Educational use only. All datasets, facility names, district names, and indicator values used in this course are entirely fictitious and created for instructional purposes. They do not represent actual programme data and should not be cited or used to inform any programme or policy decisions.

PH Data Academy — Course 02

Supply Chain Analytics
for Health Programmes

From a stockout alert to a provincial replenishment dashboard. Built around simulated South African commodity data — ARVs, TB treatment, vaccines, and maternal health medicines.

Focused on Excel and R — practical tools for logistics officers, M&E practitioners, and programme managers, not supply chain engineers.

Start Learning  
10Modules
30+Lessons
24Simulated facilities
8Tracer medicines
Excel + RTools covered

Course dataset — Mpumalanga district commodity tracker (simulated)

Every module uses a simulated monthly stock dataset covering 24 facilities across a fictional Mpumalanga district, over 6 reporting periods. The data is modelled on the kind of exports produced by South Africa's Stock Visibility System (SVS) and DHIS2. You will work with stockout flags, accounting discrepancies, consumption spikes, and cross-facility comparisons — exactly what you encounter in practice.

TDF/3TC/DTG FDCFirst-line ART — monthly stock & consumption
Rifampicin / IsoniazidTB treatment — stock accounting data
Measles vaccineCold chain — stock on hand & VVM losses
Metformin 500mgDiabetes — expiry and overstock scenarios
Salbutamol inhalerRespiratory — redistribution scenarios
Cotrimoxazole 480mgOpportunistic infection prophylaxis
Oral rehydration saltsMCH — seasonal demand variation
BPG injectionSyphilis treatment — treatment gap scenarios
Course map
1
Module One

Why Data Visibility Matters

Before learning any formula, you understand what is at stake. Stockouts, expiries, and wastage are not random — they are decisions made on incomplete data. This module establishes why visibility is the foundation of every high-performing supply chain.

Lesson 1.1
The cost of not knowing — a Limpopo ARV scenario
A guided walkthrough of what happens when supply chain data is invisible. One stockout, six days, twelve patients. What data, if available, would have prevented it?
OrientationConcept
Programme scenario

A district supply chain officer in Limpopo receives a call: a clinic has run out of TDF/3TC/DTG. The clinic serves 340 ART patients. The last spreadsheet update was four weeks ago. No one knew consumption spiked after a patient transfer from a closed rural clinic. The stockout lasts six days. What data would have made this visible in time to act?

  • 01
    What supply chain data visibility actually means
    The four conditions: right data, right quality, right time, right hands. Why data that exists but cannot be accessed is not visible.
    Data literacyConcept
  • 02
    The consequences: stockouts, expiries, wastage — quantified
    Using the NDoH Stock Visibility System (SVS) context: persistent stockout rates at primary healthcare facilities. How fragmented data prevented redistribution of expiring stock.
    South AfricaProgramme context
  • 03
    The digitisation maturity curve — where does your programme sit?
    Five stages: Greenfield → Early digitisation → Emerging digitisation → Digitisation with analytics → Future state. Mapping South African examples (SVS, CCMDD, SYSPRO depot systems) to each stage.
    FrameworkSouth Africa
Practice task 1.1

Map the data flow in your own programme. At each level, mark: (a) what supply chain data is collected, (b) how it is collected (paper / digital / both), and (c) how quickly it reaches the next level. Identify ONE decision currently being made with incomplete or delayed data.

Lesson 1.2
Four critical actions to build data visibility
International evidence and South African experience point to the same four actions. This lesson maps each to the course and to real programme examples.
FrameworkConcept
  • 01
    Action 1: Secure stakeholder commitment — quantifying the cost
    How the NDoH Ideal Clinic Realisation and Maintenance (ICRM) programme created accountability for supply chain performance — and what programme managers can learn from it.
  • 02
    Actions 2–4: Roadmap, capabilities, interoperability
    Zambia's five-year integration plan as a blueprint. GS1 barcodes in South African pharmaceutical distribution. Why SVS, DHIS2, and depot ERP systems must speak to each other.
2
Module Two

The Essential Data You Actually Need

Most supply chain systems collect too much data and use too little of it. This module identifies the minimum — three data items — needed to manage any health commodity supply chain, and explains the records that capture them.

