Simplified Operations: Power BI for healthcare enables supply chain insights with forecasting and secure access
Project Overview
This project focused on developing a Power BI-based analytics dashboard tailored to healthcare supply chain operations. The dashboard integrates data from inventory systems, procurement platforms, and logistics networks, providing healthcare managers with a unified view of key performance indicators (KPIs). Designed to simplify and optimise supply chain decisions, the solution enables end-to-end visibility into stock levels, supplier performance, and demand patterns. It empowers teams to act quickly and strategically, ensuring critical medical supplies are delivered on time and at optimal cost.
Problem Statement
Managing healthcare supply chains involves tracking inventory, supplier performance, and operations manually, causing delays and inaccurate forecasts. The challenge was creating an interactive dashboard to provide real-time visibility, track key metrics, and integrate data from various systems for enhanced efficiency.
Key Findings
- Real-Time Data Visibility: Healthcare teams struggled with delayed, inaccurate supply forecasts due to manually managed variables—especially in pharmaceutical and medical equipment procurement—leading to inefficiencies and potential care disruptions.
- Operational Inefficiency: The lack of accurate, real-time insights made it difficult for healthcare leaders to make timely decisions. In high-stakes environments, such delays directly impacted service quality and operational performance.
- Data Integration Complexity: Integrating data from internal systems, supplier feeds, and logistics providers was essential to forming a comprehensive view of the healthcare supply chain but posed significant technical and architectural challenges.
Implemented Solution
A Power BI dashboard integrated healthcare supply chain data, featuring demand forecasting, real-time metrics, and role-based security for efficient planning and supplier tracking.
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Data Integration & ETL Process:
Data from SQL Server, Excel, and third-party logistics systems was extracted, cleaned, and transformed to provide a unified, analytics-ready view within Power BI. This enabled a consolidated overview of stock levels, supplier performance, and fulfilment data.
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Key KPIs & Metrics:
The dashboard tracks crucial performance indicators, including Inventory Turnover, Order Fulfillment Rate, Supplier Lead Time, Demand Forecast Accuracy, and Cost Per Unit—empowering teams to optimise stock availability, reduce costs, and improve supplier management.
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Forecasting & Demand Planning:
Using Python-based ARIMA models and machine learning algorithms, demand forecasts were generated and embedded into the dashboard, providing forward-looking insights that support proactive inventory and procurement planning.
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Dashboard Design & Interactivity:
The Power BI interface included an Executive Overview, Interactive Drilldowns, Time-Series Analysis, and Logistics Insights. Each view was tailored for different user roles to enable quick, informed actions at every level of the organisation.
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Security & Access Control:
Row-Level Security (RLS) ensured that national-level managers could access full datasets, while regional or departmental managers were restricted to their relevant supply chain segments—maintaining data confidentiality and operational focus.
Results
The Power BI solution significantly enhanced the organisation’s ability to manage its healthcare supply chain. With real-time metrics and automated reporting, procurement teams reduced costs by identifying underperforming suppliers and optimising order cycles. The system improved forecast accuracy and stock planning, leading to shorter lead times and higher on-time delivery rates. The intuitive design and cross-functional insights led to rapid adoption among stakeholders, transforming the dashboard into a core operational tool for ensuring the availability of life-saving resources when they’re needed most.