As Europe’s industrial midmarket looks toward 2026, three disruptive forces stand out:
- An ERP AI shift, from capabilities to trust.
- The long-awaited arrival of the Digital Product Passport (DPP).
- The long-overdue acceleration of AI adoption in Warehouse Management Systems (WMS).
For industrial midmarket companies, each of these represents a major step change in its own right. Together, they signal a reshaping of how industrial firms operate, comply and compete in the digital age.
AI in ERP: from capabilities to trust
AI has already begun transforming ERP. It is no longer a futuristic add-on, but it’s becoming a core enabler of smarter, more adaptive business systems. In 2026, the trend will accelerate toward AI-powered ERP, where intelligence is embedded across workflows to drive efficiency, insight, and resilience.
This includes everything from predictive maintenance in manufacturing to AI-driven customer care ticketing systems, automated financial forecasting, and intelligent supply chain optimisation.
For the industrial midmarket, ERP is already complex. Adding advanced AI capabilities can feel overwhelming, especially for organisations with limited resources compared to global enterprises. Success will hinge on one factor: trust. Do companies trust their ERP provider and their data enough to let AI guide critical decisions?
Large vendors have the scale to roll out AI features quickly, but midmarket firms need something different: speed, proximity, and deep operational understanding. AI will only deliver value when users trust both the outcomes and the guardrails.
That’s why embedded AI, natively integrated into ERP systems, is emerging as the most viable approach. It enables incremental adoption without disruptive change programs, ensuring simplicity and scalability.
The goal isn’t to replace human judgment but to augment decision-making in ways that are cost-efficient and operationally aligned. In 2026, success with AI-powered ERP will depend on governance, explainability, and clear ROI, turning intelligence into confidence.
Digital Product Passport readiness becomes non-negotiable
Few regulations in recent memory have had the potential to reshape industrial operations as dramatically as the DPP. Forterro’s recent research with industrial midmarket companies in Europe shows that less than half of UK firms are even aware of DPP. Even fewer are confident in what it requires or how they will comply. The situation in other countries is similar.
This lack of awareness poses a major operational and strategic risk. Many industrial firms could be sleepwalking into a major regulatory crisis. DPP is of huge significance and will become the backbone of the EU’s sustainability and circularity strategy. It will also do for product manufacturing what GDPR did for privacy, making good quality data non-negotiable.
The regulation embeds sustainability across the entire product lifecycle – from raw material sourcing to recycling and reuse – and doing so requires complete visibility of materials, emissions and product composition. It applies to any business exporting to the EU, which, in a time when businesses can benefit from a broader product presence, it’s essential to be compliant and maintain a strong position in the supply chain.
When will DPP start?
Rollout begins in 2026 with iron and steel products, setting a precedent for every industrial sector to follow across the following 24 months. Each product will carry a digital identity containing verified data on origins, materials, carbon footprint and repairability. This will place unprecedented data-management and traceability demands on manufacturers.
The stakes are significant. As with GDPR, the fines for non-compliance are expected to be severe, and for many midmarket firms, achieving compliance will be impossible without digital systems capable of capturing, validating and securely sharing the required data.
DPP should not be viewed as an administrative burden. It is not merely another piece of regulation to box tick and move on. It’s a catalyst for digital transformation across Europe’s industrial base. Companies that act early will gain advantages in transparency, supply chain resilience, and customer trust. Those who delay may face both legal and commercial consequences.
In 2026, DPP readiness moves from a future consideration to an operational imperative.
AI in WMS finally gains momentum
WMS have generally lagged behind other operational platforms in meaningful AI adoption, rather than even its close cousin ERP. WMS is sometimes perceived as the ‘forgotten software’ – vital but less visible in terms of measurable outputs.
That will begin to change in 2026, as AI finally begins to take hold in WMS. It is now enabling WMS platforms to catch up rapidly and deliver immediate operational gains to the business. Forecasting becomes more accurate. Regulatory compliance becomes easier to maintain. Decision-making becomes faster and increasingly data-driven.
For customers, this translates into clear improvements:
- Better margin management.
- Reduced overstocking.
- More efficient rolling-stock handling.
- Improved labour and resource planning.
- Higher picking accuracy.
- Reduced waste.
With rising logistics costs, workforce pressures, and intensifying regulatory demands, AI-enabled WMS shifts from a ‘nice to have’ to a core competitive enabler for midmarket firms.
2026 – a year defined by acceleration?
AI in ERP, DPP and AI-enabled WMS are not isolated trends. They are interdependent developments that collectively signal a more transparent, automated and intelligent operating environment for 2026, one that fits the digital age much better.
According to recent Forterro research, 57% of UK industrial midmarket companies have a digital transformation roadmap. Yet progress remains uneven: 30% rated their digital transformation performance as poor over the past three years, with a further 34% calling it merely adequate.
The message for midmarket industrial firms is clear: 2026 will reward preparedness, not passivity.
Those who modernise systems, embrace safe and incremental AI adoption, and build foundations for DPP compliance will be best positioned to stay ahead of regulatory change, and to unlock new efficiencies and growth opportunities.
Founded in 2012, Forterro has grown to become a category leader in software solutions for the industrial market – with strongholds in Europe’s top production economies, as well as regional service hubs and development centres around the world. From more than 40 office locations, its 2,500+ employees provide and support software for more than 25,000 industrial businesses. Its products are deeply rooted in the demands of their local geography. And each is designed to strengthen and accelerate customers’ ability to operate efficiently and compete effectively.