Lesson 2.1
Three essential data items — and why they are non-negotiable
Stock on hand, consumption, and losses and adjustments. These three items, accurately collected, are sufficient to manage a supply chain. Everything else is secondary.
FoundationConcept
The stock accounting equation

Closing Balance = Opening Balance + Receipts − Consumption − Losses + Positive Adjustments − Negative Adjustments. If your closing balance does not match your physical count, one of these items has an error. This equation is the foundation of every stock reconciliation in this course.

  • 01
    Stock on hand — what counts, what doesn't
    Unusable stock (expired, damaged, VVM-failed vaccines) is not stock on hand — it is a loss. The NDoH SVS is built around facility-level SOH reporting. Why accuracy here is the top priority.
    ExcelSouth Africa
  • 02
    Consumption vs. issues — a critical distinction
    Consumption is what left the supply chain to reach a patient. Issues is what was sent from a store. Using CCMDD dispensing data as the gold standard for ARV consumption in South Africa.
    Data literacySouth Africa
  • 03
    Losses and adjustments — closing the accounting loop
    Expiry, damage, theft, redistribution between facilities. Why recording losses honestly is a management responsibility, not a confession of failure.
    Data literacy
Practice task 2.1

For your current programme or facility, audit your data collection: Is stock on hand collected? Is it consumption or issues data? Are losses recorded? For each item: Yes / No / Partially. Identify the single biggest gap. What would it take to close it?

Lesson 2.2
LMIS vs. HMIS — why the distinction matters
Two information systems run in parallel in every South African health facility. Confusing them causes quantification errors worth millions of rands. This lesson clarifies the difference once and for all.
FoundationConcept
  • 01
    HMIS collects patient data. LMIS collects commodity data.
    DHIS2 headcount data vs. SVS stock data — two different systems, two different purposes. Why they must also talk to each other (immunisation coverage vs. vaccine consumption).
    FrameworkSouth Africa
  • 02
    Three types of logistics records — and their roles
    Stock-keeping records (bin cards, store ledgers), transaction records (delivery notes, GRVs), and consumption records (dispensing registers). In a well-functioning LMIS, all three must be internally consistent.
    Data literacy
3
Module Three

Reading Supply Chain Data in Excel

Excel is the entry point for supply chain data analysis in most South African health programmes. This module builds the skills to go from a raw SVS export to a structured, analysable dataset — and introduces the eight formulas that cover 80% of supply chain work.

Lesson 3.1
Structuring supply chain data — non-negotiable rules
Poorly structured data is the single biggest cause of Excel errors in supply chain work. One row = one record. One column = one variable. No merged cells. Consistent naming. These rules apply before any analysis begins.
StructureExcel
About the practice dataset

The Mpumalanga district commodity tracker contains monthly stock data for 8 tracer medicines across 24 facilities over 6 months. Columns: Facility | District | Product | Month | Opening Balance | Receipts | Consumption | Losses | Closing Balance | Days Out of Stock. Download it from the course resources page before beginning the exercises.

  • 01
    Wide vs. long format — and why long format wins
    Programme officers often receive data in wide format: one column per month. This is very difficult to analyse with PivotTables. How to identify which format you have — and when to restructure.
    ExcelData structure
  • 02
    Date formats, consistent naming, and no merged cells
    Why YYYY-MM-DD is the only safe date format. Why "TDF/3TC/DTG" and "TDF 3TC DTG" are different objects to Excel. How merged cells silently break every formula.
    Excel
Lesson 3.2
Eight essential formulas for supply chain analysis
You do not need to be an Excel expert to analyse supply chain data. These eight formulas, combined, cover the majority of daily analytical work.
FormulasExcel
  • 01
    Months of Stock and the stock accounting check
    =SOH/AMC for months of stock. =Opening+Receipts-Consumption-Losses as the accounting check. Wrapping both in IFERROR to handle zero AMC.
    Excel
  • 02
    AMC, AVERAGEIF, stockout rate, and VLOOKUP
    Using AVERAGEIF to exclude stockout months from AMC. COUNTIF(days_OOS_range,">0")/COUNTA(range) for stockout rate. VLOOKUP with exact match for facility reference data.
    Excel
  • 03
    SUMIF, IFERROR, and date functions for reporting periods
    SUMIF for conditional totals by product or facility. TEXT(date,"YYYY-MM") for grouping. EOMONTH for last-day-of-month calculations. Building a clean period column from text dates.
    Excel
Lesson 3.3
PivotTables and conditional formatting for district performance
PivotTables are the most powerful tool in Excel for supply chain analysis. Combined with conditional formatting, they produce a working stockout heat map in under 30 minutes.
ExploreExcel
  • 01
    Building the facility × product MOS PivotTable
    Rows: Facility, Columns: Product, Values: Average MOS. Adding a Month slicer. This is the heat map foundation — all cells, coloured automatically by performance.
    Excel
  • 02
    Conditional formatting: red (MOS <2), amber (2–3), green (3–6), blue (>6)
    Setting up the four-colour MOS scale. Adding a separate dark-red rule for actual stockout days >0. Why blue (overstock/expiry risk) matters as much as red.
    Excel
Practice task 3.3 — mini project

