Companies adopt advances in supply chain planning to address growing disruptions, rapid market changes, new research says
STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--$III #AI--Enterprises are increasing their reliance on supply chain planning (SCP) platforms to forecast and respond to changing business conditions as AI accelerates the evolution to more agile, data-driven supply chain operations, according to new research from global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III).
The 2026 ISG Buyers Guides™ for Supply Chain Planning provide the rankings and ratings of 27 software providers and their products for optimizing the flow of goods, materials and related services from suppliers to customers. The series includes Buyers Guides focused on products for retail enterprises and midsize firms, plus platforms for sales and operations planning. The research finds that SCP software has become more vital as companies move from periodic to continuous planning to improve supply chain visibility and responsiveness.
“The fundamental supply chain challenges continue to evolve,” said Bob Krohn, ISG partner, manufacturing. “Companies need to acquire resources and components, and bring products to market, efficiently and on time. At the same time, systems for achieving these goals are changing, especially with the integration of advanced algorithms and machine learning to multiply their effectiveness.”
Globalization has extended supply chains, increasing the risk of disruptions and driving adoption of more sophisticated systems for identifying risks, examining alternatives and coordinating decisions. The latest wave of advancements allow companies to process and integrate data in near real time, enabling faster decision-making and continuous planning for more agile operations. Generative AI and AI agents are accelerating this trend by increasing the speed and quality of analysis while reducing manual effort.
Using real-time data handling and analysis, SCP software can now model the impact of changing business conditions by simulating scenarios for which organizations can prepare contingency plans. Coordinating the planning activities of sales, operations, procurement and other organizations is another core function of SCP platforms, because decisions made in one area can affect other functions. AI is automating repetitive planning activities and improves cross-functional coordination, reducing the time required to reconcile supply and demand objectives.
By providing natural language interfaces to SCP software, AI may provide greater access to data, reducing the time employees spend gathering information so they can generate analyses more quickly. AI advancements should eventually lead to event-driven analysis and recommendations that trigger actions before disruptions affect business results.
Most organizations will introduce AI into supply chain processes gradually, starting with lower-risk planning activities and progressing to decision support and automation. Those that establish strong practices around data capture, orchestration and management will be better able to take advantage of AI capabilities. Companies should carefully assess how providers maintain transparency, control and business accountability as they embed AI into planning workflows, ISG says.
“Enterprises that integrate AI into supply chain planning will see an escalating impact on business outcomes through the rest of this decade,” said David Menninger, executive director and distinguished analyst, ISG. “Any company with even a moderately complex supply chain should start building a roadmap to using AI agents in their planning process.”
For the 2026 ISG Buyers Guides for Supply Chain Planning, ISG produced four Buyers Guides: Supply Chain Planning, Retail Supply Chain Planning, Midsize Supply Chain Planning and Sales and Operations Planning. Each covers the essential platform categories and products in the given technology segment. A total of 27 providers were assessed: Anaplan, Arkieva, Blue Ridge, Blue Yonder, Board, Coupa, Dassault Systèmes, GAINS, GEP, ICRON, Infor, John Galt Solutions, Kinaxis, Logility, Manhattan Associates, Netstock, o9 Solutions, OMP, Oracle, Pigment, QAD, RELEX, SAP, Slimstock, Sunstice, ToolsGroup and WiseTech.
ISG rates software providers in five evaluation categories: Overall, Product Experience, Capability, Platform and Customer Experience. Providers ranked in the top three for each evaluation category are named as Leaders. Within each platform category, those that meet the greatest proportion of our evaluation criteria are named as Overall Leaders.
Anaplan was the top Overall Leader in the Buyers Guides for Supply Chain Planning, Retail Supply Chain Planning and Sales and Operations Planning.
In the Buyers Guide for Supply Chain Planning, Anaplan was followed by Kinaxis and Oracle. In the guide for Retail Supply Chain Planning, it was followed by SAP and Oracle. In the guide for Sales and Operations Planning, it was followed by Kinaxis and SAP.
In the Buyers Guide for Midsize Supply Chain Planning, Infor was the top Overall Leader, followed by WiseTech and OMP.
In addition, the following providers were rated as Exemplary or Innovative in each of the Buyers Guides:
Supply Chain Planning: Anaplan, Board, Dassault Systèmes, Infor, Kinaxis, Manhattan Associates, o9 Solutions, Oracle, SAP and WiseTech were rated Exemplary. Blue Yonder, John Galt Solutions, OMP and RELEX were rated Innovative.
Retail Supply Chain Planning: Anaplan, Board, Coupa, Infor, Manhattan Associates, o9 Solutions, Oracle, SAP and WiseTech were rated Exemplary. Blue Yonder and John Galt Solutions were rated Innovative.
Midsize Supply Chain Planning: Arkieva, Infor, Pigment and WiseTech were rated Exemplary. ICRON, John Galt Solutions, Logility and OMP were rated Innovative.
Sales and Operations Planning: Anaplan, Board, Dassault Systѐmes, Infor, Kinaxis, Manhattan Associates, o9 Solutions, Oracle, SAP and WiseTech were rated Exemplary. John Galt Solutions, OMP and RELEX were rated Innovative.
The ISG Buyers Guides for Supply Chain Planning are the distillation of more than a year of market and product research efforts. The research is not sponsored nor influenced by software providers and is conducted solely to help enterprises optimize their business and IT software investments.
Visit this webpage for Supply Chain Planning to read the executive summaries of each of the four reports. The complete reports, including provider rankings across seven product and customer experience dimensions and detailed research findings on each provider, are available by contacting ISG.
About ISG
ISG (Nasdaq: III) is a global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm. A trusted partner to more than 900 clients, including 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is a long-time leader in technology and business services that is now at the forefront of leveraging AI to help organizations achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm, founded in 2006, is known for its proprietary market data and research, in-depth knowledge and governance of provider ecosystems, and the expertise of its 1,500 professionals worldwide working together to help clients maximize the value of their technology investments.
Contacts
Press:
Laura Hupprich, ISG
+1 203 517 3132
laura.hupprich@isg-one.com
Erik Arvidson, Matter Communications for ISG
+1 978 518 4542
isg@matternow.com
