Leaders should instead embrace fragmented multi-country supply chains and optionality, Pena said. They also need to be nimble and ready to act proactively to changes.

The environment also calls on logistics leaders to make a fundamental shift in what drives performance. While performance may have been driven by demand recovery or scale, it may now need to be driven by network resilience and pricing discipline, according to the report.

How scenario planning helps leaders prepare for disruption

Now is the time to prepare yourself and your company for uncertainty by exploring “what if” scenarios. This can be helpful, especially when done with partners such as shippers and logistics service providers, for game-planning strategies.

“I believe that the concept of the ‘what if’ question and scenario planning will be critical for the success of companies and, to some extent, will differentiate the winners and losers of this new supply chain era,” Pena said.

To Do: Conduct scenario planning to be prepared for various changes. Ask yourself:

What will our response be if there’s a change in tariffs?  
What is our tariff exposure?
What would we do if there is a disruption in this corridor due to geopolitical dynamics or a climate event?
Which part of our supply chain remains opaque?
Do we have the right flexibility?
Do we have solutions our customers need?
Where logistics providers can find opportunity

Times of disruption lead to opportunities, and a clear one now is for logistics service providers to develop solutions that help shippers and cargo owners. There’s a need to diversify supply chains and have multiple countries of origin.

There’s an opportunity for strong customs brokerage capability to help a shipping customer understand the tariff implications of sourcing from one country or another.  

Another opportunity on the U.S. southern’s border is to have warehouses, transloading services and reliable transportation services north and south of the border.

Why resilience is replacing efficiency as the priority

The circumstances underscore the need for resilience, leading to higher buffer inventories and increased coordination and compliance costs. This has led to the replacement of the just-in-time model with just-in-case strategies, according to the report.

For example, some industries are keeping higher buffer inventories, which challenges working capital efficiency and ups carrying costs.

That means budget season cannot be built around the hope that things will settle down. Leaders have to plan for an environment that may remain unsettled and build flexibility into their networks, so resilience is part of the plan rather than a reaction to the next disruption.