A SYNOPSIS OF HUMANITARIAN LOGISTICS

VassilisMoustakis(Vasa)TechnicalUniversityofCrete

SchoolofProduc<onEngineeringandManagement

The Objec8ve of Logis8cs Management

Togettherightproducttotherightcustomer,attheright-meandplace,intherightquan-tyandcondi-on,attherightprice,andintheright(sustainable)way.

(Manganetal,2008,p.9)

Cardinal Humanitarian Principles

•  Humanity:Thehumanitarianresponseshouldbebasedsolelyonneeds,andshouldnotbeinfluencedbypoli<calorculturalinclina<ons.•  Neutrality:Humanitarianorganiza<onsmustnottakesidesinanyconflict.•  Impar-ality:Thereshouldbenodiscrimina<onbetweenthebeneficiariesofhumanitarianaidonanybasis,likerace,gender,orreligion.

Disasters

•  Occurrencesthatcausedamage,ecologicaldestruc-on,lossofhumanlives,ordeteriora<onofhealthandhealthservices,onascalesufficienttowarrantanextraordinaryresponsefromoutsidetheaffectedcommunityarea.

•  Classifica<on:

•  Es<matedglobalexpendituresonreliefopera<ons:1990:$2.1billion2016:$30billion

Natural Man-madeRapid-onset

•  Earthquakes•  Hurricanes

•  TerroristaUacks•  Technologicalfailures

Slow-onset

•  Famine•  Drought

•  Complexhumanitarianemergencies

(VanWassenhove,2006)

(Skolnik,2014,p.316)

(Donini,2017)

Humanitarian Logis8cs

•  Planning,implemen<ng,andcontrollingoftheflowandstorageofgoods,material,andrelatedinforma-on,fromthepointoforigintothepointofconsump<on,forthepurposeofallevia-ngthesufferingofvulnerablepeople.•  Ac-vi-esincludeplanning,procurement,transport,warehousing,tracking,andcustomsclearance.

•  Ofthetotalexpenditureonhumanitarianopera<ons,80%isonlogis<cs.

(Thomas&Kopczak,2005,p.2)

(VanWassenhove,2006)

Recogni8on of the Importance of Humanitarian Logis8cs • MajorfailuresintheresponsetotheAsianTsunami,inDecember2004,drewgreataUen<onfromprac<<onersandresearcherstoHumanitarianlogis<cs.•  Developments:•  Largehumanitarianagenciesestablisheddedicatedlogis-csunits.• Manyinterna<onalorganiza<onscollaboratedthroughlogis-csclusters.•  Researchins<tu<ons,liketheFritzIns<tuteandUniversityofLugano,providedcer-fica-onprogramsinhumanitarianlogis<cs.•  Scholarlyresearchboosted,andadedicatedjournal(JHLSCM)wasintroducedin2011.

Phases of the Humanitarian Response •  Prepara-on•  Occursbeforedisasteronset•  Consideredthemostdecisivephaseofresponseeffec<veness•  Includespre-posi<oningofsuppliesinregionalcenters,customsclearance,visaagreements,standardiza<onagreements,personneltrainingandeduca<on

•  Implementsorganiza<onallearning•  Response•  Occursimmediatelyaeerthedisasterstrikes•  Improvisa<onisallowedonlywhenprepara<onfallsshortofrespondingtotheevolvingdemands

•  Recovery•  Denoteslong-termreconstruc<onintheaeermathofthedisaster

•  TypicalCommercialChain

•  TypicalHumanitarianChain

(Beamon&Balcik,2008)

Characteris8cs of the Humanitarian Context

•  Emergenciesaretherule,nottheexcep<on.•  Thecontextischao-c,witha“complexsetofrapidlyevolvingproblems.”• Whenmul<plehumanitarianagenciesco-existinonefield,lackofcollabora-onaddstothechaos.•  Ini<alassessmentofthedemandsisbasedonlimitedinforma-on.•  Eachdisasterisdifferent.•  Responseismandatedbythehumanitarianprinciples.•  Effec<venessofthereliefopera<onisamaUeroflifeanddeath.

