Supply chains need to be more reactive than ever to ensure that goods and services – particularly within a market like PPE – can be delivered on time, financed accordingly and sourced with the specificity required.
OCI is a supply chain partner. This enables us to add enormous value and flexibility to almost any business. By partnering closely with our clients, we can support them throughout their entire end-to-end (E2E) procurement process.
We manage three key aspects:
- Sourcing – we can source products inline with customer requirements, accreditations and specifications. This enables us to be both supplier and product agnostic so we can best serve our clients in a truly objective and open book capacity.
- Logistics – where required, OCI provides (multi/mix) modal logistics from supplier to any designated destination in a timeframe as required by an end user. As an extension of this, we can arrange any necessary third-party inspections and validations.
- Financing – we can offer clients flexible (including open account) credit options so that they can optimise their cash flows.
During 2020, PPE has clearly been an enormous focus of private companies and public bodies alike. OCI has applied this partnering approach to this product category in order to support our clients globally with products they so urgently and critically require.
Because of OCI’s understanding and capabilities with procurement, we are able to source and secure from the finite pool of products which are available in the market for only a very short amount of time. PPE manufacturers have been overwhelmed with this unprecedented demand and only with existing relationships with factories, scale and favourable payment terms can a few selected organisations gain allocation, OCI being one of them. As we are also not a trading company, we have no bias or agenda towards any product which provides our clients with the transparency and comfort that the product they require is the product they receive.
OCI has partnered with a 65bn USD US-based food distribution company to source, deliver and finance a breadth of PPE products to support their business operations during this difficult time across a contract worth $600m. On this occasion, we have worked closely with them to fully understand their product requirements before going out to market to locate and secure products inline with their specific standards – in this case, within the content of food. Given their end user market, we have also designed and optimised the product artwork, which prior to production is shared with the factory, so that the packaging is bespoke to the client and relevant to their end-users.
For this business, we have also been selected to manage the logistics component. OCI is able to flex its comprehensive knowledge of multi and mix modal logistics to be able to deliver – and customs clear – goods as required. This is across road, rail, sea and air and whether the delivery point is a singular destination or multiple warehouses across a country, we are able to deliver shipments within an optimal time frame – including one-off, regular and just in time requirements. For this buyer, OCI has coordinated the origin inland logistics, airfreight, destination inland logistics and customs clearance – a fully managed end-to-end delivery which enables our clients to continue to focus on their business.
OCI has also provided this client with flexible credit options, which in turn finances the trade from E2E. Within the PPE market in particular, it is clear that there is often a mismatch in seller payment term requirements and buyer payment term requirements – particularly between Asian and US businesses/government bodies. Sellers of these products have found themselves in a unique position where demand has dramatically outweighed supply and thus they have strict requirements for often upfront 100% cash advances in order to secure the supply, whereas buyers much prefer – when appropriate – 30 or 60 days open account credit terms. OCI is therefore able to see the value that it is providing when such a gap can be bridged and all parties credit terms can be arranged.
Please contact us to find how OCI can support your business with end-to-end sourcing, logistical and financial requirements.