USAID, the last mile and black swan events

USAID has recently released a number of resources: Contracting for Transportation of Public Health Commodities to the Private Sector is a set of guidelines to aid private-sector contracting, while Implementing Activity-based Costing (ABC) and Activity-based Management (ABM) in Warehousing and Distribution is a new tool that helps users compare supply chain costs with private-sector costs. Finally, Recovery Strategies for Public Health Supply Chains Post-Black Swan Event is a set of guidelines to help decision makers recover after catastrophic events.

Contracting for Transportation of Public Health Commodities to the Private Sector

In many countries central medical stores, ministries of health and others responsible for public health supply chain management may choose to outsource transportation to private-sector service providers.

This new document from the USAID Global Health Supply Chain Program-Procurement and Supply Management (GHSC-PSM) project serves as a guide for private-sector contracting, examines the reasons for doing so, describes different options and explains the potential benefits and challenges of each option.

Readers will find it useful in making the right decisions, better understanding the contracting process and understanding how strategic planning for contracting can help ensure satisfactory vendor performance and even save money. Examples from Angola, Cambodia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa illustrate key points while the annexes include a sample scope of work, deliverables schedule, requests for proposals, key performance indicators and other tools.

Implementing Activity-based Costing (ABC) and Activity-based Management (ABM) in Warehousing and Distribution

To determine the real costs of warehousing and distribution activities, governments and donors are shifting to a traditionally private-sector approach called activity-based costing, or ABC. ABC provides tools to capture cost information daily, monthly and annually, new management processes, and organisational learning about how these tools and processes help improve cost management.

Readers can use this new guide to work toward a more efficient and well-performing supply chain by comparing supply chain costs with private-sector costs; the guide can also inform decisions related to outsourcing, including contract management and vendor accountability.

The guide includes case studies, sample cost calculators, ABC management tools, sample reports, templates and much more to help supply chain managers evolve their operations for greater efficiency and accountability.

Recovery Strategies for Public Health Supply Chains Post-Black Swan Event

A black swan event is an unpredictable and extremely rare episode with severe systematic consequences. These events, such as the global COVID-19 pandemic, cause dual shocks to the world’s supply chain that involve both origination and destination as both suppliers and end users are impacted, sending everyone scrambling to leverage the same limited resources. 

This new guide uses scenario mapping — predicting what might happen in the future and how your programme/supply chain might operate — to help decision makers plan for recovery from the consequences of the pandemic and other catastrophic events, consider the information and advice they have received and make informed decisions. The guide is also available in Spanish, Portuguese and French.

For an overview of the Black Swan Event Guide, take a look at the two-page fact sheet, which is also available in Spanish, Portuguese and French.