China lead-time concerns surge as shippers widen global sourcing networks

Small and midsize businesses (SMBs) are spreading their supply chains across more regions and placing orders earlier as shippers grapple with an increasingly complicated mix of supplier delays, freight costs, tariffs and shifting consumer demand. According to Netstock’s 2026 Supply Chain Planning Benchmark Report , no single disruption is dominating inventory decisions this year. Instead, businesses are confronting a multitude of pressures at the same time — a shift moving from isolated volatility to “supply chain chaos.” Netstock, a supply chain planning software company, based the report on a survey of more than 2,500 customers worldwide, along with a survey of more than 150 users at small and midsize businesses with less than $250 million in annual revenue. Supplier lead-time swings ranked as the biggest inventory planning challenge for 29% of respondents, followed by raw material and input costs at 23%, freight and shipping costs at 22%, and demand shifts at 21%.