Fibre2Fashion November Issue'17 | Page 62

ADVERTORIAL GT Nexus ensures security and the timely receipt of funds For most suppliers, having enough working capital to operate healthily remains a challenge. On one side, bank loans can come with undesirably high interest rates. On the other, buyers often wish to extend payment terms and thereby delay payment. This can create a situation where a supplier is completely squeezed, financially. With supply chain finance on the Infor GT Nexus Commerce Network, suppliers can access financing programmes that improve working capital while also benefitting buyers. YOUSAF ARSHAD MUNIR , AVP Finance at Crescent Bahuman Ltd speaks about the benefits of getting funding under the GT Nexus Early Payment Program (EPP). Yousaf Arshad Munir The Crescent Group has gained a great reputation in Pakistan’s business community, with over 60 years of experience in diversified industries such as textiles, sugar, banking, insurance, food, agriculture, and steel. Crescent Bahuman was initially established as a joint venture between the Crescent Group and Greenwood Mills, Inc. The Crescent group has solely owned it since 2001. Crescent Bahuman manufactures denim jeans for clients in Europe, Asia, and North America, producing over 8 million denim jeans for Levi Strauss & Co., Express Inc., Diesel, Dressman, Best Seller, GAS, Celio, and others. Crescent Bahuman found that getting timely funding was often challenging in an environment where traditional lending practices meant that funds came at a h igh cost. “Traditional lending arrangements often consume plenty of time,” explains Yousaf Arshad Munir, AVP Finance at Crescent Bahuman. “It’s Vendor Factories Customers Banks hard to plan for sudden, seasonal surges in export orders with traditional methods of bank lending. Government borrowing is also way too high, and this crowds out private lending and makes banks risk-averse.” Crescent Bahuman began to look for alternative forms of funding. It found a solution in a cloud-based Improve Working Capital Early Payment Post-export Financing Pre-export Financing Payment Protection Reduce Risk and Cost of Goods Order Issuance Shipment Invoice Approval Payment supply chain network that digitally transformed the availability and delivery of funding. Crescent Bahuman took advantage of the opportunity presented by the Infor GT Nexus Commerce Network, which allowed Crescent Bahuman to access beneficial funding programmes entirely online. In particular, the Early Payment Program on GT Nexus has allowed Crescent Bahuman to get payment within days of export shipment receipts. The programme has also allowed Crescent Bahuman to shorten its cash conversion cycle and gets its customer receipts insured. “Crescent Bahuman has augmented its business with those buyers who are on GT Nexus,” says Munir. “Also, when buyers have trouble opening lines of credit, we get funding from the GT Nexus Early Payment Program, which ensures both security and the timely receipt of funds.”