POV: Supply Chain Finance

The concept and utility of SCM too has been evolving to keep pace with these changes, with a progressive and conscious migration to electronic management of input flows. Consequently, systems and processes are being made more stringent and certain routine business activities now involve innumerable checks and handoffs. When these activities are managed and harmonised efficiently across the enterprise, the result is in a form of a powerful synergy within the business.

Management of financial flows in supply chain

However, many organisations still struggle to manage silos of information that are drawn manually from a myriad of disparate systems. On occasions, such information is duplicated, making it difficult for financial controllers to create what is often termed as ‘one version of the truth’. In addition, an extended supply chain poses a daunting challenge not only to manage specific activities, but also financial flows across the supply chain.

By developing a system that integrates the finance function with the rest of the organisation and utilises information flows with trading partners within its supply chain effectively, significant savings in terms of time and costs can be attained.