A model for the supply chain representation and financial assessment

Widely-accepted models for the performance assessment of a supply chain (e.g.: SCOR) fail to take into account high-level, product-centric supply chains, defined as interconnected network of nodes constituted by groups of organizations. Nevertheless, this view of a supply chain, and a consequently methodology for its financial assessment, play a paramount role in the early stage of assessment of non-canonical financing solution, such as Supply Chain Finance (SCF) programs, that often exploit, among other factors, the strength of supply chain links. Therefore, this work has as objective the development of a model for the supply chain representation and financial assessment. The model is based on academic contribution and empirical experience, gained through the profiling of two real-world supply chains; it is divided into three parts: the first presents a formal, graphical, representation of the supply chain, the second a tabular instrument highlighting relevant information regarding exchanges among nodes, while the third provides the financial assessment of each node, relatively to the whole supply chain. The model is connected to the evaluation of SCF solutions. In particular, from its outcome it is possible to deduct information to support the supply chain-level analyses often necessary in the evaluation of the application of SCF solutions to a supply chain. Such supply chain-specific information define the likelihood that organizations in a node will be suitable for specific sets of SCF solutions, as well as the roles that they may play in an SCF framework. Ultimately, a web-based prototype based on this model has been developed. Its purpose is to show the expected implementation of the model in a tool. It collects the required inputs, inserted by the user, process them, and provides dynamic and interactive outputs. The prototype concludes the work and highlights its benefits, that are, the possibility of formally profiling a supply chain, with the purpose of its financial assessment, and to use the results of such assessment as support to the supply chain level analyses, often required in the evaluation of the application of SCF solutions that benefit from the exploiting of the strength of supply chain links.