What Supply Chain Metrics Should Companies Watch in Uncertain Times?
How many touches an order has. How many resets and changes. How many times we say “uncertain times” (just kidding on this one). Our supply chains are becoming very complicated with IT and automation in an effort to cut cost and improve quality. But the top two show me that we are experiencing more loss than gain on many shipments.
–Danny Schnautz
President
Clark Freight Lines
Partner connectivity metrics. How quickly can you onboard new suppliers? How fast do you process inbound data from partners? Companies that can rapidly establish new supplier relationships and automate external data exchange gain supply chain agility.
–Deepak Singh
Chief Innovation Officer
Adeptia
Volume changes. This shows immediate visibility into significant shifts that indicate broader market movements. Days without movement: Identifies stale inventory quickly, which ties up capital and occupies valuable warehouse space. Inventory turnover ratio: Declining turnover rates are an early warning signaling deeper issues.
–Amy Dean
VP Operations
SC Codeworks
False positives. Too many irrelevant trade compliance alerts waste time and can lead to compliance risk by missing real sanctioned-party hits.
–Brian Hodgson
General Manager, Trade Compliance
Descartes Systems Group
Focus on OTIF
OTIF (on time in full) is one of the most telling metrics to watch in today’s ever-changing supply chain landscape. It measures a supplier’s ability to deliver the correct products, in the right quantities, within the agreed time frame. When OTIF performance starts to slip, it’s often an early warning sign that can quickly ripple into stockouts, delayed shipments, and frustrated customers.
–Hagen Heubach
Chief Marketing Officer, Supply Chain Management
SAP
Prioritize OTIF, inventory turns, and cost to serve. OTIF ensures customer satisfaction through timely, accurate orders. Accelerating inventory turnover reduces overstock and costs. Utilizing AI agents enables companies to quickly identify risks and opportunities to prevent disruptions, increase efficiency, and minimize cost to serve.
–Ann Marie Jonkman
Vice President, Industry Strategies
Blue Yonder
Supplier performance/adherence. The goal is to balance stock positions while protecting against stockouts, free up as much working capital as possible, serve the customer, and monitor performance across the supply chain.
–David Schutzbank
Managing Director
FTI Consulting
Supplier lead time variability matters more than average lead time. Knowing how much timing swings tells you where the real risk is—not just what’s “typical.”
–Rodney Manzo
Senior Director,
Global Operations
Sage
Two transportation metrics are key to combating economic fluctuation and navigating shifting consumer behavior. The first is freight cost per unit/mile/shipment. The second is on time delivery/on time in full (OTD/OTIF), which reflects a transportation network’s reliability and pace.
–Skylar Greer
Director, Account Solutions
Kenco
Changes to warehouse capacity and costs, cycle time, forecast accuracy, and transportation costs. In uncertain times, these metrics help balance supply with demand, reduce excess stock, and maintain service levels. Real-time insights from these KPIs enable agile decision-making, cost control, and resilience across the supply chain.
–Arthur Axelrad
Co-Founder & CEO
Dispatch Science
Time-to-value is the metric I keep coming back to. The ability to turn a decision into a measurable result—quickly—is what sets resilient operations apart. Whether it’s a new technology, process change, or delivery model, it’s not just about moving fast. You need to see outcomes fast.
–Karli Sage
Sr. Director, Emerging Technology
Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits
Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) is the metric to watch. In a tight-margin market, cash flow is everything—and DSO tells you how quickly you’re actually getting paid. A rising DSO signals delayed cash inflows, which can choke operations. Monitoring and improving DSO helps supply chain companies stay liquid, stable, and ready for what’s next.
–Bharath Krishnamoorthy
Co-Founder and CEO
Denim
Key performance indicators like $/lb, $/case, and $/mile are our north star for tracking cost, efficiency, and value. When these KPIs shift, it’s a signal to dig deeper—whether due to sourcing changes, order size, or transport costs. Anchor to your KPIs—beware of drifting.
–Chris Tod
President and COO
NT Logistics
Projections On Point
Forecasting accuracy remains foundational. The tighter the forecast, the fewer surprises across warehousing, staffing, and transportation.
–Dennis Moon
COO, Roadie
More specifically demand forecast, because it has the most significant impact on operational readiness. It influences nearly every other aspect of operations—inventory levels, production planning, purchasing, and customer fulfillment. Better forecasting metrics, based on current data and trends, help the supply chain react quicker and avoid costly risks.
–Tony Oakes
Training Manager
TA Services
Smart teams monitor forecast accuracy (85%+), inventory turns (8–10x/year), supplier on-time delivery (95%+), lead time variability (>20%), backorder rates (>2%), and slow purchase order (PO) acknowledgments to spot risk early. Fill rates below 98% hurt customer trust. These signals highlight gaps in planning, sourcing, or execution.
–Adam Beckerman
Manufacturing and Distribution Leader
Aprio
Landed cost per unit. It reflects the full impact of tariffs, duties, shipping, and fulfillment changes. Tracking it closely helps brands make smarter decisions about sourcing, pricing, and margin protection.
–Thomas Taggart
Head of Global Trade
Passport
OTIF (on-time, in-full) can be a helpful metric to help organizations gauge their ability to maintain momentum and continue meeting customer demand. If this KPI is slipping below standard, it could be a sign of weaknesses or bottlenecks in the production and fulfillment processes. These inefficiencies should be addressed as soon as possible to support business longevity and competitiveness.
–Ryan McMartin
Product Marketing Manager
Parsec Automation
On-time delivery and accurate estimated time of arrival are critical supply chain metrics during uncertain times. They help companies maintain customer trust, strengthen brand resilience, control costs and stay agile. Tracking these, along with cycle times, enhances efficiency and supports smarter decisions across complex, end-to-end multimodal supply chains.
