Coordinated Supply Planning Group (CSP) Factsheet

Publication date: 2019

The Coordinated Supply Planning (CSP) Group UPDATED: JUNE 2019 Coordinated Supply Planning Group Linking countries, procurers, donors, and suppliers to prevent stock imbalances and optimize use of resources The Coordinated Supply Planning (CSP) Group is a cross-organizational team that strives to prevent family planning (FP) commodity stock imbalances by using shared supply chain data and information to coordinate shipments and the allocation of resources within and among countries. It is one of two workstreams of the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition’s (RHSC) System Strengthening Working Group that together focus on ensuring a continuum of global- level supply chain coordination and country support. The CSP group focuses on identifying and addressing potential stock imbalances 6-15 months in the future, while the Coordinated Assistance for Reproductive Health Supplies group (CARhs) complements the work of the CSP by focusing on imminent or current stock imbalances within the next 6 months. Today, the CSP group members include representatives of UNFPA’s Procurement Services and Commodity Security Branches, USAID, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), John Snow, Inc. (JSI), the Global Health Supply Chain - Procurement and Supply Management project (GHSC-PSM), and the RHSC. The CSP group approach and processes The CSP group seeks to prevent stock imbalances through better coordination between the two key institutional procurers of family planning commodities, USAID and UNFPA, and key supply chain partners. The CSP group: › Provides a forum for donors, procurers, and partners to discuss and collaboratively problem solve around supply-related issues that affect the availability of FP products; › Provides data analysis and recommendations to optimize use of available resources and better serve countries and programs, beyond what would be possible working as individual, uncoordinated entities; › Coordinates supply planning to reduce global supply risk to all programs receiving FP commodity support; › Forecasts contraceptive implant procurement for Family Planning 2020 markets to provide regular updates on the demand outlook to donors, suppliers, and other stakeholders; › Quantifies procurement funding gaps for countries at risk of stockouts in the next calendar year and shares the analysis with donors and partners to mobilize additional funds. The CSP group’s initial efforts focused on two methods: contraceptive implants and three-month injectable contraceptives (intramuscular and sub-cutaneous) based on high demand and enhanced data visibility provided by partnerships with implant manufacturers through the Implants Access Program. However, in the past few years CSP members have expanded our work to include periodic review of additional family planning products to better foresee potential stock imbalances across all methods. CSP employs a valid and reliable methodology for regularly monitoring stock levels and anticipating product needs. The methodology is based on having the group systematically review countries’ and programs stock levels and estimate future stock levels month-by-month based on expected consumption and planned or potential shipments. The group uses this data to prioritize and redistribute shipments for countries in greatest need, while at the same time ensuring more equitable distribution of commodities among countries and programs. Over time, the CSP group has improved the processes and tools used for its analyses. In 2014, CHAI helped CSP develop an Excel-based supply planning tool that could be updated regularly with country data and shipment information. In 2015, with funding from RHSC, the CSP group worked to develop an online version of the supply planning tool within USAID’s Business Intelligence and Analytics platform. The experience with this online tool provided important learning about data integration, visualization, and use that has been incorporated into the development of RHSC’s longer-term vision, planning, and implementation of the Global Family Planning Visibility and Analytics Network (GFPVAN) initiative. The GFPVAN initiative will transform and align the work of the CSP and the CARhs group by merging them into one platform and consensus planning group, providing a collaborative information network between global and country partners. The GFPVAN will improve how we work together, resulting in greater efficiencies, reach, and impact. For more information on the Global FP VAN initiative, please contact Julia White at jwhite@rhsupplies.org. Figure 1: Example of the group’s supply planning tool used to evaluate quantities and timing of future shipments This allows us to assess the impact of a future shipment on stock levels The CSP group impact Over the past three years, CSP has improved processes to review and track potential stock issues and outcomes allowing CSP to review more countries and take action for a higher proportion of those countries. In 2018, the