The pandemic has taught businesses anything, it is to be prepared for any kind of uncertainty. When
Covid hit, supply chains were disrupted, and many businesses have traditionally fallen back on high
credit periods. The supply chain finance is important and it is important for supply chain management.
“You have to create a fine balance between paying your suppliers without putting a big dent in your
working capital and simultaneously meeting deadlines and customer needs,” said Mohammad Hassan
Alnaimi.
The supply chain technologies has been fueling the digital transformation of logistics and supply chain
processes. To keep supply chain finance and digitalization in pace is important to boost the business and
raise its performance to new levels. Combining digital and supply chain finance will help to yield
significant improvements and to remain competitive in the business.
According to Mohammad Hassan Alnaimi, “Incorporating technology earlier and more widely in digital
supply networks will drastically strengthen efforts not only to deal with disruptive situations but also to
learn from it and emerge more resilient than before. Even with the right technology, maintaining close
supplier relationships and an active presence on the ground still remains the best way to build supply
chain resilience.”
All processes that are repetitive and can be automated should be automated. While we are already doing
quite a bit in the area of category strategies, supplier integration, KPI tracking and automatic visualization.
The earlier we combine these new technologies, the better the impact on our supply chain.
For example, already integrating technology at the product development stage means data and tools can
be shared with potential new suppliers and valuable time can be saved.
The vision will call for a combination of no-regrets improvements as well as more speculative changes
that can be pursued over time. Supply chain digitalization will enable the company to reduce its
inventory by 20% and improve the productivity by 20 to 30%. The final step in planning a supply-chain
transformation is to develop a road map looking several years ahead.
“Our experience suggests that companies reap greater benefits when they develop a comprehensive
vision for the future of their supply chains. They should also recognize that supply-chain transformations
must extend to both technology and operations,” he added.