–Reinier van Delden
Vice President Operations
Crowley Logistics
Key risk indicators (KRIs) related to risks such as subcontractor financial health, geopolitical risks, and extreme weather events. Focusing on adapting technologies that continuously track KRIs, combined with traditional key performance indicators, is what creates supply chain resilience.
–David Weeks
Supply Chain Industry Practice Lead
Moody’s
Key supply chain metrics today need to hold both you and your suppliers accountable. Internally, forecast accuracy of “A” and “B” SKUs needs to be front and center. Jointly, cost accuracy is essential to ensure the overall program is managed. Finally, OTIF will validate supplier performance.
–Joe Adamski
Senior Director
ProcureAbility
Companies must track short-term metrics, such as inventory levels, lead time variability, and supplier capacity In uncertain times. Long-term resilience requires monitoring critical material diversification and risk alert trends. With the right data, businesses can gain real-time insights to spot disruptions early, plan strategically, and build lasting customer trust.
–Jamie Barsimantov
VP of Supply Chain Strategy
Sphera
During uncertainty, companies should focus on supply chain metrics that help them manage their sourcing reliability and margins. These type metrics can help companies mitigate financial and operational risk under volatile conditions.
–Jeff Wells
Chief Visionary Officer
Metrc
Prioritize resolution time over response time. A quick reply doesn’t guarantee a fix, what matters is how fast issues are fully resolved. Focusing on resolution speed ensures operations stay on track, even when disruptions require multiple steps or expert intervention.
–Ken Feinstein
VP
MIDCOM Data Technologies
Metrics like OTIF, lead time, forecast accuracy, and inventory turnover are key to staying resilient. The right 3PL can help monitor and optimize these metrics through centralized warehousing, retail consolidation, and consistent on-time performance, giving brands the visibility and control they need to navigate volatility with confidence.
–Michael Link
Chief Supply Chain Officer
RJW Logistics Group
Focus on metrics that build trust. In our recent KPI survey of logistics professionals, 84% of businesses call freight tracking compliance “very important” or “somewhat important” to their operations, and 84% say the same for on-time delivery. Prioritizing this visibility and reliability strengthens client relationships and ensures loyalty when it matters most.
–Ben Steffes
VP of Solutions & Strategy
RXO
Cost-to-serve, inventory levels, supplier lead times, and forecast accuracy inform where to act—enabling scalable optimization, stronger confidence, and a more proactive approach to contingency without compromising efficiency or strategic goals.
–Matt Hopkins
Global Retail Marketing Director
Board
Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) for your highest-demand items. Segment items based on tariff exposure level and potential tariff rates based on where finished goods or raw materials are sourced. Implement an evergreen risk assessment and contingency planning motion to establish alternative sourcing strategies where you have the greatest exposure.
–Mike Gross
CTO
TrueCommerce
Total landed cost per unit is critical. It reflects the full impact of tariffs, duties, shipping, and fulfillment changes. Tracking it closely helps brands make smarter decisions about sourcing, pricing, and margin protection.
–Thomas Taggart
VP, Global Trade
Passport Global, Inc.
Days of Supply and Inventory-to-Sales Ratio. Both reflect early signs of demand shifts. Declines in these metrics often point to anticipated lower sales, leading to reduced inventory and volumes moving through the supply chain.
–Carlos Barbosa
VP eCommerce Solutions
ePost Global
Departure and arrival times are key metrics that should be paid close attention to. The difference of 1 day on arrival can be the difference in paying large tariffs or not. Duty is assessed at the time of arrival in the United States, so knowing when your freight will arrive can help forecast additional costs.
–Justin McInturff
International Logistics Manager
Jarrett
Supply Chain Agility Index (SCAI) quantifies how “pivot-ready” a supply chain is to rapidly adapt to unexpected disruptions—not in theory, but in practice. Index metrics deliver a broader, comparative view of performance and trends. Most companies still optimize cost, not flexibility. Agility is the new competitive edge.
–Chris Doersen
Executive Principal Client Delivery
JBF Consulting
Item-level inventory velocity and accurate predictive ETAs. These metrics reveal how efficiently goods move through the supply chain, enabling proactive risk mitigation and smarter inventory build-ups to prevent stock-outs during disruptions.
–Dr. Amol Naik
Senior Product Manager
HERE Technologies
Lead times, delivery and pickup on-time percentages, claims frequency, and total transport costs. These KPIs reflect reliability, cost efficiency and service quality—critical for spotting disruptions early, protecting margins, maintaining customer trust, and enabling better planning and risk mitigation.
–Aaron Freedman
CEO
ACI Transport
Real-time visibility takes on increased importance during uncertain times. Other important metrics include total landed cost including tariffs, lead time variability for delays, inventory turnover, supplier geopolitical concentration risk, demand forecast accuracy, freight costs per unit and port congestion. Deploying real-time dashboards will improve rapid response to tariff disruptions.
–Lucas Manganaro
Managing Director, Business Performance Improvement
Protiviti
Response time to disruptions, lead time variability, supplier diversification ratios, and days of supply. These metrics promote flexibility and resilience; they enable proactive orchestration, shifting from reactive crisis management to strategic preparedness. Data quality (timely, accurate, and complete) is essential.
–Heidi Benko
VP Product Management and Strategy
Infor
Cost, fill rate, and on-time delivery. These core metrics define both margin and service. But visibility is what ties it all together—helping you adjust faster when sourcing shifts, routes change, or expectations tighten. Agility starts with knowing your true cost-to-serve.
–Lynn Gravley
Founder & CEO
NT Logistics