New costing tools will help policymakers gather and analyse critical supply chain data

To strengthen public health supply chains, policymakers, supply chain managers, and development partners need to know the real costs of delivering commodities. Identifying these costs and the sections of the supply chain that are driving costs can give decisionmakers the data they need to ensure adequate funding. However, this information is not always readily available. In response, the USAID | DELIVER PROJECT has developed a supply chain costing approach and a set of user-friendly tools. The Guide to Public Health Supply Chain Costing: A Basic Methodology establishes a general methodology for supply chain costing. The Excel-based Supply Chain Costing Tool and supporting documents can be used to facilitate the data collection, analysis, and report generation required for a supply chain costing exercise. Click on the links below to download the guide and tools. Guide to Public Health Supply Chain Costing: A Basic Methodology On several occasions since 2004, the USAID | DELIVER PROJECT has conducted supply chain costing exercises and, with the assistance of partner projects and ministries of health, has adapted a commercial best practice into a methodology for informing policy and operational decisionmaking for public health supply chains. This guide lays out a general methodology for supply chain costing irrespective of software tools chosen to support the analysis. Supply Chain Costing Tool The USAID | DELIVER PROJECT has designed the Supply Chain Costing Tool (SCCT) to support the implementation of public health supply chain costing exercises. Based in Excel, the software tool greatly facilitates data collection, analysis, and report generation of a supply chain costing exercise. Supply Chain Costing Tool User's Manual Reading this manual prior to applying the SCCT tool will help the user gain an understanding of the structure and organization of the tool and will help the user plan and prepare better for a costing exercise. The manual includes detailed instructions on every aspect of conducting a costing study using the SCCT. Costing Survey Job Aid Costing Survey Job Aid This Excel-based job aid accompanies the Supply Chain Costing Tool and the User's Guide. It will help users complete the surveys during data collection and when entering data into the electronic Excel facility surveys. For more information, email [[email protected]][email protected][/email].