Using the Mpumalanga dataset: (1) Add a Months of Stock column. (2) Apply the four-colour conditional format. (3) How many facility-product combinations are at stockout risk this month? (4) Which product has the most red flags? (5) Add a stock accounting check column. How many records have a discrepancy?

4
Module Four

Supply Chain KPIs for Programme Managers

A KPI without a target is just a number. This module defines the six core supply chain KPIs used in South African health programmes, explains what each one measures, and links each to PEPFAR and Global Fund reporting requirements.

Lesson 4.1
The six core KPIs — definitions, formulas, and targets
Stockout rate, months of stock, order fill rate, inventory turnover, waste rate, and reporting completeness. Six indicators cover the essential dimensions of supply chain performance.
KPIsExcel
KPI quick reference

Stockout Rate: facility-months with OOS >0 / total facility-months × 100. Target <2%.  |  MOS: SOH / AMC. Target 2–6 months.  |  Order Fill Rate: qty supplied / qty ordered × 100. Target >95%.  |  Waste Rate: total losses / total receipts × 100. Target <1%.  |  Reporting Rate: reports on time & complete / expected × 100. Target >95%.

  • 01
    Stockout rate and months of stock — the two most important
    Stockout rate identifies whether the problem happened. MOS predicts whether it will happen. Both must be monitored — one looks back, one looks forward.
    Excel
  • 02
    Order fill rate, inventory turnover, waste rate, reporting completeness
    OFR measures depot/warehouse performance. Inventory turnover flags slow-moving stock. Waste rate is a PEPFAR and Global Fund fiduciary indicator. Reporting completeness is the prerequisite for all other KPIs.
    Excel
Lesson 4.2
Linking KPIs to donor frameworks — PEPFAR and Global Fund
South African health programmes report to multiple donors simultaneously. Understanding which KPIs map to which framework prevents duplicated effort and ensures your analysis serves multiple purposes at once.
ReportingConcept
  • 01
    The right KPI for the right management question
    Is any facility about to run out? → MOS. How well is the depot filling orders? → OFR. Are we wasting donor medicines? → Waste Rate. Matching indicator to decision, not the other way around.
    Framework
  • 02
    KPI trend analysis — are we improving?
    Calculating each KPI for all 6 reporting periods. Plotting trend lines. Identifying whether stockout rate is converging toward or diverging from the 2% target.
    Excel
Practice task 4.2

Calculate all six KPIs for the most recent month in the Mpumalanga dataset. For each: (1) write the Excel formula, (2) state the result, (3) compare to the target. Then calculate all six for each of the 6 months and plot the trend. Which KPI improved most? Which deteriorated?

5
Module Five

Descriptive Analytics — Building the District Dashboard

Descriptive analytics answers the question: what happened? A well-built Excel dashboard puts that answer in the hands of a programme manager within minutes of receiving updated data. This module builds the complete four-component dashboard.

