DUBAI — Tradeshift, the global leader in supply chain payments and marketplaces, launched Tradeshift Engage in the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region, bringing to local companies a simple cloud-based solution to fully digitize supply chain invoicing and payment systems to immediately address the cash flow and liquidity challenge businesses are facing in the current COVID-19 economic environment. Companies in the MEA region have been slow to digitize core business infrastructure, an issue that exposed suppliers still relying on paper-based invoicing systems to significant challenges maintaining business operations. Coupled with the recent trend of buyers delaying payments to as much as 180 days to protect working capital, this has resulted in a serious logjam for companies to receive much needed payments. The Silicon Valley-based Tradeshift, which recently launched its MEA headquarters in Dubai, enables enterprise companies that want to fully digitize their supply chain relationships to do it with speed and efficiency. Tradeshift Engage allows buyers to bring to their suppliers a value proposition that offers immediate and tangible benefits without any of the heavy lifting associated with traditional onboarding initiatives. The system enables the buyer and supplier to track invoices in real time, with an option for a flexible payment system that allows the supplier to receive payment direct from Tradeshift, preserving working capital for both the buyer and supplier. Delivered to sellers as a cloud and mobile responsive solution, which takes just a few minutes to activate, Engage offers sellers data-driven insights based on their relationship with the buyer by providing real-time visibility into transactions and the ability to finance payables on-the-go. The Tradeshift Engage app provides sellers with a full set of eInvoicing, ordering and fulfilment tools, such as digital Invoice and Credit Note creation, responding to POs and PO changes, sending shipping notices and being informed of receipt status. Sellers can easily engage and collaborate with multiple buyers through a single interface that enables real-time issue resolution. An intuitive dashboard also allows sellers to maintain an overview of everything in-flight. “As companies start the return to normal operations, one of the first priorities is to do an assessment of all operating practices that restricted business continuity during the lockdown period. “Over-reliance on traditional paper systems, particularly in invoicing and supply chain management, caused serious liquidity issues that affected ability to meet payroll responsibilities,” said Dan Quinn, general manager, Tradeshift Middle East & Africa Region. “Business leaders across the region are quickly realizing they can no longer delay digitializing core operating infrastructure that is essential to business continuity.” The system draws on existing data from the buyer’s ERP or system of record to complete a supplier profile that includes a full and accurate history of transactions. Early adopters of Tradeshift Engage have seen unparalleled levels of uptake by their seller communities. One major international buyer was able to connect with 5000 suppliers in just four weeks while reducing seller support calls to zero. “Businesses want to digitalize at speed. But the traditional approach to supplier onboarding remains slow and cumbersome. What we can do is make it quick and easy for buyers and sellers to establish a digital connection, get money flowing again and stay close to one another during a turbulent period,” said Quinn. — SG