As economic conditions get harder, there will be just one mantra for CEOs and their boards: "manage for cash." Companies may use a variety of terms to express this, talking about "tied-up capital" and "freeing up cash flow." But the focus is, quite simply, getting and keeping as much cash as possible. For many companies, the extent to which they can do this--even their survival over the next 18 months--lies in how well they manage their assets in the supply chain.
