Identifying challenges in humanitarian logistics

Kovács, Gyöngyi; Spens, Karen

doi:10.1108/09600030910985848

Cited by 392 publications

(382 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…In fact, immediately after or during a natural disaster, the number of affected people (homeless, displaced, injured, deaths) may be only vaguely known and recipient demand will be difficult to predict in terms of timing, location, type, and size. Suddenly-occurring large demand and short lead times for a wide variety of supplies will contrast with periods of low demand (Kovács and Spens, 2009;Sarkis et al, 2010). In addition, since the situation is often unclear in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, some routes might be total or partially blocked, with uncertain information about any damage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stochastic network models for logistics planning in disaster relief

Alem

Clark

Moreno

2016

European Journal of Operational Research

227

102

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Emergency logistics in disasters is fraught with planning and operational challenges, such as uncertainty about the exact nature and magnitude of the disaster, a lack of reliable information about the location and needs of victims, possible random supplies and donations, precarious transport links, scarcity of resources, and so on. This paper develops a new two-stage stochastic network flow model to help decide how to rapidly supply humanitarian aid to victims of a disaster within this context. The model takes into account practical characteristics that have been neglected by the literature so far, such as budget allocation, fleet sizing of multiple types of vehicles, procurement, and varying lead times over a dynamic multiperiod horizon. Attempting to improve demand fulfillment policy, we present some extensions of the model via state-of-art risk measures, such as semideviation and conditional value-at-risk. A simple two-phase heuristic to solve the problem within a reasonable amount of computing time is also suggested.Numerical tests based on the floods and landslides in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, show that the model can help plan and organise relief to provide good service levels in most scenarios, and how this depends on the type of disaster and resources. Moreover, we demonstrate that our heuristic performs well for real and random instances.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stochastic network models for logistics planning in disaster relief

Alem

Clark

Moreno

2016

European Journal of Operational Research

227

102

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…A topic of concern in the all-hazard approach is mutual respect in civil-military coordination (Heaslip and Barber, 2013). Such coordination requires mixing different concepts, e.g., humanitarian principles (Tomasini and Van Wassenhove, 2009;Kovács and Spens, 2009), civil defense based on military doctrines involving the entire society (Byman et al, 2000), and commercial processes rapidly adapting to emergency planning (Kovács and Spens, 2007;FEMA, 2011;Van Wassenhove and Martinez, 2012). There is also a degree of coordination to which the same organizations that provide essential capabilities take the lead; for example, the military (Rietjens et al, 2013), the private sector and their suppliers develop abilities to cope with emergency action (Byman et al, 2000).…”

Section: Elements Of the Preparedness Planning Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emergency preparedness planning in developed countries: the Swedish case

Kaneberg

Hertz

Jensen

2016

Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management

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Purpose -To understand the needs of the supply-chain network when coping with permanent and temporary demands, this paper analyzes the Swedish emergency preparedness supply-chain network. This network comprises planning procedures and resources, as well as numerous organizations and other participants in civil society that take part in the system to cope with threats and ongoing crises. Planning constitutes a critical infrastructure because the system must develop the ability to shift supply chain functions from permanent to temporary networks in ongoing crises and war. Design/methodology/approach -A research study is performed based on data gathered by three qualitative methods concerning the supply-chain network of emergency preparedness planning. Findings -This study demonstrates the relevance of a wide empirical field challenging several theoretical perspectives of the supply-chain network in preparedness planning and the shift to ongoing crises. Further research targeting key capabilities is needed to further improve understanding of the challenges for developed countries in managing potential threats and crises. Conclusions -Actors taking part in the preparedness system have found it challenging to coordinate. Due, in part, to the lack of a common threat profile, key capabilities remain outside preparedness planning, e.g., military, commercial and voluntary actors as well as unclear and inconsistent regulations. Thus, building the supply-chain network demonstrates the need to target the military, the voluntary and commercial sectors and their ability to develop the networks in preparedness planning. In a reformed system, all actors must strengthen civil defense in an all-hazard approach, which in planning encompasses the entire threat scale, demonstrating key functions and the ability to shift to temporary networks responding to ongoing crises, including war.

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“…Several crucial characteristics of humanitarian supply chain management (SCM) are not evident in commercial supply chains, including the following: uncertainty with regard to the timing, location, type, and size of demand; sudden spikes in demand for a wide variety of supplies accompanied by short lead times; high stakes associated with the timeliness of deliveries; and lack of resources (Kovács and Spens 2009). These characteristics make supply chain management in a humanitarian context more challenging than in a commercial business environment.…”

Section: Responsible Editor: Trakarn Prapaspongsamentioning

confidence: 99%

Using life cycle sustainability assessment to trade off sourcing strategies for humanitarian relief items

Kempen¹,

Spiliotopoulou²,

Stojanovski

et al. 2016

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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Purpose While interest in supply chain sustainability has risen over the past few years in academic and business worlds, very little research has been conducted on sustainability in humanitarian supply chains, specifically. This study aims to contribute to the development of the field by conducting a life cycle sustainability analysis (LCSA) of sourcing scenarios for a core relief item in a humanitarian supply chain. Methods This paper is structured according to the LCSA framework developed by Guinée et al. (Environ Sci Technol 45(1):90-96, 2011). The relief item analyzed is a kitchen set supplied by a UN agency. Environmental, social, and economic impacts of two sourcing scenarios for a kitchen set are mapped: one international and one local. Sources of data include interviews, company records, and online databases. Results are analyzed using the ReCiPe method to assess environmental impact and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)/Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) guidelines to assess social impact.Results and discussion We show how LCSA can be used to map the sustainability of two sourcing scenarios for kitchen sets in a humanitarian supply chain along triple bottom line dimensions. We report findings on sourcing scenarios for distribution to two refugee camps in Kenya: one from a supplier in India and one from a supplier in Kenya. We use an environmental life cycle analysis (LCA), a social LCA, and a life cycle costing (LCC) to analyze differences and similarities. We find that local sourcing is preferred over international sourcing on two out of the three sustainability dimensionsenvironmental and social impacts. Humanitarian organizations may further use this paper as a guideline to develop their own sustainability assessments of supply chain scenarios. Conclusions The results of our study provide a fresh, sustainability-focused perspective on the debate over international vs. local procurement. This paper is the first to apply LCSA to a humanitarian context. It also addresses a void in the sourcing literature by determining the sustainability impacts of different sourcing strategies. The study evaluates only two sourcing options and also uses a limited number of data sources.

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Identifying challenges in humanitarian logistics

Cited by 392 publications

References 29 publications

Stochastic network models for logistics planning in disaster relief

Stochastic network models for logistics planning in disaster relief

Emergency preparedness planning in developed countries: the Swedish case

Using life cycle sustainability assessment to trade off sourcing strategies for humanitarian relief items

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