Luca Gelsomino is an Assistant Professor at the University of Groningen and the Academic Director of the SCF Community. In this role, he oversees the Community’s research projects, international network and publication strategy.

His teaching interests include supply chain management, financial analysis and Supply Chain Finance. He holds a Ph.D. with merit from the School of Management of Politecnico di Milano (Italy), on the topic of measuring the financial performance of supply chains. While working for the School of Management, he directed the School’s permanent research program on Supply Chain Finance. His research focuses on the relationship between physical and financial supply chains.

Thomas Krings is a seasoned professional in the credit insurance industry with over two decades of experience. He began his career in 1994, holding various positions and leadership roles in the credit insurance market. From 2004 to 2009, Krings served as Head of Export Credit Management and later as Commercial Director and Head of Product Development and Controlling at Euler Hermes Germany.

In 2010, Krings was appointed to the Board of Management of Euler Hermes Germany and took on the role of Regional Risk Manager for the DACH region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) within the Euler Hermes Group. In this capacity, he was responsible for the entire Credit and Risk Management of the DACH region, overseeing a portfolio exceeding 200 billion euros.

Since 2016, Krings has been serving as Managing Partner at cflox GmbH, where he is responsible for Clients & Partners. Under his leadership, cflox has successfully expanded its client base to include major corporations with more than 100 successful client programs. He has played a pivotal role in forging strategic partnerships with top financial institutions, enhancing cflox’s market presence in Supply Chain Finance.

His extensive experience in risk management and leadership positions has established him as a respected figure in the industry.

Hendrik Gaudek, is currently leading as Infrastructure Management Specialist at Bayer AG since October 2024, spearheading strategic initiatives like SCF Concept, Payment Terms, and Advanced Payment. With over 15 years of experience in supply chain management, procurement, and infrastructure leadership, Hendrik has consistently driven transformation and innovation across global organizations

Previously, as Senior Rapid Deployment Manager at Bayer AG (2020–2024), he led cross-functional projects, directed transformation efforts, and optimized distribution networks. His leadership prowess was further exemplified as Head of Continuous Learning & Development S2P GER (2018–2019), managing a six-member team while advancing process and system improvements.

Starting in 2017, he headed Continuous Improvement S2P GER, focusing on process optimization and functional excellence, leveraging methodologies like SCRUM and Lean. Before Bayer, Hendrik served at Ernst & Young GmbH (2013–2014), leading supply chain projects and transformations, and as Sourcing Specialist at Toyota Motor Europe (2010–2013), mastering Just-in-Time practices and supplier management.

Hendrik holds a BA from Edinburgh Napier University and a Diplom-Kaufmann from FH Aachen. He specialize in supply chain management and international business.

Matthias Cork is the Director (Group) Working Capital Strategy & Projects (ZF WC) at Rewe Group with expertise in treasury, supply chain financing, and trade finance. He holds an M.Sc. in International Business from Switzerland and a B.Sc. in International Relations and Economics from the UK.

After starting his career in controlling, Matthias transitioned into treasury, eventually leading the treasury function at Lekkerland Group until 2020. During this time, He played a key role in optimizing financial processes and risk management. Following this, Matthias joined the Rewe Group where he successfully integrated all treasury functions into the larger organization.

Since then, he has been responsible for supply chain financing and trade finance at Rewe Group, ensuring financial efficiency, risk mitigation, and liquidity optimization across the supply chain. His work focuses on strengthening supplier relationships, improving working capital, and supporting strategic procurement initiatives.

With a strong background in international finance and corporate treasury, Matthias brings a strategic approach to financial operations, balancing risk and growth in complex supply chains.

Univ.-Prof. Dr. habil. Dr. h. c. Michael Henke is Director of Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML in Dortmund and holds the Chair in Enterprise Logistics (LFO) at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at TU Dortmund University, Germany. Furthermore, he is Adjunct Professor for Supply Chain Management at the School of Business and Management of Lappeenranta University of Technology in Finland.
His research focuses inter alia on Management of Industrie 4.0 and Platform Economy, Blockchain and Smart Contracts, Financial Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Risk Management, Procurement, Logistics and Supply Chain Management. Doing this he is combining his practical experience from entrepreneurial practice and his extensive knowledge from research.
Michael Henke studied Brewing and Beverage Technology (Dipl.-Ing.) and gained his doctorate and habilitation in Business and Economics at Technical University of Munich, Germany. During and after his habilitation, he worked for the Supply Management Group SMG in St. Gallen, Switzerland. From 2007 until 2013 he was active in teaching and research as a professor at EBS European Business School.

Roberto is a seasoned treasury and finance professional with over twenty years of experience. He currently serves as the Treasury Director at Nidec ASI S.p.A., an Italian company of the Japanese Nidec Group.

From 2012 to 2021, he held the role of Treasury and Finance Director at one of Italy’s largest  importers and distributors of Korean and Japanese car brands. In this role he successfully led the reorganization of the treasury department and managed the bank debt restructuring plan.

Earlier in his career, Roberto worked for a financial company in the pharmaceutical sector, primarily focusing on funding activities, including long-term and syndicated loans as well as securitization. He also gained experience  at an industrial holding company and an Italian bank, where he served as a credit analyst.

Markus currently works as Managing Director, Head of Origination at Orbian. He has over 20 years of experience in financial services. He started his career at Deutsche Bundesbank, before holding various management positions for 15 years at Siemens Financial Services in Germany and the US from 2000. As Head of Supply Chain Finance@Siemens, Markus worked in Siemens Treasury where he led teams in the US and Germany that developed and implemented a Siemens-wide supply chain finance program with Orbian. Prior to joining Orbian in 2018, Markus led the Business Development at an Asset Management and a Fintech Company in Switzerland.

Stefan Waelde is Head of Business Development B2B at AirPlus International and responsible for B2B procure-to-pay solutions and their commercial development globally. He joined AirPlus in 2000 as Business Development Manager Web Solutions and soon after led an innovation project around financial supply chain management and e-invoicing. He then worked as Program Director on the market launch of a payment solution for the European region and its according implementation of a payment processing platform. He then took on the role of Director Products and Innovation in charge of the entire product suite of AirPlus International.
He has been decisive in various strategic projects in the context of increasing financial regulation and related product developments. Before joining AirPlus, he worked as a consultant in the IT industry and as a research assistant at university.