of manufacturers now report very or extremely complex products
That's up 20 points in a single year — the sharpest jump in four years of research. Complexity is no longer an edge case. It's the norm.
define their configuration rules once and reuse them everywhere
The other 93% maintain the same logic separately in CPQ, ERP, engineering, and production — a manual tax paid on every order, every change, every handoff.
are investing in or exploring AI — up from 64% last year
AI adoption is accelerating. But the manufacturers seeing results are the ones who built the data foundation first. Intelligence is only as reliable as the data it's built on.
Industry-level breakdowns
How industrial machinery, automotive, food & beverage, and 10 other sectors compare on complexity, CPQ adoption, and margin risk.
Regional comparisons
Identifying where the AI gap is widest, where complexity pressure is highest, and where the digital thread is furthest along.
Role-by-role perspective
Sales, engineering, production, and IT see the margin problem very differently. The report shows the data from each angle — and why the gaps between them matter.
The digital thread framework
Why connecting CPQ, Configuration Lifecycle Management, and Configured Order Fulfillment from a single source of truth is the defining challenge of 2026.
AI readiness diagnostic
Where AI investment is delivering — and where it isn't. What separates the 80% who understand their configuration performance from the 56% who don't.
30 actionable recommendations
Concrete next steps — organized by theme — to close configuration gaps, reduce margin leakage, and build the foundation that makes AI compound.