The Nest Stage In Integrating Trade Finance with the Global Supply Chain - The acquisition of Vastera by JPMorgan Chase is a leading indicator that convergence is finally happening

摘要

Everywhere along the supply chain, wherever there is a physical activity occurring, a financial activity is taking place. As export or import documentation is created, letters of credit or other financial vehicles are also being generated and secured; as shipments leave the factory, brokers and freight forwarders are paid; as goods pass through Customs and across borders, duties and taxes are collected; and as shipments arrive to final destinations, business partners are compensated. For a while now, supply chain executives have been anticipating means of coordinating these two information flows in order to more fully integrate supply chain processes and enhance visibility. In 2003, industry analyst firm Aberdeen Group foretold the emergence of business applications and networks to support the complete order-to-cash life cycle for cross-border business transactions, including order, logistics management, and financial settlement activities. "The convergence will create closed-loop decision processes between the global physical and financial supply chains," the report predicts. "This will help companies do contingency planning and dynamically adjust their global procure-to-pay and order-to-cash processes to meet working capital and cash flow objectives and mitigate business risk."