The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) and SupplyChainBrain presented their annual Supply Chain Innovation Award on Wednesday to global health care nonprofit Management Sciences for Health’s (MSH) for streamlining distribution of HIV and TB medicines to vulnerable communities in Ukraine.

MSH engaged a private pharmaceutical logistics company to streamline fragmented public sector logistics services and last-mile delivery while following supply chain best practices and improving patient outcomes. The presentation gave a glimpse of MSH’s pilot’s evolution, pioneering methods, promising results and lessons learned — along with recommendations for national scale-up.

The Supply Chain Innovation Award is a competition that recognizes teams who have demonstrated excellence, innovation and return on investment for a significant supply chain challenge. SupplyChainBrain announced the winner at CSCMP’s annual conference in Atlanta.

For 2021, we received more than 50 case study submissions from which judges narrowed it down to six finalists. In addition to the winners, the top five submissions were:

River Logic and Philip Morris International on Digital Twins for Win

This case study explored the topic of digital twins in supply chain. To deliver its vision of a smoke-free world, PMI knew that fast and efficient deployment of a whole new product portfolio was one of the key factors of success. Thus, PMI partnered with River Logic to create a digital twin of PMI’s global manufacturing network that runs forward-looking product sourcing optimization scenarios, enabling fast adaptation to new market dynamics, reduction of total landed cost, and more.

PMI’s Welcome to the Future: E2E Planning Under a Single Global Synchronization Hub

This presentation discussed how PMI’s commitment to a smoke-free world set their supply chain on a path of multi category product management — electronics, consumables & accessories — and a new ecosystem of suppliers, distributors, and direct to consumer channels. PMI faced the challenge of building a competitive advantage of speed to market and orchestrating the tradeoffs at global scale. The solution was a Synchronization Hub — a digitally enabled global SC “control tower” driving E2E planning with near real time visibility for +60 markets.

Controlant’s How Technology and Collaboration Ensure Successful COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution

This session covered how the need for COVID-19 vaccines at a global scale created a monumental shift in how the pharmaceutical supply chain operates. One of the most impactful changes was successfully using data and technology to keep products safe, minimize loss, and speed up delivery through automating processes. Speakers discussed some of the lessons learned from the COVID-19 vaccine distribution.

Holman Logistics’ From Science Fiction to Practical Implementation: AI Boosts Safety in the Warehouse

The presentation explored the partnership with Chicago-based technology provider OneTrack AI. Speakers revealed how adopting AI technology reduced warehouse safety incidents in nearly every category in fewer than three months, while allowing targeted coaching of forklift drivers.

6 River Systems’ Robotic Automation Helps NLS Increase Throughput 3X

This case study described National Logistics Services’ (NLS) desire to introduce a flexible automation solution to improve work for their fluctuating labor force without making major, permanent changes to the physical space or infrastructure. NLS deployed 6 River Systems’ collaborative robot, Chuck, in three sites and prepared a number of other warehouses to work with Chucks at any time.