What is changing in deliveries and inventories?
Supplier timing, stock adequacy, and future expectations.
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The answer
The national snapshot reports longer supplier delivery times for 8.5% of businesses. Current inventories were reported as smaller than optimal by 13.3%, while 53.6% selected not applicable. Future deliveries and inventories are separate expectations.
How to read this finding
Delivery timing and inventory adequacy are distinct indicators. “Not applicable” is a meaningful response, especially for businesses that do not carry inventories; it must not be converted to a zero or silently removed from the denominator.
Core snapshot: reference September 7–20, 2026; collected September 21–October 4; released October 8. Individual question wording governs the two-week, six-month lookback, or six-month outlook window.
How did supplier delivery times change?
In the last two weeks, how did the time it takes for this business to receive deliveries from suppliers change?
| Response | Businesses (%) | Standard error (pp) |
|---|---|---|
| Increased | 8.5 | 0.23 |
| Decreased | 4.3 | 0.16 |
| No change | 58.1 | 0.49 |
| Not applicable | 29.1 | 0.36 |
How adequate are current inventories?
How would you describe this business's current inventories?
| Response | Businesses (%) | Standard error (pp) |
|---|---|---|
| Larger than optimal | 3.3 | 0.08 |
| Optimal | 29.8 | 0.31 |
| Smaller than optimal | 13.3 | 0.28 |
| Not applicable | 53.6 | 0.48 |
What delivery-time changes are expected in six months?
Six months from now, how do you think the time it takes for this business to receive deliveries from suppliers will have changed?
| Response | Businesses (%) | Standard error (pp) |
|---|---|---|
| Increased | 9.6 | 0.20 |
| Decreased | 4.5 | 0.15 |
| No change | 49.0 | 0.31 |
| Not applicable | 36.9 | 0.29 |
What inventories are expected in six months?
Six months from now, how do you think you will describe this business's inventories?
| Response | Businesses (%) | Standard error (pp) |
|---|---|---|
| Larger than optimal | 2.3 | 0.09 |
| Optimal | 30.3 | 0.28 |
| Smaller than optimal | 12.6 | 0.29 |
| Not applicable | 54.8 | 0.47 |
A practical business conversation
An owner considering forecasting or purchasing support should first define the operational decision: when to reorder, how much to hold, or how to monitor delivery reliability. These survey results help frame the discussion, while the business’s own records are needed for a solution.
Match the operational problem to the measure before proposing automation.
What this evidence cannot establish
The general-business tables do not attribute delivery or inventory outcomes to AI. They contain no SKU-level quantities, supplier identities, stockout costs, or tested forecasting gains.