Aerospace suppliers: 60% hit by supplier delays, 85% of leaders prioritize AI for sourcing
A Xometry-commissioned survey finds 60% of manufacturers faced significant supplier delays and 85% of A&D leaders prioritize AI for sourcing. Where should a mid-size supplier start?
A survey fielded by Zogby for Xometry in December 2025 (300 manufacturing leaders in the US and EU, 51% in aerospace & defense, margin of error ±5.7 points) reports that 60% of organizations experienced significant supplier delays in the prior year.
The same survey finds 85% of A&D leaders prioritize AI-driven solutions for pricing visibility and sourcing workflows, against 63% across general industry, and expects 47% of the A&D workforce to need upskilling or reskilling.
Limits: the survey was commissioned by a manufacturing marketplace with a commercial interest in AI sourcing, and the A&D-only sample size is not disclosed. Read it as a direction, not a measurement.
Cardan-AI recommendation: for a 250-person supplier, pick one weekly decision that already costs money, such as which open orders will ship late, run the model in shadow mode next to your planner, and give it decision rights only once it beats today's baseline. Full scenario in our case study.
Analysis by
Cardan-AI Intelligence
Our research and analysis unit, dedicated to applied AI for business, industry and regulatory compliance.
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