Lesson 5.1
The analytics ladder — where descriptive sits
Descriptive → Diagnostic → Predictive → Prescriptive. Most South African district health programmes currently operate at the descriptive level. Getting it right is the prerequisite for everything above it.
FrameworkConcept
  • 01
    Four components of a supply chain monitoring dashboard
    KPI scorecard (traffic lights), stockout heat map (facility × product), trend charts (6-month KPI trends), and top issues list (ranked problems with owners and due dates).
    Framework
  • 02
    Chart types for supply chain communication
    Line charts for trends. Horizontal bars for district rankings. Colour tables (heat maps) for facility × product status. When to use each — and what to avoid (3D charts, pie charts for more than 3 categories).
    Excel
Lesson 5.2
Step-by-step dashboard build in Excel
Building all four dashboard components using the Mpumalanga dataset. Every step is explicit — from naming the Dashboard sheet to adding the target reference line on the trend chart.
BuildExcel
  • 01
    KPI scorecard: values, targets, and traffic light status
    Summary table: KPI Name | Value | Target | Status. =IF(value>=target,"✓ On track","✗ Off track"). Conditional formatting on Status column. Pulling KPI values from the data sheet with formulas — not manual entry.
    Excel
  • 02
    Heat map: PivotTable with colour scale and month slicer
    Facility × Product MOS PivotTable. Three-colour scale: red (0) → yellow (3) → green (6+). Adding a month slicer so reviewers can compare current vs. previous period.
    Excel
  • 03
    Trend charts and the top issues table
    Monthly KPI trend line with red dashed target reference. Top 5 table: facility, product, MOS, projected stockout date, responsible person, action due. This combination — chart + table — is the core of every district review meeting.
    Excel
Practice task 5.2 — mini project

Build the complete four-component dashboard using the Mpumalanga dataset. Then produce the one-page district performance snapshot (Module 9 template). Peer review: can a colleague identify the top 3 problems in under 60 seconds?

6
Module Six

Predictive Analytics — Forecasting Stockouts

Predictive analytics answers the question: when will we run out of stock? This module introduces seasonal adjustment, the stockout projection formula, and Excel's Forecast Sheet — the practical toolkit for supply chain forecasting.

Lesson 6.1
Seasonal patterns in South African health supply chains
Many commodity consumption patterns follow predictable seasonal cycles. Ignoring them means your AMC-based forecast will be wrong exactly when accuracy matters most.
ForecastConcept
Programme scenario — Eastern Cape TB

A provincial TB manager reviews six months of isoniazid consumption. Average: 2,400 units/month. SOH: 3,800 units. MOS = 1.58. She knows October–November see a 35% surge in new TB cases post-winter. Adjusted AMC = 3,240 units/month. Adjusted MOS = 3,800 / 3,240 = 1.17. Stockout in under 5 weeks. She places the emergency order today.

  • 01
    Seasonal patterns by programme — TB, malaria, ORS, vaccines
    TB post-winter surge in EC and KZN. Malaria season in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, northern KZN. ORS demand peaks in summer. Measles catch-up campaigns in February–May. How to calculate seasonal adjustment factors from 12+ months of historical data.
    Programme contextSouth Africa
Lesson 6.2
The stockout projection formula — when will we run out?
The most practically useful predictive calculation in supply chain management. Turns stock-on-hand and consumption data into a clear timeline for action.
ForecastExcel
  • 01
    Projected stockout date: =TODAY()+(SOH/(AMC/30))
    Building the projection column for every facility-product combination. Conditional formatting: red = stockout within 30 days, amber = within 60 days, green = more than 60 days. Combining with seasonal adjustment factor.
    Excel
  • 02
    Excel Forecast Sheet for trend-based forecasting
    Two-column table: Date | Consumption. Data → Forecast Sheet → set end date 3–6 months ahead. Excel generates forecast with confidence interval. How to export the forecast values to your dashboard.
    Excel
Practice task 6.2

Using the Mpumalanga dataset: (1) Calculate projected stockout date for every facility-product combination. (2) Apply conditional formatting. (3) Which 5 combinations will stock out soonest? (4) For the product with the most red flags, use the Forecast Sheet to project consumption for the next 3 months. (5) Write a 3-sentence management recommendation.

7
Module Seven · Stretch Track

Scale with R — tidyverse for Supply Chain Analysis

Everything you did in Excel, reproduced in R with the tidyverse — for 200 facilities at once instead of 24. This module introduces R for supply chain analysis from scratch. No prior R knowledge required.

