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Supply Chain Management System Project - Delivering HIV/AIDS Medicines to 21 Nations Among the greatest threats to global health and security today is that of HIV and AIDS, a disease that has ravaged communities across the globe. As a partner in the Supply Chain Management System (SCMS) project, Booz Allen Hamilton is helping to ensure that high-quality anti-retroviral drugs, HIV tests, and other critical supplies for treating HIV/AIDS are available to the patients, physicians, clinical staff, and others who need them. The SCMS project’s mission is to strengthen or establish secure, reliable, cost-effective, and sustainable supply chains to meet the care and treatment needs of people living with or affected by HIV and AIDS. Administered by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the SCMS project was established in September 2005 and is funded by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a five-year, US$15 billion commitment to combating the disease around the world. As one of 17 private, public, nonprofit, and faith-based institutions leading the SCMS project, Booz Allen applied its supply chain expertise, perfected in engagements across the commercial and public sectors, to help design and implement systems for procuring and delivering essential medicines and supplies. “SCMS was a startup company, with no information systems, no policies, no procedures, no functional leaders,” says John Sheptor, who recently retired from his position as project deputy director for SCMS, which is based in Arlington, Virginia. “The Booz Allen team assumed critical leadership roles and enabled the development of business processes and institutional systems. This was critical because it facilitated the clear definition of priorities, milestones, roles and responsibilities, and accountability. We’ve been able to reach into Booz Allen for experts across many different fields, whether procurement, distribution, communications, or project management.” “We created a new global enterprise, which required a range of capabilities that are centers of excellence within Booz Allen,” says John Larkin, a senior associate based Rockville, Maryland. “As we put this together, Booz Allen emerged as the in-house advisor playing myriad roles.” Traditionally, public health agencies and nonprofit aid providers have purchased drugs on the spot market and relied on ad hoc distribution processes, which are vulnerable to theft and counterfeiting. Working with its partners, Booz Allen helped design an integrated supply chain—communicating with in-country representatives to improve long-term forecasts and supply logistics—with warehousing and inventory management services all under one roof. The process has sped the delivery of drugs to patients while lowering costs by more than 40 percent and eliminating pilferage and damage. From an initial goal to reach 15 countries, distribution now extends to 21 nations around the world. “There’s a moral, an ethical, and a very personally rewarding aspect to being successful with this project,” says Sheptor. “Millions of lives are being saved and positively touched. Most consulting firms are big on strategy and concepts, but when it comes to implementation they’re nowhere to be found. This is where Booz Allen was consistently different. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.” story posted August 2007 Related Links...
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