Though financial supply chain management is not an entirely new concept, interest in the discipline has increased dramatically over the past year with the focus shifting from theoretical discussion to the practical implementation of programmers with tangible benefits. Interest has been driven by banks seeking to adapt their transaction banking product offerings to new market conditions, as well as buying corporate looking to squeeze added value from their existing procurement arrangements.
A distinction should also be drawn between what can be defined as 'supply chain services' and 'supply chain finance'. The former refers to the realm of providing services in order to increase supply chain efficiency - services that are not necessarily finance related such as the dematerialization of paper invoices or an increase in straight-through processing (STP). Supply chain finance (SCF), on the other hand, relates more specifically to providing the appropriate financing facilities at the relevant points in the physical supply chain.
From the buyer's perspective, offering financing in this way represents an opportunity to more effectively manage relationships with suppliers and increase payment terms without damaging goodwill between trading parties. And from the perspective of the supplier, the main benefits relate to improved cash flow as reduced days sales outstanding (DSO) mitigates the need for working capital during the production process.
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