PEPFAR Implementing Partner
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SCMS has field offices in 21 countries: Botswana, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Panama, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.




Regional Distribution Centers

Most manufacturers of HIV/AIDS medicines are located outside Africa. The time required to process and deliver an order is typically three to six months under the best of conditions. For some purchasers procurements can take over a year.


In response, SCMS established regional distribution centers (RDCs) in Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa. The centers in Ghana and Kenya were the first world-class public health warehousing facilities of their kind in East and West Africa.


These modern warehouses hold strategic stock of commonly used products, provide regularly scheduled shipments to neighboring countries, and expedite emergency orders to prevent stockouts. The RDCs are placed close enough to the recipient countries to allow flexibility and rapid response, yet also to leverage economies of scale across multiple countries. A shipment of ARVs from one of these regional centers takes on average of just two to three weeks.


Map of RDC in Africa


 


The continuing success of the SCMS RDCs can be attributed to the design of the RDC logistics model, which is based on sound supply chain principles, accommodating the specific challenges of a large-scale program such as PEPFAR and overcoming the risks of an extended international supply chain. The RDCs were created without United States Agencey for International Development (USAID) capital expense and are used on a "pay-as-you-go" activity-based costing model, with SCMS paying only for the actual pallets stored. In this way, the SCMS model has been designed to address the high-variance environment in which it operates, while minimizing costs.


To provide a sustainable resource, the centers function as independent commercial enterprises, attracting private-sector clients like AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Serono, and Pfizer.


To learn more about the RDCs and the impact of our global procurement model, go to Our Impact.

In The News


The SCMS Supply Chain Slide Show:
Learn about the various components of the global supply chain and our efforts to help strengthen and build reliable, secure and sustainable supply chains.


SCMS In Brief:
"In Zimbabwe integrating supply chain management into pre-service training of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and nurses." (December 2011) 

 

SCMS In Brief:
"In Zambia building sustainable capacity through pre-service supply chain training." (November 2011)

 

SCMS Technical Brief:
"The Regional Distribution Centers and Inventory Management." (September 2010)


Supply Lines SCMS article on RDC's:
"Regional distribution centers bring goods closer to the people who need them." (December 2007)


SCMS FAQ: Regional Distribution Centers
Learn about the benefits of going through an RDC rather than shipping directly to clients.

The Supply Chain Management System (scms) is implemented by the Partnership for Supply Chain Management, Inc. This website was made possible through the support of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) under the terms of contract no. GPO-I-00-05-00032-00. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of USAID or the US government.