion where geopolitical tension has significantly disrupted shaping supply chain decision-making. With tariffs, export controls, sanctions, regulatory fragmentation, and shifting trade alliances there is no escaping disruption to the supply chain. These are ongoing conditions that directly influence cost, risk, and investment confidence in the sector. 

Yossi Sheffi, Director of the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics states: 

“The question is no longer whether disruptions will occur, but how prepared an organization is to operate through them.” 

That insight changes the nature of every supply chain decision. If disruption is so regular, systems must be robust and adaptive to ensure they can deliver ROI across multiple plausible futures. 

As a result, supply chain investments are now assessed against a tighter and more complex set of criteria: 

• Will this solution still deliver ROI if conditions change? 

• Can it be deployed without disrupting live operations? 

• Does it introduce lock-in? to a supplier? a system? or a footprint?  

(All of which could become a liability) 

This is why many organisations feel caught between two uncomfortable responses: relying on short-term fixes to stay operational or committing to long-term redesigns that may age poorly. 

So what solution is required? 

Research suggests the answer is situational, however, enabling changes early can prevent disruption affecting the wider network. Tactical actions such as rerouting freight, adjusting inventory placement, often protect service levels and revenue at relatively low immediate cost. 

From an ROI perspective, these measures are justifiable because they prevent larger potential downstream losses. Therefore, MIT resilience research consistently shows that keeping one’s options open can prevent losses that would have otherwise originated from stagnant solutions. 

Does that mean long-term solutions are the answer? 

Not by default. 

Research on Business Process Reengineering and enterprise systems shows that fragmented networks, legacy architectures, and inefficient facility flows cannot be corrected indefinitely through quick fixes. 

In these instances, long-term redesign can unlock step-change improvements in cost, service, and scalability. When assessed against risk reduction, long-term cost stability, and future capacity, the ROI case for structural investment can be worthwhile also. 

The risk lies in how long-term solutions are designed and deployed. 

More recent research challenges rigid end-state thinking altogether, warning that solutions optimised for a single assumed future struggle in environments defined by change. 

This is where Sheffi’s insight becomes critical again. Acting as though stability will return, and designing as if today’s conditions will hold, is itself a risk. 

What the evidence consistently supports 

Across resilience theory, operations management, and systems engineering, a common principle emerges, that effective solutions preserve choice. 

High-performing organisations intervene quickly to stabilise performance and protect revenue. They then step back to determine which issues are situational and which are structural. 

Larger changes are introduced deliberately, staged over time, and assessed against factors such as integration risk, scalability, and long-term ROI. Whereas quick fixes are monitored closely and removed once their value diminishes. 

As a result, supply chain decisions have become increasingly space-specific and situational. 

One-size-fits-all strategies are losing credibility. Decision-makers are prioritising problem-led evaluation over blanket transformation, and measuring success through ROI, deployment risk, and operational continuity rather than ambition alone. 

These conversations are being had at the co-located CargoNOW Singapore at CeMAT Southeast Asia 

As supply chain decisions have become more space-specific, environments like CargoNOW Singapore at CeMAT Southeast Asia 12-14 May 2026, Singapore EXPO, Singapore have become crucial for beginning the right conversations. 

Attendees are not arriving to be persuaded that volatility exists. They are attending because they are already navigating it. They come with defined problems and clear assessment criteria: return on investment, integration effort, deployment risk, and performance in live operating environments. 

Discussions are grounded in operational reality how solutions fit within physical constraints, how they integrate with existing systems, and how risk is managed during deployment. This enables buyers to evaluate options against the measures that determine whether an investment proceeds. 

The organisations that perform best are not choosing quick fixes or complete overhauls by default. They are making case-by-case decisions, grounded in evidence and operational reality. 

That is why these conversations matter. 

And that is why they are happening here.