According to the World Health Organization, 770,000 people died from HIV-related causes in 2018, with the largest percentage of victims in Africa. While HIV patients can live long lives today, only 62 percent of HIV-affected adults receive anti-retroviral drugs, which help to fight infection and lower chances of disease transmission.
In 2017, international development contractor Chemonics and IBM came together to oversee one of USAID’s largest projects in history worth nearly USD 10 Billion. Their mission was to deliver health supplies for HIV/AIDS, malaria and reproductive health to more than 60 countries around the world.
In concert with a consortium of partners, Chemonics and IBM co-created a first-of-its-kind platform called Automatic Requisition Tracking Management Information System (ARTMIS). The ARTMIS platform utilizes IBM Watson's Artificial Intelligence (Ai) to help track shipments at every step of the supply chain. This has allowed Chemonics to create a smarter supply chain that adapts as conditions change, and manage orders up to 24 months out. IBM also provided cloud-based software for ecommerce, contract and order management, collaboration and predictive analytics.
In order to demonstrate the power and impact of this solution, we focused in on the people this implementation would benefit most from. The result was a suite of assets, highlighted by a documentary video that takes place in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The video takes you on a journey where we meet with a pregnant mother who benefits from this solution, and a procurement advisor, warehouse manager, and monitoring / evaluation advisor at Chemonics. Bringing all of these important roles together shows how the ARTMIS platform solution is being implemented on the ground first-hand. It also showcases the Chemonics and IBM solution, and how this Ai driven platform helps locals gain better knowledge of their supply chain and can make better decisions based on data.
Ultimately, this video demonstrates how Chemonics and IBM built an intelligent supply chain to bring true change in parts of the world where health supplies are needed most. The video was supported and showcased on IBM's client story webpage and thought leadership articles.
The ARTMIS solution has led to pervasive data visibility throughout the supply chain. And because it is based on the IBM Cloud, these capabilities are available worldwide.
To date, the project has delivered enough anti-retroviral treatments to help 3.9 million with HIV/AIDS and enough anti-malarial drugs to treat 122.6 million infections. In addition, the ARTMIS platform has led to an on-time delivery rate of 90 percent. Chemonics has already saved $88 million dollars that it passed on to the people it helps by buying more commodities with the money saved.
The video created to tell this compelling story gained over 1,200 organic views on YouTube in 2020, and a 100% thumbs up positive reaction. The video was also featured on the IBM case study webpage resulting in a 30% engagement rate.
