Effective procurement, supply chain, and inventory management, from central level to testing sites, is essential to ensure that quality assured products are available when and where needed, preventing interruptions in testing services and wastage of tests and other testing materials. A well-managed supply chain can quickly adapt to changes in demand, such as during an outbreak, ensuring a rapid response. 

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Central level

At the central level, supply chain management involves identification of country needs (forecasting, quantification), supplier selection, ordering, and inventory management (see also Pillar 1: Organization, governance, planning).

• Supplier selection and qualification: The central level establishes criteria for selecting tests to use and suppliers and ensures they meet national regulatory requirements.
• National forecasting, quantification, and distribution: The central level calculates/anticipates future needs based on historical usage patterns, seasonal trends, and emerging health threats, allowing for proactive procurement and planning. The central level develops procurement and distribution plans. It includes a logistics strategy that ensures rapid and reliable last-mile distribution of products to testing sites, respecting the manufacturer’s storage and transportation conditions.

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Testing site level

This section focuses on providing simple tools to implement important activities to ensure testing sites have the necessary commodities to implement un-interrupted testing activities.

At the testing site level, testing providers have specific tasks in tracking the consumption and alerting the site manager about the stock level. In some sites, a stock manager is responsible for stock management, inventory, and filling required forms like stock card and inventory template, and, in collaboration with other site colleagues, fill out the request form to send to the central level.

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• Site needs identification, and ordering process: (Define site needs, buffer and alert stocks and calculate quantity to order) To ensure constant availability of all needed items, the testing site must forecast and quantify its needs and place orders promptly. 
• Inventory management: Implement an effective inventory management system in each testing site to monitor stock levels, expiration dates, and reordering times, and minimize the risk of stockouts or wastage due to expired products. Proper inventory management provides stakeholders with real-time data on stock levels, consumption rates, and supply chain performance, aiding in informed decision-making.
• Storage conditions: To maintain their quality, test kits and reagents must always be stored according to manufacturers’ instructions (temperature, humidity). Avoid placing items under direct sunlight or any other source of heat and items should not be directly on the floor to prevent water or pest damage. Each place where commodities are stored must be temperature-controlled twice a day, and the temperature recorded on a standardized temperature log. Any storage condition breach should be reported immediately to the site supervisor/QA officer to decide any follow-up actions (e.g, implement internal quality control event – see Process control, assessment and continuous quality improvement and EQC results form (DOCX, 20 kB)).

Countries should use standardized tools which are either paper-based, electronic, and web-based according to their context, resources, and constraints.

Strong collaboration is needed from the national to site level to facilitate information sharing regarding stock levels, usage patterns, and emerging needs, enhancing the responsiveness and adaptability of the supply chain.