Who this module is for: Analysts who have completed Modules 1–6 and want to reproduce the same analysis in R — for reproducibility, scale, or integration with DHIS2 APIs. No prior R experience is needed. Complete the Excel modules first.
Lesson 7.1
Importing supply chain data into R with readxl
Installing the tidyverse. Reading the Mpumalanga dataset. Inspecting data quality immediately after import. The six lines that replace the entire Power Query import workflow.
RImport
R — load and inspect the dataset
library(tidyverse)
library(readxl)

# Import the dataset
data <- read_excel("mpumalanga_stock_data.xlsx")

# Inspect immediately after import
glimpse(data)          # column names, types, first values
nrow(data)             # expected: 24 facilities × 6 months × 8 products
colSums(is.na(data))   # check for missing values by column
Lesson 7.2
Calculating KPIs with dplyr
mutate() adds columns. group_by() + summarise() aggregates across groups. These two patterns replace the entire PivotTable interface — and run in milliseconds on any dataset size.
Rdplyr
R — MOS, risk flags, stockout rate
# Add MOS and risk flag to every row
data <- data |>
  mutate(
    MOS = ifelse(AMC > 0, SOH / AMC, NA),
    risk_flag = case_when(
      MOS < 2  ~ "HIGH RISK",
      MOS < 3  ~ "WATCH",
      MOS > 6  ~ "OVERSTOCK",
      TRUE     ~ "OK"
    )
  )

# Stockout rate by product — most recent month only
stockout_rate <- data |>
  filter(month == max(month)) |>
  group_by(product) |>
  summarise(
    n_facilities   = n(),
    n_high_risk    = sum(risk_flag == "HIGH RISK", na.rm = TRUE),
    pct_high_risk  = round(n_high_risk / n_facilities * 100, 1),
    avg_MOS        = round(mean(MOS, na.rm = TRUE), 2)
  ) |>
  arrange(desc(pct_high_risk))
Lesson 7.3
Visualising with ggplot2 — the stockout risk chart
Reproducing the key supply chain charts from Module 5 in ggplot2. Publication-quality output. The MOS trend line for the highest-risk product, with a red 2-month target reference.
Rggplot2
R — ggplot2 MOS trend chart
library(ggplot2)

# Monthly average MOS for TDF/3TC/DTG across all facilities
arv_trend <- data |>
  filter(product == "TDF/3TC/DTG") |>
  group_by(month) |>
  summarise(avg_MOS = mean(MOS, na.rm = TRUE))

ggplot(arv_trend, aes(x = month, y = avg_MOS)) +
  geom_line(colour = "#0f766e", linewidth = 1.2) +
  geom_point(colour = "#0f766e", size = 3) +
  geom_hline(yintercept = 2,
    colour = "#dc2626", linetype = "dashed") +
  annotate("text", x = min(arv_trend$month), y = 2.15,
    label = "2-month minimum", colour = "#dc2626",
    size = 3.2, hjust = 0) +
  labs(
    title = "TDF/3TC/DTG — Average Months of Stock",
    subtitle = "All 24 facilities, Mpumalanga district",
    x = NULL, y = "Months of stock"
  ) +
  theme_minimal(base_size = 12)
Lesson 7.4
Exporting results to Excel and automating with R Markdown
Sharing R outputs with non-R colleagues via Excel. Building a parameterised R Markdown report so the entire analysis re-runs with one click when new data arrives.
RReproducibility
R — export to Excel + R Markdown
library(writexl)

# Export multiple outputs to one workbook
write_xlsx(
  list(
    "KPI Summary"      = stockout_rate,
    "MOS by Facility"  = data,
    "Risk Flags"       = filter(data, risk_flag == "HIGH RISK")
  ),
  path = "mpumalanga_analysis_output.xlsx"
)

# R Markdown: render report for one facility/district
# In your .Rmd YAML header:
#   params:
#     facility: "Nhlazatshe CHC"
# Then filter data with: filter(data, facility == params$facility)
# Knit once per facility in a loop:

purrr::walk(unique(data$facility), ~
  rmarkdown::render("facility_report.Rmd",
    params = list(facility = .x),
    output_file = paste0(.x, "_report.docx")
  )
)
Practice task 7.4 — R final project

Build a parameterised R Markdown report for the Mpumalanga district. The report must: (1) import the full dataset, (2) calculate all six KPIs, (3) include the MOS trend chart and stockout risk table, (4) render to Word with one click, (5) update automatically when a new data file is added.

8
Module Eight

Data Quality — Garbage In, Garbage Out

A perfectly designed dashboard built on inaccurate data produces confident-looking wrong answers — which are more dangerous than no analysis at all. This module teaches the five-step quality check routine that should precede every analysis.

