How TrialSupply works
TrialSupply follows the shape of the monthly Clinical Demand & Operations Planning (CD&OP) process in three steps: create the demand forecast, generate the supply plan, and monitor actuals to adjust the plan each cycle.
Step 1 — Create the demand forecast
Planning starts with the clinical picture. In TrialSupply you set up the protocol's structure — treatment arms with their randomization ratios, and each arm's dosing schedule — then enter patient enrollment projections and site activation counts in a monthly spreadsheet-style grid.
From those inputs, TrialSupply calculates drug demand by product and by month: enrolled patients flow into arms, arms convert to dispensing events through their dosing schedules, and dispensing rolls up into demand. The first forecast is generated when you are ready to commit one; after that, any change to a forecast input recalculates demand automatically, so the forecast never silently drifts out of sync with its assumptions.
Step 2 — Generate the supply plan
The demand forecast becomes actionable when it is translated into supply decisions. TrialSupply models your supply chain network — trial sites, regional depots, and the supply routes between them — and aggregates site-level demand up to each depot.
Planning books then lay out the plan the way planners think about it: months across the top, demand, planned supply, and projected inventory position down the side, for each product at each location. Buffer stock policies are applied on top of forecast demand, and months-of-supply calculations show exactly how much coverage each depot is carrying, month by month.
Step 3 — Monitor and adjust
Plans meet reality every month. As actual enrollment and inventory come in, TrialSupply automatically re-forecasts demand, allowing planners to adjust a supply plan on the fly.
The monthly CD&OP review then becomes a focused conversation: which assumptions moved, what that does to demand, and what supply actions follow. Clinical operations and supply chain look at the same live numbers, adjustments are made in place, and the next cycle starts from an accurate baseline instead of a stale workbook.
Why a monthly cadence
The workflow is deliberately built around a monthly rhythm rather than one-time study setup. Enrollment rarely goes to plan, and the trials that stay well-supplied are the ones whose teams re-forecast on a cadence, while there is still time to act. TrialSupply's job is to make that cycle cheap enough to actually run every month.