Logistics management information system (LMIS)

Why it matters

Medicines often exist in a health system but not where patients need them. The Global Fund's Office of the Inspector General reported recurring stockouts of HIV, tuberculosis and malaria commodities at facilities in the Republic of Congo even when stock was available centrally [3]. An LMIS gives a ministry the visibility to move stock before a shelf is empty.

Key points

• The USAID DELIVER Logistics Handbook names three essential data items: stock on hand, consumption, and losses and adjustments [1].
• The data come from stockkeeping records such as bin cards, from transaction records for requisitions, issues and deliveries, and from consumption records [1].
• Supply chains use requisition systems, where the facility calculates its needs, allocation systems, where the issuing level decides, or both [1].
• After Tanzania introduced a national electronic LMIS and a Logistics Management Unit, the average stockout rate across product groups fell from 32% to 23% between 2013 and 2015 [2].
• The same study concluded that data visibility alone is insufficient; the data must be analysed and used for decisions [2].

In Moana

The Moana Medical Supply System records stock from warehouse to facility, with requisitions and deliveries configured to each supply chain and reconciliation with finance systems.

Sources

1. The Logistics Handbook: A Practical Guide for the Supply Chain Management of Health Commodities, USAID DELIVER Project, 2011
2. Better data visibility and data use result in lower cost and improved performance in medicine supply chains, Bloomberg Data for Good Exchange, 2016
3. Global Fund audit of in country data and data systems, The Global Fund Office of the Inspector General, 2023