Manufacturing and procurement

Get real-time, actionable insights into your raw material spend.

Discover what ION can do for you

Over half of the world’s largest food and beverage manufacturers use an ION solution to manage their treasury and commodity risk

Businesses are facing unprecedented volatility in the costs of raw materials, which can harm profitability, shareholder value, and credibility with analysts. Large fluctuations in raw material spend are not easily transferable to the sale price of a finished good. With full visibility the cost of each raw material component, procurement specialists can build risk management and hedging strategies to flatten volatility, gaining a competitive advantage. With ION Commodities solutions, organizations are better prepared to navigate uncertain market dynamics and capitalize on opportunities.

Related sectors

  • Food and beverage (CPG)

    Procurement of the raw materials used in the manufacturing of food and beverage finished goods sold retail as consumer packaged goods.

  • Industrials

    Procurement of the raw materials used in the production of finished products, such as automotive, equipment, or chemicals.

Value delivered

  • Challenge

    Unpredictable prices

    Today’s price volatility across all commodities is unprecedented, making forecasting more difficult than ever. Businesses must plan promotions based on a cost assumption for a product not yet produced. The more scientific and modern the approach to demand forecasting, the greater the competitive advantage you can gain.

    Solution

    Optimize against volatility

    ION offers solutions that optimize your strategic planning. Our simulation and optimization algorithms increase demand forecasting accuracy and help maximize operating profit.

  • Challenge

    Lack of position visibility

    Commodity price volatility is always changing. As raw material costs increase, procurement specialists seek better visibility of covered and uncovered positions for both volume and spend needs. Managing a risk position in spreadsheets is no longer efficient. Better controls and faster reporting are necessary to implement a spend management plan that can react as fast as the market moves.

    Solution

    Componentized risk

    ION’s comprehensive spend management solutions break down material forecasts to componentize the risk of each raw material. Pricing agreements, cash contracts, and futures/options/swaps can then be used to provide coverage by pricing component. This gives your business the visibility to compartmentalize risk and execute a spend management plan for all raw materials, from ingredients to packaging.

  • Challenge

    Data rich, knowledge poor

    Compiling risk positions can be cumbersome. As market prices move, dashboards and analytics need to be updated constantly. Measuring performance against various metrics is vital to determining the best approach to managing material needs and spend.

    Solution

    Real-time analytics

    ION’s solutions offer full reporting of coverage by raw material and spend forecasts. Report versioning offers on-demand variance reporting of actuals versus forecasted budget, market, and historical data. You can test strategies with simulations and access a full dashboard to view performance in real time. This eliminates time lags and helps drive smarter, faster decision making.

Forecasting and planning
Covering and purchasing
Risk analytics and reporting

Products

  • An out-of-the-box, multi-commodity CTRM with configurable functionality.

  • An optimization solution for supply and demand planning, integrated with ION’s CTRMs.

Frequently asked questions

  • Can ION products integrate with my existing ERP?

    ION solutions have standard adapters that integrate to ERPs to streamline workflows and data sharing.

  • Can ION products support my complex risk analytics?

    ION solutions offer advanced analytics for asset optimization, portfolio valuation, and complex option pricing. This provides your business with valuable insights to improve profitability and optimize price risk management.

Latest Commodities news

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26 September 2024
LONDON –  26 September 2024: ION Commodities, a leading global provider of commodity ...
12 September 2024
LONDON– 12 September 2024: ION Commodities, a leading global provider of energy and ...
4 September 2024
London – 04 September 2024: ION Commodities, a global leader in energy and ...
3 April 2024
LONDON – 03 April 2024: ION Commodities, a leading provider of energy and ...
28 February 2024
London – 28 February 2024: ION Commodities, a global leader in energy and ...

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