New Statista research and expert insight on what it takes to build real-world supply chain flexibility. When was the last time your logistics plan actually went to plan? In logistics, disruption is expected. But while many operators are taking the opportunity posed by more route options and modes through Southeast Asia, new research suggests that the logistics systems aren’t keeping up.
More options, more routes, but not more resilience
Last year, trade between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) exceeded US$1.05 trillion. Manufacturing hubs are spreading across the region, requiring more freight options, all of this against a backdrop of almost constant disruption. Each shift forces companies to rethink how – and sometimes where – they move inventory.
87% of logistics decision-makers in the area say they’ve responded by increasing their use of multimodal routes. However, 92% describe diversified routing as only partially implemented across their networks.
Across four separate measures in our research, just 0-2% of respondents selected the highest level of routing implementation, partner connectivity, public-authority integration, or end-to-end visibility.
Diversifying route options is only the first step. There must also be capacity available. Commercial arrangements need to be ready. The handovers need to work. And someone needs to have the authority to make the call. Without those elements, a path that looks like resilience on paper can offer little flexibility when a disruption actually happens.
Knee-jerk responses to disruption
Over the past 12-24 months, 69% of the logistics leaders say chokepoints have affected their operations significantly or very significantly. Most are reacting to each crisis, rather than planning for them – increasing safety stock by 50% or turning to last-minute airfreight options. In both cases, operators are paying more to live with an unpredictable network.
The real resilience builder: systems, data, partners and handovers that make full use of the route options
Transporting freight from China through Southeast Asia can involve a long chain of organisations: freight forwarders, trucking companies, terminals, customs agencies, brokers, ports, airlines, shipping lines and warehouses might all touch the same shipment.
Individually, many of those organisations are well equipped, but each handover creates a black hole of information – and every additional mode creates another handover.
So, while additional modes and gateways give you more ways around a disruption, they also give you more points where information – and accountability – disappear. Those weak points are also inconsistent across regions – research found high lead-time variability across both respondent groups, but with different problems underneath. This shows why the same solution can’t simply be applied to every corridor.
Lack of digitisation isn’t the issue, either – 91% of organisations already use digital documentation, for example, but 51% also report limited integration with external partners.
The solution: stop looking for the perfect route
The strongest logistics networks can recognise when current routes won’t work, identify the right alternative, and activate it quickly. For most organisations, that doesn’t mean rebuilding the entire network at once.
The ideal route exists – it just changes every day
Successful players will have a network agile enough to find and execute it.
No route or strategy is an ideal fit for the China-Southeast Asia corridor. What works is increasing the maturity of your network and processes to buffer selectively, diversify deliberately, and prepare your response to disruption.
How resilient is your supply chain?
Research conducted with 260 logistics and supply chain decision-makers across Asia-Pacific found that organisations differ significantly in their ability to anticipate, absorb and respond to disruption.
To help organisations evaluate their readiness, No Perfect Route introduces a Supply Chain Resilience Maturity Model that identifies five stages of resilience capability, from reactive response to proactive orchestration.
Most organisations operate somewhere within this spectrum.
Understanding where you sit is the first step towards improvement.
MATURITY MODEL – what stage are you?
Most organisations can be placed in one of five stages of maturity. Understanding where yours sits is an important starting point for improving resilience.
Stage 1: Reactive
You handle disruptions through ad hoc, manual firefighting after cargo is already delayed. Fallback corridors are mostly on paper.
Stage 2: Managed
Basic visibility tools exist, but modal shifts remain manual, siloed, and heavily dependent on tribal knowledge and key individuals. This leaves your network vulnerable when key staff are unavailable.
Stage 3: Connected
Systems exchange data across supply chain partners, but execution relies on checkpoint updates rather than real-time tracking. You still absorb delays because your teams only discover disruptions after the fact.
Stage 4: Orchestrated
Alternative routes are pre-costed, pre-tested, and backed by pre-approved decision rights. Your team switches modes rapidly, protecting the bottom line and safeguarding customer delivery dates.
Stage 5: Proactive
Predictive external signals (weather, port congestion, tariffs) are integrated into live routing, adjusting flows before disruption impacts customer delivery.
