Pressure to maximize cash flow at their corporate clients is putting the squeeze on manufacturers and other suppliers, as buyers insist on longer payment terms, notes Doug Russell, vice president of supply chain solutions at Exostar, which helps companies conduct commerce through cloud-based collaboration systems.

Most suppliers Exostar deals with want to get paid within days of when they deliver goods to their customers, but less than a third actually see their money that quick, Russell says. That’s why Exostar is offering a new service with Taulia, a provider of supply chain financing services, to provide both suppliers and their customers new options in settling invoices and processing payments.

Exostar specializes in providing online collaboration tools and services to manufacturers and other companies across several industries including aerospace and defense, energy, chemicals, life sciences and healthcare. Among its services are tools for managing the secure access of authorized business partners into online systems for sharing business documents, and procurement portals for purchasing direct goods companies use to produce products for sale to customers and indirect goods companies purchase to operate their facilities.

Late last year, Exostar entered an agreement with Taulia to offer Exostar’s clients the ability to process invoices and payments according to schedules acceptable to both buyer and seller. Taulia provides cloud-based supply chain financing services that let buyers and their suppliers in online B2B networks choose payment terms. Under a typical scenario, a seller will grant a buyer a discount for making a payment sooner than its usual 30 days from receipt of an invoice; Taulia, which provides invoice financing from a network of banks if buyers don’t want to pay with cash, shares the value of the discount.

“Our partnership with Taulia gives all organizations in our Aerospace & Defense community the opportunity to choose when they receive payment, from the day an invoice is approved to the day it is due,” Russell says.

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