CASE STUDY 3
Supply Chain Performance & Vendor Operations
Business Challenge
Palmetto Regional Health System (PRHS) needed greater visibility into supply chain operations, vendor performance, critical item availability, and contract risk. Leadership required an interactive Tableau solution to monitor spend, on-time delivery, fill rate, critical item performance, and vendor-related operational risks so they could identify gaps, improve supply reliability, and support more informed operational decision-making.
Interactive Dashboard
Explore an interactive dashboard to monitor supply spend, delivery performance, critical item availability, vendor trends, and operational risk. Use filters to drill down by department, service line, supply category, critical item, and more.
Technical Resources
This project was developed using Microsoft SQL Server, Tableau Public, and Excel. SQL was used for data preparation, validation, KPI calculations, and dashboard-ready reporting logic, while Tableau supported interactive supply chain, vendor performance, and operational risk analysis. The complete SQL scripts, validation queries, reporting datasets, and technical documentation are available in the GitHub repository.
Industry
Integrated Healthcare System
Organization
Palmetto Regional Health System (PRHS) — Fictional
Focus Area
Supply Chain Performance & Vendor Operations
Tools Used
Excel • SQL Server • Tableau
Framework
DMAIC
Approach
Data-Driven Performance Improvement
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Industry | Integrated Healthcare System |
| Organization | Palmetto Regional Health System (Fictional) |
| Focus Area | Supply Chain Performance & Vendor Operations |
| Tools Used | Excel • SQL Server • Tableau Public |
| Framework | DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) |
| Audience | Executive Leadership • Supply Chain • Procurement • Operations |
An end-to-end healthcare supply chain analytics solution was developed using Excel-generated supply chain data, Microsoft SQL Server, and Tableau Public. Procurement, order fulfillment, vendor, critical-item, and contract data were modeled, validated, and transformed into executive dashboards that support supply chain KPI monitoring, vendor performance management, procurement oversight, and operational risk identification.
Two interactive dashboards were developed to provide both an executive overview of supply chain performance and a deeper analysis of vendor reliability, critical-supply performance, and contract exposure.
Analysis identified meaningful opportunities to strengthen vendor reliability, critical-supply monitoring, and contract management.
Vendor on-time delivery performance was 58.96%, indicating a substantial opportunity to improve delivery reliability and vendor accountability. Critical-item fill performance remained comparatively strong at 96.10%, although 240 critical late orders demonstrate that fulfillment performance alone does not eliminate supply continuity risk.
The organization was supported by 10 active vendors, creating an opportunity for focused supplier scorecards and performance management. Contract analysis also identified approximately $618K in expiring contract exposure, representing 9.83% of analyzed supply spend, highlighting the importance of proactive contract review and renewal planning.
Together, these findings demonstrate the need to monitor vendor reliability, critical-item delays, contract exposure, and fulfillment performance as interconnected components of supply chain risk.
Working from an executive and operational supply chain perspective, the project focused on improving visibility into supply spending, vendor reliability, critical-item availability, order fulfillment, and contract exposure. Key business questions, performance measures, stakeholders, and supply chain KPIs were defined to align the analysis with procurement oversight, operational continuity, and organizational risk-management priorities.
Supply chain transactional data was prepared and validated using Microsoft SQL Server. Baseline measures were established for supply spending, on-time delivery, quantity fill rate, critical-item performance, cancellations, vendor reliability, critical late orders, and expiring contract exposure. Two Tableau dashboards were developed to provide leadership with centralized visibility into supply chain and vendor performance.
Dashboard analysis was used to evaluate performance trends, vendor variation, critical-supply risk, fulfillment performance, and contract exposure. The analysis identified an overall Vendor On-Time Rate of 58.96%, demonstrating significant delivery-performance opportunity. Although the Critical Item Fill Rate reached 96.10%, the presence of 240 Critical Late Orders showed that critical-supply risk remained an operational concern. Vendor-level analysis enabled identification of differences in supplier performance, while contract analysis identified approximately $618K in expiring contract exposure requiring proactive procurement attention.
Based on the findings, improvement initiatives focus on strengthening vendor accountability, implementing supplier performance scorecards, prioritizing corrective action for vendors associated with critical late orders, improving critical-item escalation workflows, and proactively managing contracts approaching expiration. Procurement and supply chain leadership can use the dashboards to prioritize vendor interventions and focus resources on areas presenting the greatest operational and financial risk.
Ongoing KPI monitoring, monthly vendor performance reviews, critical-item exception reporting, and contract-expiration monitoring should be used to sustain improvements. Executive dashboards provide a centralized mechanism for monitoring vendor reliability, critical-supply performance, contract exposure, and procurement risk over time. Defined performance targets and review frequencies establish accountability and enable leadership to identify performance deterioration before it creates larger operational disruptions.
These recommendations support a more proactive and resilient healthcare supply chain by strengthening vendor accountability, improving critical-item monitoring, reducing delivery-related operational risk, and increasing visibility into expiring contract exposure.
Standardized vendor scorecards and recurring performance reviews can help procurement leadership identify underperforming suppliers earlier and establish clearer expectations for corrective action. Critical-item monitoring and escalation workflows can support continuity of patient-care operations by enabling supply chain teams to respond more quickly to late or incomplete critical orders.
Proactive contract monitoring can also provide procurement teams with additional time to evaluate vendor performance, negotiate renewal terms, identify alternative suppliers, and reduce financial or operational exposure associated with approaching contract expirations.
Executive dashboards and ongoing KPI monitoring provide leadership with a centralized mechanism for measuring progress, prioritizing interventions, and sustaining supply chain performance improvements.
This project demonstrates an end-to-end healthcare supply chain analytics and performance-improvement methodology—from defining operational supply chain challenges and developing SQL-based analytical datasets to building executive Tableau dashboards, evaluating vendor and critical-supply performance through the DMAIC framework, developing strategic recommendations, creating an implementation roadmap, and establishing ongoing performance monitoring.
The project demonstrates the ability to translate complex supply chain transactions into executive-level insights while connecting analytics to practical procurement, vendor-management, contract-management, and operational improvement strategies.
Implementation Roadmap
| Initiative | Priority | Owner | Timeline | Expected Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Implement vendor performance scorecards | High | Supply Chain / Procurement | 30 Days | Improve vendor accountability |
| Review vendors driving critical late orders | High | Supply Chain Operations | 30 Days | Reduce critical-supply delays |
| Establish critical-item escalation workflow | High | Supply Chain Operations | 60 Days | Improve supply continuity |
| Review expiring contract exposure | High | Procurement / Contract Management | 60 Days | Reduce contract and financial risk |
| Establish monthly vendor performance reviews | Medium | Procurement Leadership | 60 Days | Improve performance oversight |
| Conduct quarterly supply chain performance reviews | Medium | Executive Leadership | Quarterly | Sustain continuous improvement |
*Timeline represents estimated duration based on resource availability and priority.
Performance Monitoring Plan
| KPI | Baseline | Target | Frequency | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vendor On-Time Rate | 58.96% | ≥75% | Monthly | Procurement |
| Critical Item Fill Rate | 96.10% | ≥98% | Monthly | Supply Chain Operations |
| Critical Late Orders | 240 | 25% Reduction | Monthly | Supply Chain Operations |
| Contract Exposure | $618K | Reduce Expiring Exposure | Monthly | Contract Management |
| Active Vendor Performance | 10 Vendors | 100% Scorecard Coverage | Monthly | Procurement |
*Performance targets represent proposed improvement goals for portfolio demonstration and should be validated against organizational benchmarks, contractual service levels, and operational requirements before implementation.