Lesson 8.1
Five common data quality problems in South African supply chain data
Missing data, implausible values, inconsistent stock accounting, issues vs. dispensing confusion, and stockout-adjusted reporting. Each can be detected systematically before any analysis begins.
Data qualityExcel · R
Scenario — Gauteng ARV quantification error

A provincial quantification team uses facility-level consumption data to forecast ARV needs for the year. Three high-volume facilities have been reporting issues data rather than dispensing data — 15–20% higher than actual patient consumption. The resulting quantification overestimates demand by 12%. The province over-orders by approximately R18 million. Six months later, a warehouse manager reports that ARV buffer stocks are near expiry. The error was in the data, not the analysis.

  • 01
    The five-step data quality check routine
    (1) Completeness: % of expected reports received. (2) Range: negative values, values above plausible maxima. (3) Consistency: stock accounting equation balance. (4) Timeliness: reports submitted within deadline. (5) Cross-validation: consumption vs. DHIS2 service data.
    Data quality
  • 02
    Cross-validation: ARV consumption vs. patient numbers
    If DHIS2 reports 340 ART patients, expected consumption = 340 × 30 = 10,200 tablets. A LMIS ratio above 1.2 (12,240+) suggests issues data is being reported, or there is stock diversion. Building the cross-validation ratio column in Excel and R.
    ExcelRSouth Africa
Lesson 8.2
Running data quality checks in R
The same five checks, automated in R. Running them once on import protects every subsequent analysis.
Data qualityR
R — five-step data quality checks
# 1. Completeness — % of facility-months reporting
completeness <- data |>
  group_by(facility, month) |>
  summarise(n_products = n(), .groups = "drop") |>
  mutate(complete = n_products >= 8)
cat("Reporting completeness:", round(mean(completeness$complete)*100,1), "%\n")

# 2. Range check — negative values
negatives <- data |> filter(SOH < 0 | consumption < 0)
cat("Records with negative values:", nrow(negatives), "\n")

# 3. Consistency — stock accounting equation
data <- data |>
  mutate(
    calc_cb = opening_balance + receipts - consumption - losses,
    discrepancy = abs(calc_cb - closing_balance),
    dq_flag = ifelse(discrepancy > 0, "Flag", "OK")
  )
cat("Records with accounting discrepancy:",
  sum(data$dq_flag == "Flag", na.rm=TRUE), "\n")
Practice task 8.2 — data quality audit

The Mpumalanga practice dataset contains deliberate data quality issues. Run all five checks. Produce a data quality summary table. Identify the three most serious problems and write one sentence each on their likely operational cause. Then write a 100-word data quality disclaimer for a report using this data.

9
Module Nine

Communicating Insights to Decision Makers

Analysis that doesn't inform a decision is wasted effort. This module builds the communication skills to convert supply chain findings into action — the one-page brief, the finding sentence, and the 10-minute district review presentation.

Lesson 9.1
From numbers to narrative — the finding sentence
Numbers do not speak for themselves. Every supply chain finding needs three elements: what the data shows, where and when, and what it means for the programme.
CommunicationConcept
Weak vs. strong narrative

Weak: "The stockout rate for the period was 8.3%."

Strong: "Eight facilities experienced stockouts of first-line ARVs during the quarter, affecting an estimated 420 patients who missed at least one scheduled dispensing visit. This exceeds the 2% target and represents deterioration from 4.1% last quarter. Three facilities — Nhlazatshe, Daggakraal, and KwaMhlanga CHC — account for 70% of stockout days. Root cause analysis at these sites is scheduled for next week."

  • 01
    The communication principle: problem → impact → action
    Every supply chain report must answer three questions: (1) What is the problem? (2) Why does it matter? (3) What should we do? If it doesn't answer all three, it is incomplete.
    Framework
  • 02
    Matching format and length to audience
    Facility manager: 1-page stock status. District officer: 1–2 page snapshot + 5-minute brief. Provincial team: 2–4 page report. Donor: per framework template. Senior official: 3 bullet points maximum. Same data, six different formats.
    Communication
Lesson 9.2
The one-page district supply chain brief
The most versatile communication tool in your supply chain analytics toolkit. Built from your Module 5 dashboard. Should take 60 seconds to read and 5 minutes to discuss.
DeliverableExcel · Word
  • 01
    Six components of the one-page brief
    Header (district, period, date). KPI scorecard (6 KPIs, values, targets, traffic lights). Top 3 concerns (quantified, facility-specific). Top 3 achievements. Corrective actions (owner + due date). Data quality note (reporting rate, caveats).
    Excel
  • 02
    The 10-minute district review presentation
    30 sec: where we are. 2 min: what the data shows. 3 min: root cause. 2 min: corrective actions. 2 min: decisions needed from the audience. Three slides maximum. Presenting supply chain data at a DHMT meeting with confidence.
    Communication
Practice task 9.2 — write and present

