Recap & Recording: Building supply chain resilience with automated bank guarantee management

1. Current Economic and Political Context

Francois highlighted the impact of recent global events on supply chains, emphasizing the shift from globalization to resilience. “The whole concept of supply chain has morphed into a focus on how to be resilient and mitigate disruptions,” he noted.

2. Assessment and Automation

Suchi stressed the importance of assessing current practices and automating processes to reduce inefficiencies. “We aim to address how inefficient manual guarantee checks cause significant issuance delays,” she explained. She also highlighted the role of AI in improving operational efficiency, stating, “We’ve leveraged AI capabilities to elevate the accuracy and operational efficiency of bank guarantees.”

3. Integration and Collaboration

Sander discussed the need for integrated systems to manage trade finance instruments effectively. “It’s very important to set up a treasury management system that can support the managing of trade finance products,” he said. He also emphasized the importance of linking these systems to ERP and banking platforms for better management.

4. Future of Trade Finance:

Francois provided a visionary outlook on the future of trade finance, mentioning the potential of AI and the importance of data integration. “AI could help detect behaviors and risks, providing alerts that could be quite useful for the corporate world,” he stated. He also stressed the need for dedicated solutions to make treasurers’ lives easier, adding, “We need a dedicated solution to help us and make our life easier to save time that can be dedicated to added value tasks.”