Operations Research to Improve Disaster Supply Chain Management

Abstract

Disasters have recently received the attention of the operations research community because of the great potential of improving disaster‐related operations through the use of analytical tools, and the impact on people that this implies. In this introductory article, we describe the main characteristics of disaster supply chains, and we highlight the particular issues that are faced when managing these supply chains. We illustrate how operations research tools can be used to make better decisions, taking debris management operations as an example, and discuss potential general research directions in this area.

Drivers of Complexity in Humanitarian Operations

“…Van Wassenhove (2006) further classified disasters according to their speed (slow versus sudden onset) and their source (natural versus man-made). His classification structure is useful because it describes some of the challenges that occur when providing HA and DR. Ergun, Karakus, Keskinocak, Swann, and Villarreal (2010) also grouped disasters into these two categories (natural and man-made), but they also explained that disasters could further be "categorized by predictable timing (or seasonal) such as floods or unpredictable timing like earthquakes and predictable location such as hurricanes or unpredictable locations like tsunamis" (Ergun et al, 2010). Apte (2009) classified disasters into four groups, as seen in Figure 2: slowonset/localized, slow-onset/dispersed, sudden-onset/localized, and suddenonset/dispersed.…”

“…Although not all improvements will prevent severe damage, devastation can be much worse if a government does not prioritize the investment of federal funds in this preparation. Ergun et al (2010) noted that the "Indian government did not invite international aid agencies to participate at all in the first 60 days of the relief effort" following the 2004 Indonesian tsunami. This type of governmental response contributes to the complexity of HADR as well.…”

“…Oloruntoba and Gray (2006) stated, "International humanitarian supply chains are clearly unpredictable, turbulent, and requiring flexibility" (p. 117). These defining characteristics were supplemented by Ergun et al (2010), who stated that the "demand structure of disasters is complicated and challenging because of the high unpredictability of its three main dimensions: time, location, and magnitude" (p. 5). Our review of multiple articles revealed a common theme among researchers attempting to discover solutions to the many challenges of humanitarian supply chains.…”

“…Oloruntoba and Gray (2006) explained that the majority of donors preferred to donate tangible items or funds to purchase tangible items because donors were able to easily recognize the support that these items would provide to disaster victims; however, this leaves little to no funds for the logistics side of the supply chain, such as forklifts. Ergun et al (2010) and Tomasini and Van Wassenhove (2009b) echoed this concern while noting the difficulties of managing the quantity and mix of donations from ^Åèìáëáíáçå=oÉëÉ~êÅÜ=mêçÖê~ã= dê~Çì~íÉ=pÅÜççä=çÑ=_ìëáåÉëë=C=mìÄäáÅ=mçäáÅó= -15 -k~î~ä=mçëíÖê~Çì~íÉ=pÅÜççä= participating donors who display varied levels of commitment to improving the relief efforts.…”

A location-routing model on relief distribution centers

“…According to Ozguven and Ozbay (2013), an efficient humanitarian inventory control model and emergency logistics system plays an important role in reaching reliable flow of necessary supplies to the victims located in the shelters and reducing the effects of the unforeseen disruptions that can happen. Ergun et al (2010) explained the primary characteristics of disaster supply chains, and highlighted some issues faced when managing these supply chains. Kovács and Spens (2007) aimed to understand planning and carrying out logistics operations in disaster relief.…”