For years, procurement strategies have favored supplier consolidation in pursuit of cost efficiency. Fewer vendors meant greater leverage, streamlined logistics, and reduced transactional overhead. But that logic has revealed its limits. In an environment defined by geopolitical shifts, regulatory volatility, and frequent disruption, the risks of over-consolidation are no longer theoretical—they are operational.

Global trade is shifting—again. A resurgence of tariffs, economic nationalism, and mounting geopolitical tensions is forcing companies to rethink how they source, manage, and move goods across increasingly complex and politically sensitive supply chains. While the latest policy moves may originate in specific countries, their ripple effects are global. Supply chain leaders now operate in an environment defined by unpredictability, fragmented regulation, and geopolitical recalibration. Just-in-time inventory systems—once the gold standard of operational efficiency—are being reconsidered as too rigid for this new reality.