Coca-Cola’s Project Last Mile

Art of Supply

“Coke is everywhere. In fact, when I travel to the developing world, Coke feels ubiquitous. [...] If we can understand what makes something like Coca-Cola ubiquitous, we can apply those lessons then for the public good.” -Melinda Gates

In Africa, nearly half of people lack access to critical medicines. The continent covers 11.7 million square miles and is divided into 54 different countries. Physical infrastructure is a huge problem, meaning that the roads themselves serve as roadblocks for critical medicines and supplies that need to reach rural locations.

Coca-Cola, on the other hand, has mastered the fine art of logistics. Wendy Manning, their former VP of Customer Logistics, once said the company is able to deliver a drink from a factory to a local store within 48 hours.

Is Coca-Cola’s supply chain expertise the answer to Africa’s logistics challenges? The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation thought so.

In this week’s Dial P for Procurement, Kelly Barner tells the story of Coca-Cola’s Project Last Mile, a public-private partnership that is improving healthcare supply chains in Africa:

• The challenges of final mile delivery in Africa and how they affect the effectiveness of healthcare on a local level
• Success stories that include improvements in inventory tracking, cold chain, route optimization - and even savings!
• How this project is evolving to meet the healthcare challenges of the post-pandemic world

Links:

• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Dial P for Procurement on AOP
• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement