2020 has certainly been a volatile year as the Covid-19 swept across the world causing human misery and the serious upheaval to supply chains. Yet, amid the chaos, it has also been a year of human resilience as businesses, and individuals, adapt to a new way of life. As Michiel Steeman, chairman of SCF Community, [...]
The supply chain finance market needs to take action to fight climate change, urged panellists speaking at this year’s SCF Forum Global. “There is nowhere more important when considering the challenges of climate change than supply chains,” said an environmental documentary filmmaker Huw Cordey, being interviewed by Thomas Dunn, chairman of tech firm Orbian. He [...]
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic this year will accelerate the trend towards increased digitisation within the supply chain after businesses grappled with disruptions in production and demand, according to panellists at this year’s SCF Forum Global. “When Covid hit, it was huge to have everything on one platform,” said Christian Kochan, assistant treasurer at [...]
Supply chain finance is increasingly being promoted as a force for good whether it is being used to support small suppliers in times of crisis, finance vital hospital equipment in a pandemic or attain environmental goals, according to panellists on the opening panel at this year’s SCF Forum Global. Matthijs Mondria, head of sustainable business [...]
Momentum is growing behind new applications of supply chain finance (SCF) that will take the technique far beyond only looking to extend the days payable outstanding (DPO) metric. Panellists at this year’s SCF Forum Global outlined their efforts to explore new frontiers in SCF including the development of purchase order financing, sustainability-linked supplier finance, inventory [...]
Michiel Steeman speaks to Alex Griffiths of Fitch Ratings, discussing his recent report on SCF and whether reverse factoring is a positive or negative development.
The fifth annual Supply Chain Finance Forum is now over with innovation being a key watchword. Read the highlights and case studies here.
There appears to be a major gap in the market when it comes to providing multi-tier financing for the suppliers of suppliers. Two years ago, a workshop at the SCF Forum focused on multi-tier financing, with a total of 23 banks and fintechs invited to talk about what they could do towards its development. In [...]
Managing working capital can be challenging when customers want longer payment terms, said Lieven De Weder, group purchasing manager for Belgian group Puratos. The company is an international group with subsidiaries in 70 countries, specialising in the production of ingredients for bakery, chocolates, cake mixes and patisserie. It invests heavily in R&D and innovation, out [...]
Newer players in the world of supply chain finance include logistic service providers. Until recently few saw them playing a key role in SCF, yet they know about financial and payment flows – and what goes where. That was the opening premise of Federico Caniato, professor at Politecnico di Milano, who moderated the workshop session [...]