CSP group identified and reviewed issues for 40 countries, and was able to take at least one action for 31 countries (78%). This outcome represents an increase from 2017, when CSP identified issues for 34 countries and took action for 19 of those countries (56%), as well as a dramatic increase from 2016, the first year tracking this indicator, when the group identified issues for 22 countries. The most frequent reasons for not being able to take action include a) conclusion that no action was needed, following further review; or b) no action by CSP members was possible – e.g., it was not possible to expedite or delay a shipment. It is important to note that this outcome reflects countries, though CSP tracks multiple programs individually for a few countries, increasing the number of potential issues significantly and broadening the scope of potential impact. The increase in issues and resolutions can be attributed to the expansion in the contraceptive methods covered as the group increased efforts to obtain and use supply plans as the primary source of demand information from countries and programs. From 2016 to 2018, CSP has worked together to make adjustments to orders (timing, quantity, or funding) for FP products valued at over $89 M for 37 countries and 14 different RH products. Summing the annual totals by action type depicted in Figure 2, this result can be broken down into over $36 M (about $12 M each year) mobilized to place additional orders to fill gaps, delaying or transferring products worth $7.6 M to avoid overstocks and expiries, and saving $3.4 M by canceling or reducing orders that were not needed. In 2018 alone, the total figure of orders affected was over $41 M, primarily driven by $13.6 M in reallocated orders, $13.2 M in expedited orders, and $12.2 M in new funding mobilized for shipments needed to avoid critical shortages. The significant increase from previous years reflects the increased work done to reallocate and shift shipments for products with constrained supply. $0M $10M $20M $30M $40M $50M 2016 2017 2018 $1.3M $0.4M $0.1M $1.7M $0.9M $13.6M $13.2M $12.2M $1.8M $1.0M $2.0M $5.6M $12.4M $4.0M $1.8M $5.6M $12.1M $24.9M $23.1M $41.6M Mobilized additional funding for new shipment Expedited order Reallocated/Delayed to send product to another country Delayed to prevent overstock/potential expiry Canceled/reduced order Facilitated a transfer Figure 2 – Value of orders affected by CSP actions by action type, by year This trend is also reflected in the increase in the number of couple years of protection (CYPs) provided over this same period (shown in Figure 3). By mobilizing funding for new orders and expediting orders to avoid shortages and stockouts, CSP has provided an additional 29 M CYPs for 34 countries over the past three years. In 2018 alone, the group’s work to increase order quantities or expedite shipments supported 29 countries with an additional 14.2 M CYPs, doubling the results of both the previous two years. Over the past two years, CSP actions have expanded beyond the group’s initial focus on implants and injectable contraceptives to address stock imbalances with other family planning methods as possible. The results of this expanded scope are shown in the breakdown of funding mobilized for new shipments by year in Figure 4. In addition, starting in 2018 the CSP group has been responding to emerging needs, such as: › Managing shipment allocation and prioritization for several products with short-term supply constraints to minimize risk of severe country and program level shortages and stockouts; › Collecting and reviewing supply plans for countries and programs to evaluate needs against requests, orders, and proactively flag funding gaps; › Developing a rolling, quarterly forecasting methodology and outputs to share with manufacturers, with the intent to replicate this methodology within the GFPVAN when feasible; › Working with CARhs members to design a process to merge the two coordination groups into one using the GFPVAN platform, in order to achieve greater value and efficiencies across organizations and interventions. Supporting the work of the CSP group The CSP group’s success relies both on the continued commitment to cross-organizational collaboration and the availability of critical supply chain data, including shipment, inventory, historical consumption, demand forecasts, and supply plan data. If you are a representative of a Ministry of Health, procurer, service provider, manufacturer or other supply chain organization and have this type of data to share, please contact the CSP group coordinator, Alexis Heaton, at alexis_heaton@jsi.com. Figure 3 - CYPs provided because of CSP prioritizing (reallocating), expediting, or mobilizing funding for orders by year Figure 4 – Value of funding mobilized for new orders by method and year 0M 3M 6M 9M 12M 15M 2016 2017 2018 7.8M 7.0M 14.2M Couple Years of Protection (CYPs) 2016 2017 2018 $0M $3M $6M $9M $12M $15M Oral Contraceptives IUDs Injectables Implants Condoms

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