CHSCM 3.0 - Unit 1 - SCM in the Humanitarian World

In the early stages of a disaster, the entire supply chain consists of push activity. Products may have
been obtained from suppliers and placed into emergency stocks based upon forecasted
requirements, or received from donors. They will then be pushed into the impacted areas and
toward the beneficiaries. During the push phase, there has been little or no consultation with
beneficiaries, so items in the supply chain are not tailored to the cultural setting. Response is based
on the preparedness activities that anticipate demand. Caution should be taken to send only
appropriate items, and early feedback is needed to ensure that items, such as hygiene kits or food
parcels, are modified to reflect beneficiary preferences. At this stage of operations, there is a risk
that the products available in the warehouse will drive what is distributed. This could result in the
wrong goods or wrong quantities being pushed down the supply chain, with subsequent shortages
or blockages. After major disasters, such as the tsunami on 26th December 2004 , logistics
infrastructure can become rapidly overwhelmed. For example, at Medan airport in Banda Aceh,
limited availability of landing slots meant that it became crucial to ensure that aircraft with priority
goods (body bags, essential medicines, shelter items) were coordinated to land first.
At this stage, the logistician’s job is to manage this push activity effectively so that goods reach
beneficiaries at the required time. For the logistician, moving program and logistics staff forward to
the affected areas to start developing assessments and planning will be a key role during this push
phase. This will require that good communication lines are established with the program managers.
The communication will inform the program managers which goods are currently available, and
which ones will become available in the near future, so that they can decide on the best locations to
which they should move them.
As the disaster response progresses, more information about what is required will begin to become
available. The assessment teams will generate a further push of products into the receiving
warehouse. This assessment is a type of forecast, so it is again possible that the goods being
pushed may not be those which are required. Gradually, the logistician will be able to support the
program decision to move the supply chain into a new structure, consisting of push and pull activity.
The push activity comes from the supply side, but if effective communication can be established, the
movement out of the receiving warehouse can be based upon pull. This stage of operations is
named call-forward. Program managers call forward goods from stock to satisfy the beneficiary
needs. A strong logistics assessment of forward areas, and joint planning with program staff as to
how logistics is to deliver to extended delivery points, is required at this stage. It is likely that only
smaller-capacity trucks are able to reach remote affected areas, and until thorough assessment is
made of bridges and roads, security remains a key consideration. As discussed elsewhere, transport
configuration will have a significant impact on the volumes that can be moved through the supply
chain.
As the operation progresses and more reliable information becomes available, it will be possible to
convert the supply chain completely to pull. At this stage, the request for goods is based upon
specific requirements, which are then processed through the supply chain. Once the goods are
received, they are moved straight through to where they are required without holding them in stock.