(Thompsonetal.,2006,p.251)

The Flows in Humanitarian Chains

• MaterialFlowHumanitariansuppliesandservicesflowdownstream.(Inprinciple,notdifferentfromcommercialchains)

• MoneyFlowDona<onsflowdownstreamandgettransformedintohumanitariansuppliesandservices,whicharedeliveredtovulnerablepeople,whoarenotinaposi<ontoengageincommercialtransac<ons.(Radicallydifferentfromcommercialchains)

•  Informa-onFlowDuringdisastersitisdifficultforhumanitarianagenciestocollectsufficientdataandprocessinforma<on.(Similardifficul<esexistinthecommercialsector,butlessintensely)

Uncertain8es in Humanitarian Chains

•  DemandDemandisextremelyvola<le,withunpredictable<me,loca<on,type,andscale.

•  SupplySuppliersanddistribu<onsitesareveryrarelypredetermined.

•  Transporta-onandCommunica-onMostmeansarelost,duetothedisintegra<onoflocalinfrastructures.

•  InventoryInventorymanagementischallengingbecauseoftheaboveuncertain<es,andbecausetheobjec<veofreliefissavinglivesandallevia<ngsuffering;effec<venessisnotachievedbyholdingminimalstocks,butbydeliveringtheneededaidintheright5me.

The Triple-A Concept

•  AgilityTheabilitytorespondswielyandcost-efficientlytorapidfluctua<onsinsupplyanddemand,andtohandlesmoothlytheexternaldisrup<ons.

•  AdaptabilityTheabilitytoadjustsupplychain’sdesigntochangingneedsinthemarket(Thefirmneedstobeproac<veratherthandefensive).

•  AlignmentAligningtheinterestsofallthepar<esthatpar<cipateinthesupplychainwiththeinterestsofthefirm,throughincen<vesforbeUerperformance.

(Lee,2004)

The Triple-A Concept Applied in Humanitarian Chain Preparedness

IntheInterna<onalFedera<onoftheRedCrossandRedCrescentSocie<es(IFRC),thefivebuildingblocksofpreparednessarehumanresources,knowledgemanagement,logis-cs,finance,andtheprofessionalcommunity.

(Tomasini&VanWassenhove,2009,pp.60-61)

ToAchieveAgility…HumanResources •  Developemergencyresponseunitsatdifferentlevels,which

canbedeployedwithin12-24hrs.KnowledgeManagement

•  Processpreviouslycapturedinforma<onsoastomakeitavailableasareferenceforfieldworkers.

•  Providecontactinforma<onforworkerswhohavedevelopedspecificskills,sothattheycanbeaccessedwhenevertheiradviceisneeded.

Con8nue …

ToAchieveAgility…Logis-cs •  Developcommoditytrackingsystemstotracetheflowof

goods.•  Setuppre-posi<onedgoodsandbufferinventories.•  Frequentlyexchangeinforma<onabouttheneedswithallinterestedpar<es.

Finance •  Putinplaceimmediateresponseaccounts.•  Avoidrelianceonearmarked(dedicated)funds.

Community •  Tapintoothers’exper<seandknowledge.•  Liaisewithlocalactorstoimproveforecas<ngandplanning.

Con8nue … ToAchieveAdaptability…

HumanResources •  Con<nuouslytrainstaffontheexperiencesgainedfrompastdisastersandthelatestorganiza<onaldevelopments.

•  Createadialoguetoexchangeexper<sebetweentheIFRCandthena<onalsocie<es.

KnowledgeManagement

•  Codifysystema<callyalllearnedknowledgeanddisseminateitinmodules,sothatstaffcanadaptittofutureresponses.

Logis-cs •  Letcon<ngencyplanningincorporatesimula<onofscenariosandforecas<ngofpoten<alchangesinsupplychaindesign.

•  Developflexibleproductsanddesigns,suchaskits.Finance •  Broadenthebaseofdonorsandincreasetheflexibilityof

funds,inordertofreetheopera<onsfrompoli<calagendas.Community •  Developstrategicalliancestotapintospecializedand/orlocal

knowledge.

