Supply Chain Finance

The Supply Chain Finance Observatory of the School of Management of Politecnico di Milano was established in 2013 to address the increasing interest of companies and public authorities in the possibilities offered by supply chain finance solutions to optimise their working capital and access to credit.

By Supply Chain Finance, we mean the set of models, solutions and services that can be used to optimise financial performance - especially in terms of controlling working capital - and which exploit knowledge gained from managing supply chain relationships.

The aim of the Observatory is to generate and share knowledge about Supply Chain Finance, and so contribute towards spreading these solutions across the Italian market, to the benefit of all players, and stimulate debate and dialogue by creating a community of C-level executives.

Supply Chain Finance, Observatory Research

The edition research focuses on 5 macro theme areas, considering the detail topics will be defined by the Research team in collaboration with Observatory Partners.

Research Streams:

Market and New Opportunities

• Quantify the Supply Chain Finance potential and served market in Italy, monitoring the most innovative solutions emerging on this market;
• Analyze, with a sector focus, how the working capital of Italian companies is managed;
• monitor macro-economic trends at international level impacting the Supply Chain Finance market.

SCF Ecosystem

• investigate the various configurations of the Supply Chain Finance ecosystem over time, in terms of technology evolution, new players, and new solutions provided;
• identify new players emerging on the SCF scene;
• analyze the role of new players that previously had a marginal role and now have a more central role (e.g. e-commerce platforms, providers of payment services).

Digital SCF

• In depth analysis of digital Supply Chain Finance enabling platforms (e.g. open systems, embedded finance, etc.);
• identify automation and digitization areas in Supply Chain Finance processes through technologies (e.g. Robotic Process Automation, Smart Contracts);
• role of Generative AI (e.g. ChatGPT) in decision making processes for buyers adopting SCF solutions;
• develop Digital SCF business cases.

Resilience and Supply Chain Risks

• analyze the role of Supply Chain Finance in SC risk management: looking into the main dimensions of risk for supply chains today;
• examine mapping and supply chain redesign modes to achieve greater resilience;
• analyze changes in SCF solvency methods and models;
• monitor macro-economic factors that can impact supply chains and expose them to risk.

Sustainability & Inclusivity

• update of the analysis of sustainable Supply Chain Finance models on the market;
• Deep-Tier Financing solution analysis;
• sustainable Supply Chain Finance adoption driver and barrier analysis;
• analysis of impacts on supply chain social and environmental sustainability;
• develop sustainable SCF solution business cases.

Supply Chain Finance abroad

• in depth examination of the impact of cyber risk on the Supply Chain Finance operations topic;
• a closer look of the embedded finance trend: study of the link between traditional lending and SCF solutions;
• impact of circular economy on the financial and information flows of the supply chain;
• analyze innovative B2B payment solution trends (e.g. Buy Now Pay Later).

The Observatory is also part of the International Supply Chain Finance Community (www.scfcommunity.com), an organization that generates and shares knowledge on the Supply Chain Finance concept, developing activities, projects, and initiatives to support the dissemination and implementation of solutions mainly at European level.

A distinctive element of the Supply Chain Finance Observatory is the Advisory Board: a Community of Managers of distribution/manufacturing companies in a variety of fields (primarily Finance, Logistics & Supply Chain, Purchasing and ICT), that discusses and comments the contributions shared by the Research Team and participates by offering the experience developed daily in field.