Maersk’s 2026 Agility Shift: Beyond Efficiency

The global supply chain, still shaken from the disruptions of the early 2020s, is in a state of constant flux. It’s no surprise that Maersk, a good bellwether for global trade, is now laser-focused on measuring supply chain agility, calling it a requirement for being resilient in 2026. But in a system this complex, what metrics actually tell you if you’re agile or just fragile?

Agility: More Than Just Efficiency

For decades, the supply chain mantra was all about efficiency. Cost reduction, lean inventories, just-in-time delivery, that’s what dominated strategy. The past few years of port congestion and geopolitical mess have starkly revealed how that efficiency-first model shatters when it gets hit with a shock. Maersk’s perspective, which they’ve shared at industry forums, signals a big shift: agility is a prerequisite for survival and competitive advantage. My own consulting experience confirms this isn’t just talk. The companies that pivoted fast during the Red Sea disruptions, for example, kept their customers and market share, while their slower competitors got left behind.

But measuring agility is more nuanced than just tracking one KPI. It’s really an assessment of your supply chain’s ability to sense a change, make a quick decision, and then execute a new plan with minimal fallout. Maersk highlights a few key areas. One of the big ones is lead time variability. A supply chain might have a 30-day average lead time which sounds fine, but if in reality it swings between 20 and 60 days, you’re going to have massive planning headaches and angry customers. A stable, predictable lead time, even if it’s a bit longer on average, is often far more valuable because it lets you manage inventory properly and give customers commitments you can actually keep.

Core Metrics for Supply Chain Responsiveness

Maersk points to specific metrics that give you a real, tangible read on your supply chain’s agility. These are quantifiable data points pulled from actual operations.

1. Order-to-Delivery Cycle Time: This is the classic one: total time from when a customer places an order until it’s on their doorstep. A shorter, more consistent cycle time is a sign of a responsive supply chain, and big variations here usually point to bottlenecks in your warehousing, transport, or customs process. A Reuters report from late 2023 noted that companies cutting their average order-to-delivery times by 15% saw a direct link to higher customer retention. It’s about being reliably fast.
2. Forecast Accuracy: Perfect forecasting is impossible, and an agile supply chain is meant to adapt quickly when the forecast is wrong. Still, improving your accuracy reduces the amount of expensive, reactive fire-fighting you have to do. Maersk suggests tracking this with metrics like Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) or Weighted Absolute Percentage Error (WAPE) at different levels (by SKU, region, etc.). Even a 5% improvement in forecast accuracy can let you pull back significantly on safety stock and stop paying for so much expedited shipping.
3. Inventory Turnover Ratio: While people often think of this as an efficiency metric, high inventory turnover combined with low stockouts is a great sign of an agile system that’s good at matching supply to demand without a ton of buffer. On the flip side, low turnover means your capital is just sitting there in a warehouse, tied up in goods that aren’t moving.
4. Supplier Lead Time Reliability: Simply put, do your suppliers deliver when they say they will? An agile supply chain is only as strong as its network of partners. A single unreliable supplier can send shockwaves through the whole operation, a fact Maersk knows all too well from managing its vast global network.

When you track these metrics over time and line them up with what’s happening in the market, you get a clear picture of your organization’s ability to pivot. Just collecting the data is pointless. The value comes from the analysis and the actions you take based on it.

The Role of Data and Digitalization

You can’t measure what you can’t see, and in these sprawling global supply chains, visibility is still a huge problem for most companies. It’s no surprise Maersk is all-in on digitalization. It’s the foundation of real agility. You need real-time data streams from everywhere, IoT sensors on containers tracking temperature and location, automated data feeds from port authorities, direct updates from customs offices, the works.

Think about a port strike. Without real-time visibility into your vessel movements and cargo status, you might only find out about the delay days after it’s started, by which point your options for rerouting are difficult and expensive. With integrated digital platforms, however, an alert can be triggered right away, letting you reroute ships, switch to another mode of transport, or just proactively call your customers before they start calling you. This proactive capability is what defines an agile system.

This is where advanced analytics, including AI and machine learning, come into play for interpreting this mountain of data. These tools can spot patterns and predict disruptions before they even happen, sometimes even recommending the best response. For instance, an AI system can analyze historical weather data, current port congestion trends, and geopolitical news to warn you about potential delays weeks out, giving supply chain managers time to adjust. This predictive power is what lets you shift from reactive crisis management to proactive risk mitigation.

My firm frequently advises clients on implementing platforms like SAP’s Digital Supply Chain solutions. The upfront investment is serious, but we usually see clients get their money back in 18 to 24 months through reduced expediting costs, happier customers, and better resilience. Without these tools, measuring agility is mostly anecdotal and lacks the hard numbers needed for real improvement.

Context Matters: Agility for Your Industry and Product

One thing Maersk gets, and something I’m always telling clients, is that agility means different things to different companies. The metrics and the level of agility you need will vary a lot depending on your industry, the product you’re moving, and what your customers expect. For example, a supply chain for perishable goods like fresh produce demands extreme agility in speed and temperature control. A delay of a few hours can mean writing off an entire shipment, so for that business, metrics like transit time variance and cold chain integrity are everything.

On the other hand, for high-value, low-volume industrial equipment, the focus might be less on pure speed and more on precise coordination and security. A slight delay might be acceptable if it’s paired with transparent communication and a guarantee that the expensive equipment is being handled correctly.

Maersk works with everyone from consumer goods companies to heavy industrial component makers, so you can bet their internal measurement frameworks are tailored to the needs of each segment. A company that wants to measure its own agility has to first define what agility means in its specific business context. Is it about responding to demand spikes? Is it recovering from disruptions? Or is it about launching new products quickly? The answer tells you which metrics to put on your dashboard.

Beyond Metrics: The Human Element and Culture

While data and technology are essential, true supply chain agility in the end comes down to the people running the show and the culture of the organization. Maersk’s focus is on quantifiable measures, but it’s understood that the ability to interpret data, make quick decisions, and collaborate across departments and with outside partners is what really counts. An organization can have all the best metrics and tech, but if it has a siloed, risk-averse culture, it will never be truly agile. How fast can your team approve an alternate shipping route? That often has more to do with empowerment and clear communication than any piece of software.

Training employees in data literacy is just as important as buying new software. If your managers don’t know how to interpret the agility metrics, the data is useless. You need a culture of continuous improvement, where a deviation from a target is treated as a learning opportunity, not a failure. This encourages the kind of constant adjustments that build resilience over the long term.

It’s about having the organizational muscle to execute plan B, C, or D on short notice. As Maersk’s strategy illustrates, measuring supply chain agility requires a mix of precise metrics, advanced tech, and a deep understanding of your business context. Companies must look past simple efficiency gauges and build a framework that prioritizes responsiveness and resilience. The future belongs to those who not only track these indicators but can also act decisively on the insights they get.