Con8nue …

ToAchieveAlignment…HumanResources •  MaintainapoolofexpertsbetweentheIFRCandthena<onal

socie<es•  Createincen<vesforcareerdevelopment,training,andmobilityacrosstheIFRCandthena<onalsocie<es.

KnowledgeManagement

•  Gatherinforma<onaboutpastreliefopera<onsfromstaffatdifferentlevels(interna<onal,local,specialist,volunteerstaff).

•  Createincen<vesforsharinginforma<on.Logis-cs •  Setcollabora<verela<onshipswithpartners,withclear

defini<onsoftasks.•  Pre-nego<ateagreementswithsuppliers.

Con8nue …

ToAchieveAlignment…Finance •  Nego<aterela<onshipswithcredittermsthatreflectthe

fundingcycle.•  Maintaintransparencyandaccountabilitytoenhancefund-raisingefficiencyandbrandcredibility.

Community •  Developstrategicalliancestoensureadequateaccesstoinforma<onandvisibilityoftheac<onsofallthecollabora<ngagencies.

The Problem of Convergence (Holguin-Veras&VanWassenhove,2014)

Theefficiencyoftheflowofhigh-priorityaidsisdeterminedbytheflowoflow-priorityandnon-priority(unsolicited)aids.

5-10%

60%

30-35%

Unsolicited Aid is Very Common (Holguin-Veras&VanWassenhove,2014)

Mutual Learning Between Humanitarian Logis8cs and Commercial Logis8cs

•  Commercialorganiza<onscanlearnfromthehumanitariansectortoimprovetheircrisismanagementstrategies.•  Humanitarianorganiza<onscanalsolearnfromcommercialorganiza<onsthathavehighlyperformingsupplychains.•  SevenElevenJapan(SEJ)isahugeconveniencestorechainthatdevelopedextremelyeffec<vesupplieralliancesandcrea<vedistribu<onmeans,inordertoovercometrafficjams.OnJanuary17th,1995,a7-Richterearthquakestruckthesouth-easterncityKobe.Onlyfewhoursaeertheincident,SEJwasabletoprovidethecitywith64,000riceballs,throughvehiclesandhelicopters.

(Lee,2004)

References •  Beamon,B.M.,&Balcik,B.(2008).Performance

measurementinhumanitarianreliefchains.Interna5onalJournalofPublicSectorManagement,21(1),4-25.

•  Donini,A.(2017).Humanitarianethics-Aguidetothemoralityofaidinwaranddisaster.CambridgeReviewofInterna5onalAffairs,30,1-5.(publishedonlineFebruary10,2017).

•  Holguin-Veras,J.,&VanWassenhove,L.N.(2014).Strategiestomanagematerialconvergencetodisastersites.INSEADHumanitarianResearchGroup.RetrievedfromhUps://chhs.gatech.edu/conference/2014/downloads/HHL2014-W1_HolguinVeras_Rensselaer.pdf(accessedApril16,2017)

•  Lee,H.L.(2004).Thetriple-Asupplychain.HarvardBusinessReview,82(10),102-113.

•  Mangan,J.,Lalwani,C.,&Butcher,T.(2008).Global

logis5csandsupplychainmanagement.WestSussex,UK:JohnWileyandSons.

•  Skolnik,R.(2012).Globalhealth101(2nded.).Burlington,MA:JohnsandBartleULearning.

•  Thomas,A.S.,&Kopczak,L.R.(2005).FromLogis<cstoSupplyChainManagement:ThePathForwardintheHumanitarianSector.FritzIns5tute.RetrievedfromhUp://www.fritzins<tute.org/PDFs/WhitePaper/FromLogis<csto.pdf(accessedMarch12,2017)

•  Thompson,S.,Altay,N.,GreenIII,W.G.,&Lape<na,J.(2006).Improvingdisasterresponseeffortswithdecisionsupportsystems.Interna5onalJournalofEmergencyManagement,3(4),250-263.

•  Tomasini,R.,&VanWassenhove,L.(2009).Humanitarianlogis5cs.Hampshire,England:PalgraveMacmillan.

•  VanWassenhove,L.N.(2006).Humanitarianaidlogis<cs:Supplychainmanagementinhighgear.JournaloftheOpera5onalResearchSociety,57,475–489.

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