For an insightful premiere, the International Logistics Hall of Fame gathered more than 60 top-class international experts for a humanitarian supply chain conference “ConnectChains” at the German Ministry of Transport on the day before the gala of the “Hall of Fame of Logistics”.
The general consensus – not entirely unexpected – was that only agile supply chains, local partnerships and long-term collaborations will enable disaster relief actors to overcome future challenges.
The aim of the summit was to improve networking among stakeholders, identify challenges, and exchange best practices. Experts emphasized in the discussions that work in disaster areas is made more difficult by factors such as climate change, political crises, and water and energy scarcity.
Photos: S. Semmer / LHoF
They called on politicians – especially in crisis-affected countries – to ensure uniform legal frameworks. They argued that providing rapid assistance is particularly difficult in cross-border operations because regulations differ from country to country and change rapidly. Furthermore, they stressed the need for forward-looking investments in infrastructure and crisis plans.
Oliver Luksic, the Federal Government's Coordinator for Freight Transport and Logistics, emphasized that the Ministry of Transport had already responded to recent crises such as the floods in the Ahr Valley and the war in Ukraine, and had further professionalized its disaster management capabilities. "These crises have demonstrated the importance of rapid and efficient management of aid deliveries," Luksic stated.
M. Tomas / IMC
During the summit, participants identified best-practice examples for humanitarian logistics. Representatives from International Medical Corps, winner of the 2023 Lynn C. Fritz Medal for Excellence in Humanitarian Logistics, reported on the use of their proprietary software, the "Pharmaceutical Information Management System" (PIMS). As previously reported, this US-based organization achieved a milestone in managing the last mile of the pharmaceutical supply chain.
According to Thilo Jörgl, conference director of ConnectChains, humanitarian organizations and their partners face a "Herculean task" because, despite increasingly difficult circumstances, they have to work on many problems simultaneously. The conference impressively demonstrated where urgent action is needed.
Improved coordination
Both humanitarian organizations and commercial companies complain that not all stakeholders in projects have the same level of information and that not everyone is willing to share data. Logistics service providers consider the introduction of so-called "control towers" to be a sensible approach.
Clear responsibilities
Humanitarian organizations agree that responsibilities in supply chain management need to be more clearly defined so that all stakeholders – from donors and logistics providers to aid organizations – can perform their work even more effectively. A transparent supply chain is a prerequisite for this.
Improved risk management
Whether natural disasters, political unrest, or unforeseen pandemics: the risk of damage to aid supplies and transport vehicles during operations, as well as endangering the health of personnel, is increasing. Therefore, all stakeholders should develop risk management strategies before deployments, systematically assess situations, and prepare flexible response plans and training. Since it is impossible to eliminate all risks, continuous learning is essential.
Long-term collaboration
Often, the collaboration between different international players doesn't yet extend beyond supplier relationships or simple partnerships. Trusting collaboration within a network where everyone can learn from each other and information is exchanged as close to real-time as possible is needed – for example, also for last-mile delivery.
O. Luksic
Detailed analysis of local markets
Humanitarian organizations and their partners face the difficult task of assessing the quality of local economies and markets. On the one hand , they strive to involve local stakeholders in their projects; on the other hand, under time pressure, they often struggle to judge whether local partners can supply the right goods in the required the actual needs of those affected can also be challenging Determining
Sustainabilitystrategies
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has set a target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions in supply chain management by 30 percent by 2030. Measuring emissions is proving difficult, as is the detailed implementation of various measures – these include: redesigning and producing aids from recycled materials, using sustainable packaging, reducing waste, collaborating with local suppliers, and improving cooperation among all stakeholders.
Supply Chain Management
In some humanitarian organizations, supply chain experts have little influence on top management and their strategy. Some top management doesn't see the need to include supply chain management in strategy development. This situation could soon change, however, because some donors have started requesting details about the influence of supply chain experts when applying for funding .
Conference leader Th. Jörgl
Overall, the "ConnectChains" initiative aims to foster greater knowledge transfer between humanitarian organizations, businesses, and other stakeholders in the field of humanitarian supply chain management, and to network these actors more closely than before. Since the Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport is the patron of the Logistics Hall of Fame, the conference was held at the Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and Transport.
Whether and in what form the efforts regarding coordination and responsibilities might overlap with those of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), a development cooperation organization, remains to be seen. The GIZ is already experienced in cooperating with a wide variety of ministries.
www.logisticshalloffame.net / klk.
