Images: Midjourney, Getty Images Disclaimer This document is published by the World Economic Forum as a contribution to a project, insight area or interaction. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein are a result of a collaborative process facilitated and endorsed by the World Economic Forum but whose results do not necessarily represent the views of the World Economic Forum, nor the entirety of its Members, Partners or other stakeholders. © 2026 World Economic Forum. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording or by any information storage and retrieval system. Contents Foreword 3 Executive summary 4 Introduction 5 1 Emergence of intelligent ecosystems 6 1.1 Eight key forces driving strategic imperatives 6 1.2 Intelligent ecosystems will define the next era 8 2 Factory | Core 13 2.1 Planning 14 2.2 Production 16 2.3 Quality 19 2.4 Maintenance 22 2.5 Internal logistics 24 3 Company | Extended 27 3.1 Procurement 27 3.2 Manufacturing engineering 30 3.3 Product development 33 3.4 Supplier and engineering quality 36 4 Supply chain network | Ecosystem 39 4.1 Supply chain and network planning 39 4.2 External logistics 42 4.3 Customer integration 44 4.4 Supplier collaboration 47 5 Leadership and governance in intelligent operations 49 5.1 Intelligent Operations Boardroom 49 5.2 Cybersecurity by design 50 6 Way forward: leadership imperatives 52 Conclusion 54 Contributors 55 Endnotes 57 Intelligent Industrial Operations Outlook 2026 2