Supply Chain Finance

There are three main streams within the management structure of the Supply Chain: product flows, information flows and financial flows. Most processes that manage the supply chain is related to the handling of the product, either in the direction of the consumer or the returns management. Although the focus of most managers is on the flow of product and information, it is the cash flow that exerts the greatest influence in shaping the structure of the supply chain. In almost all cases, the financial flow determines the structure and complexity of it. Typically, supply chains are not just designed to facilitate the flow of goods or information, but designed to optimize financial objectives of a specific company. This session will describe the impact of finance on global supply chains and discuss tools that companies are just beginning to use to help better manage their supply chain, increasing its capacity.

Just as supply chain managers need to understand their firm’s information technology, so supply chain finance should not just be left to the finance organization.

Supply chain finance is more than just cash flow and managing working capital. It includes risk management and understanding the financial health capability of suppliers and customers. Typically, the financial flows within Supply Chain determine the structure for the flows of products.

New developments surrounding financing and working capital are making it easier for suppliers to source and ship product. These are tools that the supply chain manager must understand.

While the focus of most managers is on the product flow and information flow, it is the financial flows that exert the most influence on the definition of the structure of supply chains. In almost every case, the financial flows determine the structure and complexity of the supply chain. Typically, supply chains are not designed merely to facilitate product or information flows. Instead, they are designed to optimize the financial objectives of a single firm.

In this session, Dr. Dale Rogers from Arizona State University will describe the impact of supply chain finance on global supply chains and discuss tools that firms are just beginning to utilize to help manage their supply chains better and create more capacity.

About the Speaker:

Dale S. Rogers - Professor of Logistics and Supply Chain Management 

Dale Rogers, a leading researcher in the fields of reverse logistics, sustainable supply chain management, supply chain finance and secondary markets, has published in the leading journals of the supply chain and logistics fields. He has been principal investigator on research grants from numerous organizations. He is associate editor of the Journal of Business Logistics and the Journal of Supply Chain Management.

He has made more than 300 presentations to professional organizations and has been a faculty member in numerous executive education programs at universities in the United States, China, Europe and South America as well as at major corporations and professional organizations.   

Dale has been a consultant to several companies. Dr. Rogers is the Leader in Supply Chain Finance, Sustainability, and Reverse Logistics Practices for ILOS - Instituto de Logística e Supply Chain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Prior to his appointment at Arizona State University, Dale was a professor at Rutgers University and the University of Nevada. He is a graduate of Michigan State University. In 2012 he became the first academic to receive the International Warehouse and Logistics Association Distinguished Service Award in its 120-year history. He also serves on the Board of the Reverse Logistics and Sustainability Council.