Using your analysis from Modules 3–8: (1) Write the one-page district brief. (2) Prepare a 5-minute presentation — 3 slides maximum. (3) Present to your learning group. Peers evaluate: Does it answer all three questions? Is the top finding communicated in 60 seconds? Is there a clear ask of the audience?

10
Module Ten

Building a Culture of Data Use

Analysis skills without accountability structures produce reports that nobody reads. This module addresses the organisational side of supply chain analytics — removing barriers to data use, establishing VAN teams, and building a 90-day action plan.

Lesson 10.1
Barriers to data use — and how to remove them
Six barriers appear consistently across South African district health programmes. Understanding them is the first step to building the culture that makes analytical skills actually matter.
CultureConcept
  • 01
    Data overload, time constraints, lack of confidence
    Data overload → select 6 core KPIs. Time constraints → automate with R. Lack of confidence → progressive skill building (exactly what this course provides). All three are addressable with the skills in this course.
    Organisational
  • 02
    No feedback loop, accountability vacuum, poor data quality
    Linking data use to performance reviews. Celebrating data-driven wins publicly. Building data quality fixes visibly so staff trust the numbers. The accountability structures that sustain a culture of data use.
    OrganisationalSouth Africa
Lesson 10.2
VAN teams and the monthly supply chain review
A Visibility and Analytics Network (VAN) team is a structured, multi-functional team that meets monthly to review supply chain data, make decisions, and hold each other accountable. The most practical model for building data use culture at district level.
CultureFramework
45-minute VAN meeting agenda

5 min: Data quality review — reporting completeness, flag missing data. 10 min: KPI scorecard — six KPIs vs. targets, trend since last month. 15 min: Top 3 problems — root cause discussion, facility-specific. 5 min: Previous actions review — completed? If not, why? 10 min: New corrective actions — name, deadline, resource needed.

  • 01
    Establishing a VAN team within existing district structures
    Most South African districts already have a monthly DHMT meeting and a pharmaceutical subcommittee. The opportunity is to formalise supply chain data review using the dashboard from Module 5. One equipped officer can transform meeting quality within 2–3 months.
    South AfricaOrganisational
Lesson 10.3
Your 90-day action plan — from course to programme impact
The capstone of the course. Nine specific actions over 90 days that convert analytical skills into measurable programme improvement — ending with a trained colleague and a shared dashboard.
ActionCapstone
  • 01
    Month 1 — Data foundation
    Map the data flow in your programme. Build the stock accounting check for last month's data. Calculate the six KPIs for the last available period. These three actions are achievable in the first 30 days regardless of system access.
    Action plan
  • 02
    Month 2 — Dashboard and month 3 — Scale and sustain
    Build the one-page dashboard. Present at the next district review. Install R and replicate the Excel analysis. Train one colleague. Document your analysis workflow so it can be reproduced by someone else when you move on.
    Action plan
Course capstone — end-to-end analysis

Using the full Mpumalanga dataset (all 6 months, all facilities, all 8 products): Deliverable 1: Data quality report (3 findings, likely causes). Deliverable 2: Supply chain KPI dashboard in Excel (6 KPIs, heat map, trend chart). Deliverable 3: Stockout projection table in R (projected days of stock remaining for all facility-product combinations). Deliverable 4: One-page district supply chain brief. Deliverable 5: 10-minute presentation to the learning group — evaluated against the Module 9 communication checklist.

Course outcomes

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

Explain the business case for supply chain data visibility
Identify and collect the three essential logistics data items
Structure and analyse supply chain data in Excel
Calculate and interpret six core supply chain KPIs
Build a four-component district monitoring dashboard
Forecast stockout dates using consumption and MOS data
Run the complete analysis pipeline in R for any dataset size
Apply a five-step data quality check before every analysis
Write finding sentences and one-page briefs for programme managers
Establish a monthly VAN team review and 90-day action plan