Supply Chain & Finance

One of the projects that the Zaragoza Logistics Center is working on is an initiative to create a specialized center intersecting two disciplines, Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Finance. There is increasing global interest in the action between these two disciplines, especially noticeable in the last few years mainly due to the recent economic crisis.

The scope of action for the new center’s activities includes a study of the supply chain’s “third flow”; in other words, how money is moved between the links.

Some of the topics to be covered are:

1. What is the impact of SCM policies on financial ratios?
2. What are the working capital financing formulas for supply chain agents (such as, for example, trade credit, factoring, reverse factoring)?
3. How is risk (operational, financial) quantified in a supply chain?

This list is not by any means exhaustive, but it should provide an idea of what the action framework will be at this center and what is meant by the interaction between SCM and Finance.

The aim of this new center is to be an international reference in its field and featuring the following primary lines of action:

1. Research: The formulation of relevant questions and answers for the international scientific community.
2. Dissemination: The creation of teaching material on the one hand; and on the other, the organization of events such as conferences and seminars. These activities should help expand the available knowledge of the topics researched.
3. Consultancy: The completion of shared tasks and projects with production and service companies.

Finally, here are two of the key points included in the vision for the new center:

1. The interaction between industry and the academic world, with an emphasis on applied research in collaboration with companies.
2. The multinational nature of the center so as to create a setting that is broad enough for diverse points of view and varied opinions. In this regard, at least three European universities or research centers have already made a firm commitment to join the center and the inclusion of other institutions is currently being assessed.