Harbor has launched a new Supply Chain Finance program in January for an e-commerce furniture retailer. As the client looked to onboard new manufacturers in Vietnam and Malaysia, they needed a financing solution to offer these suppliers sight payments. The solution is two fold: liquidity for both parties as well as credit risk mitigation for the exporter. The buyer utilizes Harbor’s platform in order to deliver purchase orders to the participating vendors, the vendors then take advantage of early payments made post-shipment. Buyer and Supplier interact on the platform which allows for a frictionless procurement process through Harbor’s trade finance and supply chain management solutions.
Over the past year we have seen an upward trend towards corporates rethinking their supply chains and procurement strategies. This is partly driven by uncertainty of US-China trade relations as well as increased labor costs in China. Supply Chains are shifting toward countries like Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and others. These changes may have unforeseen consequences, namely suppliers ability to support credit terms. Due to the fact that suppliers have no trading history with buyers, they may be unable or unwilling to provide credit terms. Additionally, it is well known that SME suppliers in these markets lack sufficient access to working capital.
We believe these changes create an opportunity to implement Supply Chain Finance programs and utilize vendor management tools on Harbor’s platform.
