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Market conditions for manufacturers have posed quite the challenge over the past couple of years. The lethal combination of Brexit and COVID-19 have produced forecasts that suggest it will take until 2022 for the manufacturing sector to recover to its pre-pandemic growth track, according to a report published by Make UK and Santander UK. The PwC UK Manufacturing Operations Pulse Survey: November 2021 revealed that 73% of UK respondents rank supply chain a high/very high priority. Digital manufacturing is the most highly-prioritized platform, followed by real time monitoring systems. The manufacturing industry has found itself in a constant state of change in customer supply and demand, government regulations, suppliers, and more. The biggest task and challenge has been to manage the security of the supply chain and profitability. Amidst all of the disruption and unprecedented uncertainty, manufacturing industry players knew for sure that in order to survive and transcend the once-in-a-generation economic downturn was that businesses needed access to liquidity. Whether companies pivoted and switched their service offerings to PPE production or they quickly adopted AI solutions for supply chain optimization, there needed to available funding on hand to enable agile responsiveness and to alleviate cash flow bottlenecks. We are not out of the woods just yet and because the future is not crystal clear, manufacturers need to create their own kind of security and form their own safety net that will protect the business from any external threat or disruption. In order to make drastic changes to any business, there needs to be cash on hand. “How will we fund our future-proof business strategy?” is a question that weighs heavily on the minds of even the largest manufacturing industry players.
According to the PwC Connected and Autonomous Supply Chain Ecosystems 2025 report, companies who make investments in real-time digital data and decision making, joining up their end-to-end supply chain, tend to fare better and are able to be more responsive to demand changes and build resilience into their supply chains than companies who don't. There will be future disruptions that will demand a resilience that we have come to know through recent shocks to the supply chain system. To prepare for future market volatility and protect the security of the supply chain, businesses must invest in end-to-end supply chain digitization to foster full supply chain visibility, flexibility, and resilience.
The price of transformation for manufacturers does not come cheap. By improving cash flow, supply chain finance unlocks large facilities of working capital that can be used to fund business initiatives. Manufacturers are increasingly turning to supply chain finance to fund business innovation and transformation projects to empower their future.
Supply chain finance is like both a growth elixir for companies. No matter what manufacturers choose to use the extra cash for, it is sure to keep your supply chain moving and your business growing. Discover more about the benefits of supply chain finance here. To get in touch to learn more, please contact us at info@traderiverfinance.com.