Four ways trade digitisation helps business

There are decades where nothing happens, the old saying goes - and weeks where decades happen. Since the start of the pandemic, a lot has happened – and successful business have adapted accordingly.

Throughout the pandemic, the pace of corporate digitisation was unprecedented, as whole value chains embraced modern, online practices simply to survive. Now, as the world bounces back from the COVID-19 era, the advantages of that digitisation are becoming clear.

Keeping up

The pressure to modernise has never been greater in a digitally expectant marketplace. The rate of technological change, shifting regulatory expectations, and an increased focus on productivity and sustainability from both business and investors are all adding to the push to digitise.

Meanwhile, as the workforce grows increasingly comfortable with digital tools – yet another indelible impact of the pandemic – employers are changing their approach to technology accordingly.

In trade finance, changing attitudes have led to a growing acceptance of electronic executions and documentation, such as e-signatures, e-drawdowns and e-claims - in return for significant benefits for all parties.

Commercial trade documents are experiencing a shift toward digitisation, too. Examples of this can be seen in the standardisation of eInvoicing protocols such as PEPPOL and standardisation of regulations such as MLTER for electronic bills of lading.

See & supply

The use of supply chain financing - by nature more amenable to the use of data compared to traditional documentary trade-finance products – is growing at faster rate than ever before, fuelled by challenges brought about by the pandemic and geo-political conflicts. This growth has been supported by technologies which enable digitisation of entire supply chains.

These latest developments will enable supply chains to become transparent, connected, and self-orchestrated data-driven ecosystems to identify and respond to risks or disruptions before they happen, while also providing secure two-way and near-real time connectivity (and visibility) across the entire supply chain.

Some of the key technologies enabling these developments and, in turn, providing visibility are:

• cloud computing and blockchain;

• artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML);

• robotic process automation (RPA) and smart contracts;

• internet-of-things asset tracking and NFTs; and

• powering process automation

Digitising the supply chain can enable deep-tier visibility and promote sustainability goals in ways traditional methods do not. For instance, ‘intelligent visibility’ - the ability to know the provenance of a product or its components in a supply chain - is a feature that can satisfy growing sustainability demands from customers, investors and regulators.

Additional benefits to moving towards a digital supply chain process can include:

• informing supplier selection;

• streamlining supplier onboarding and automating supplier management;

• providing real-time information along the supply chain (temperature, speed, provenance); and

• predicting in operational issues, bottlenecks to allow for mitigation in advance.

Data & insight

Data is critical to unlocking the benefits of digitisation. The wealth of data generated by digitisation needs to be curated and - where appropriate - securely exchanged. There are now an increasing number of platforms that provide secure ways for various parties in a supply chain to capture, curate and exchange data.

The Trade Information Network (TIN) is a global platform formed by a six-bank consortium, of which ANZ is a founding member, and one example of such a platform. TIN enables the secure exchange of information giving trade financiers visibility into a customer’s supply chain, and providing opportunities to inject liquidity into the supply chain throughout its life cycle. 

The network helps corporations submit and verify purchase orders and invoices, as well as request pre- and post-shipment financing. By providing financiers with access to trade data, TIN helps mitigate the risks of double financing and fraudulent trade data.

This enhanced ability to assess risk helps facilitate trade financing across the supply chain, including for SMEs who have traditionally found it challenging to access trade finance.

Counting costs

The predictive analytics capabilities that come with some digital-trade tools are increasingly vital to decision-making within corporate treasuries. And the cost benefits can be immense.

The use of robotic process automation (RPA) has been shown to save companies as much as 60 per cent of the annual costs spent on certain trade finance processes – and can free up staff to focus on other valuable endeavours.

The shift to digitisation itself is never cheap, but the long-term benefits of digitisation justify the initial expense – as the smart businesses which were early movers are now finding out.