Commodities Procurement Trends are Focus of Agri-Food Supply Chain Panel

PITTSBURGH – October 22, 2013 – SCA Technologies, the leading provider of category sourcing and cost management solutions, announced its participation at the Oilseed & Grain Trade Summit this week in Minneapolis. The Summit is a globally-recognized food industry conference that attracts commodity and ingredient buyers and sellers from around the world.

Along with executives from Hillshire Brands and ConAgra Foods, Vishy Visweswaran of SCA Technologies will participate in a panel addressing issues for “Challenges for Procurement in the Agri-Food Value Chain.” The panelists will discuss:

  • How to structure contract terms in order to manage risk and how to monitor/audit contracts;
  • How to drive higher collaboration with supply chain, marketing and suppliers using real-time information, analytics and business processes;
  • Metrics that should be used to track the performance of procurement activities and new technologies which can enhance real-time oversight;
  • Likely price scenarios for some of the major soft commodities over the next year and
  • How shifting trade flows are likely to affect the ability to secure supplies of commodities efficiently and on a timely basis in light of ending stocks for major oilseeds (and derivatives) and grains going into the 2013 harvest.

“Commodities procurement is moving beyond controlling product costs to managing operating margins,” said Vishy Visweswaran, CTO of SCA Technologies. “Our solutions are helping provide the information, analytics and collaboration that food companies need to enable this change,” he continued.

Close to 1,000 food manufacturing and procurement professionals, and oilseed and grain importers and exporters will attend this annual event. The Summit offers unparalleled networking opportunities, and discussion about key industry issues including strategies for sustainable growth in agricultural production, new processing technologies, transportation challenges, and developing trends in the commodity, food, biofuels and animal feed sectors.

For more information visit www.oilseedandgraintrade.com

 

About SCA Technologies

SCA Technologies provides supply chain and cost management solutions that help food industry leaders maximize profits by better managing market, supply and demand volatility. Supply chain, procurement, and finance professionals use the unique cross-functional approach of the SCA Planner™ suite to make better decisions for billions in category spend each year. With this increased visibility they can finally evaluate market alternatives in a coordinated manner and respond quickly to changes, leading to an average reduction in the cost of goods sold by 3-5% on an annual basis. Learn more about our innovative, cloud-based solutions for the extended value chain at