# Supply Chain Analysis Report Instructions

## Target Audience
Business users and executives who may not be familiar with:
- Supply chain modeling terminology and jargons
- Database table names or technical schemas
- Complex analytical methodologies

## Report Requirements

### Length and Conciseness
- **Maximum length**: 800-1000 words (approximately 1-2 pages when formatted)
- Prioritize clarity and actionability over comprehensive detail
- Focus on insights and recommendations, not raw data dumps
- Use appendices for supporting details if needed

### Language and Tone
- Use plain business language—avoid technical jargon
- When technical terms are necessary, provide brief explanations in parentheses
- Replace database/model-specific terms with business concepts:
  - Instead of: "SKU fulfillment rate"
  - Use: "Product availability" or "In-stock rate"
- Write in active voice with clear, direct statements
- Frame findings in terms of business impact (cost, revenue, customer satisfaction, risk)

### Content Structure

#### Executive Summary (150-200 words)
- Lead with the most critical finding or recommendation
- Summarize 2-3 key insights
- State the business impact in quantifiable terms when possible
- Can be read standalone in under 2 minutes

#### Key Findings (400-500 words)
- Organize by business priority, not by data source
- Limit to 3-5 main findings
- Each finding should include:
  - What the data shows (the fact)
  - Why it matters (the business implication)
  - Magnitude of impact (financial, operational, or customer-facing)
- Use comparison points (vs. target, vs. previous period, vs. industry standard)

#### Recommendations (150-200 words)
- Provide 2-4 specific, actionable recommendations
- Prioritize by expected impact and feasibility
- Include rough timelines or urgency indicators (immediate, near-term, strategic)
- Link each recommendation back to a key finding

#### Next Steps (50-100 words, optional)
- Suggest further analysis if warranted
- Identify data gaps or assumptions to validate
- Propose monitoring metrics

### Visualization Guidelines

**When to Include Visualizations:**
- To show trends over time
- To compare performance across categories (products, regions, suppliers)
- To illustrate gaps between target and actual performance
- To demonstrate distribution or concentration (e.g., which products drive 80% of issues)

**Visualization Best Practices:**
- Include 2-4 visualizations maximum—only when they add clarity
- Choose the simplest chart type that conveys the insight:
  - **Line charts**: trends over time
  - **Bar charts**: comparisons across categories
  - **Waterfall charts**: showing contributors to change
  - **Simple tables**: when exact values matter for decision-making
- Avoid: pie charts with more than 3-4 segments, 3D charts, complex scatter plots
- Each visualization must have:
  - Clear, descriptive title stating the insight (not just "Inventory Levels")
  - Labeled axes with units
  - Legend if needed
  - Brief caption (1-2 sentences) interpreting what to notice
- Highlight the key data point (use color, annotation, or callout)

**Visualization Placement:**
- Embed visualizations near the relevant finding
- Ensure visualizations can be understood without reading the full text

### Formatting Guidelines
- Use clear section headers
- Use bullet points for lists of findings or recommendations
- Bold key metrics or critical insights (sparingly)
- Use tables for comparisons when 3+ data points are being contrasted
- Maintain consistent formatting throughout

### Things to Avoid
- Database table names or field names (translate to business terms)
- Statistical jargon (p-values, confidence intervals) unless the audience is analytically sophisticated
- Acronyms without definitions on first use
- Passive voice and hedging language ("it appears that possibly...")
- Multiple caveats that undermine confidence in findings
- More than one key insight per paragraph

### Quality Checklist
Before finalizing the report, verify:
- [ ] Can an executive understand this without supply chain expertise?
- [ ] Are all recommendations tied to specific findings?
- [ ] Would a busy reader get the key points from headers and visualizations alone?
- [ ] Are financial or operational impacts quantified?
- [ ] Is the report focused on decisions, not just information?
- [ ] Can this be read and understood in under 5 minutes?

## Example Translations

### Technical → Business Language
- "Stockout rate exceeded threshold" → "Customers couldn't find products in stock 15% of the time"
- "Lead time variability increased" → "Delivery dates became less predictable"
- "Inventory turns decreased to 4.2x" → "Products are sitting in warehouses 30% longer"
- "Supplier fill rate" → "How often suppliers deliver complete orders on time"
- "Safety stock levels" → "Buffer inventory to prevent stockouts"

### Data-Focused → Business Impact
- "Average delay: 3.2 days" → "Delays cost an estimated $450K in expedited freight last quarter"
- "10% of SKUs account for 60% of backorders" → "Focusing on 50 high-priority products could reduce stockouts by half"

## Success Criteria
A successful report enables executives to:
1. Quickly understand the current state of supply chain performance
2. Identify the most significant risks or opportunities
3. Make informed decisions about resource allocation or strategic direction
4. Request specific follow-up analysis if needed