ATLANTA, GA, June 27, 2013- As many
worldwide continue to rebuild their lives after recent natural disasters
or struggle day-to-day to meet basic needs, leaders from NGOs,
industry, and the public sector strive to increase the efficiency of
humanitarian response through improved supply chain management (SCM).
The 2013 Health & Humanitarian Logistics Conference, held this year
on June 4-5 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, provided a forum for discussions,
presentations and interactive workshops on pressing humanitarian
logistics problems including food security, disaster preparedness
response from the developing countries to densely populated urban areas,
and global health.
Humanitarian aid organizations
have long shared resources, extensive supplies and funding to those in
need, yet they often face challenges in effectively coordinating
activities through the use of integrated systems and networks. In one of
the conference workshops led by the prominent humanitarian
organizations- CARE, Save the Children, and Catholic Relief Services
(CRS)- the three representatives focused on inter-organizational
collaboration for implementing a new SCM system to improve the
efficiency and effectiveness of planning and tracking inventory of
relief items, as well as distribution and reporting. They began by
identifying key business drivers for SCM, such as the standardization of
systems, processes, data, and reporting, that could speed up the
delivery of lifesaving goods and services to beneficiaries. Similar to
companies in the private sector that can lose sales revenue and
customers due to an inadequate supply or incur costs due to excess
inventory, NGOs must also develop efficient SCM systems to avoid the
mismanagement of vital resources at risk of expiration, contamination,
or hazard.
For example, after the Haiti earthquake
one of the challenges was managing the large quantities of donated
medical equipment and supplies. The build-up of supplies can become
overwhelming for doctors and medical staff preventing them from locating
what they need and properly treating patients. Nicole Balliette,
Director of Commodity and Supply Chain Management for CRS, recalled the
initial urgency to develop a more standardized SCM system and training
in response to the earthquake in Haiti as aid workers struggled to
rapidly answer questions such as: “What do we need? What do we already
have and where? What do people want to give us? How do we get it there
fast? Where is the system and the expert staff to help manage it all
now?” The focus on effective SCM extends beyond immediate disaster
response to long-term development and rebuilding needs such as providing
vaccines, educational items, water and sanitation equipment that can
lead to a better quality of life for the affected communities.
The
three organizations are implementing an information system, known as
SCM4Good®, developed by Aidmatrix, a leading nonprofit that provides SCM
technology for Humanitarian Relief. The solution standardizes
processes, enabling more open communication and data sharing internally
and between organizations. By using a standardized system such as
Aidmatrix to manage the supply chain, they can more efficiently control
inventory supply such as food and medicine based on calculations of
demand variability and uncertainty.
The UPS
Foundation serves as a key private-sector sponsor in the development of
this collaborative NGO user group. In addition, they provide industry
expert volunteers in logistics, in-kind donations of transportation
services, disaster relief support, and ongoing financial support for
this and other Aidmatrix solutions for humanitarian relief. UPS’
collaboration and support highlights the importance of industry
involvement in improving humanitarian relief efforts.
The
2013 Health & Humanitarian Logistics Conference was co-organized by
Georgia Tech’s Health & Humanitarian Logistics Center (HHL) and
MIT’s Humanitarian Response Lab; co-chaired by the Malaysia Institute of
Supply Chain Innovation; and made possible for the 5th consecutive year
by the generous support of the UPS Foundation and other sponsors. For
more information about the conference, please visit: http://www.scl.gatech.edu/humlog2013/.
The
Georgia Tech Center for Health & Humanitarian Logistics (HHL) is an
initiative to improve humanitarian logistics (including short or
long-term, man-made or natural disasters, global and public health, and
long-term development needs) and ultimately the human condition by
system transformations through education, outreach, projects and
research. To find out more about research and events at HHL, please
visit: http://humanitarian.scl.gatech.edu/home.
About CARE
Founded in 1945 with the creation of the CARE Package®, CARE is a leading
humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE has more than six decades of experience delivering emergency aid during times of crisis. Our emergency responses focus on the needs of the most vulnerable populations, particularly girls and women. Last year CARE worked in 84 countries and reached more than 83 million people around the world. To learn more, visit www.care.org.
humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE has more than six decades of experience delivering emergency aid during times of crisis. Our emergency responses focus on the needs of the most vulnerable populations, particularly girls and women. Last year CARE worked in 84 countries and reached more than 83 million people around the world. To learn more, visit www.care.org.
About Catholic Relief Services
Catholic
Relief Services, founded in 1943, is the official international
humanitarian agency of the Catholic Church in the U.S. With over 5,000
workers, it operates in 91 countries and reaches over 100 million people
each year by responding to major emergencies (37% of programming),
fighting disease and poverty, and working with national and
international, Catholic and secular humanitarian organizations to assist
those in need.
www.crs.org
www.crs.org
About Save the Children
Save
the Children is the leading independent organization for children in
need, with programs in 120 countries, including the United States. They
aim to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children, and
to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives by improving
their health, education and economic opportunities. In times of acute
crisis, Save The Children we mobilize rapid assistance to help children
recover from the effects of war, conflict and natural disasters. In
2012, Save The Children reached over 125 million beneficiaries globally.www.savethechildren.org
About Aidmatrix
To learn more about Aidmatrix, please visit www.aidmatrix.org or contactscm_collaboration@aidmatrix.org.
For more information contact:
Meghan SmithgallMarketing and Admin. Coordinator
HHL Center- GA Tech
meghan.smithgall@isye.gatech.edu
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