Characteristics of Disater Relief Supply Chains, Especially the Red Cross

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INTRODUCTION
Hundreds of millions of people are affected by disasters each year and that number of worldwide natural and man-made disasters is increasing. Improving the nature of logistics and supply chain management for humanitarian aid are essential for responders to save human lives. In these situations, demand can fluctuate greatly and is often uncertain. Coordination of supply chains between organizations and management of supplies for humanitarian needs are increasingly needed and must be put in place effectively to save more lives. This paper will define and identify some unique characteristics of disaster relief supply chains as well as its basic process while highlighting some of the ideas used by the American Red Cross and other relief aid agencies.

DEFINTION
The Fritz Institute offers a definition used by a broad range of humanitarian organizations of humanitarian supply chains as:
The process of planning, implementing and controlling the efficient, cost effective flow and storage of goods and materials as well as related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption for the purpose of alleviating the suffering of vulnerable people. The function encompasses a range of activities, including preparedness, planning, procurement, transport, warehousing, tracking and tracing, customs and clearance. (Thomas, 2005).
The term humanitarian logistics is often used interchangeably with humanitarian supply chain and it is implied in this definition. Life-saving defines humanitarian supply chains whereas as profit is the defining factor for commercial ones.

CAUSES OF HUMANITARIAN SUPPLY CHAINS
Wherever a disaster occurs and whenever humans are involved, a disaster management is put into place using a...

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...with the goal of either preventing the occurrence of an emergency or reducing the community's vulnerability when an emergency happens.

CONCLUSION
A disaster relief supply chain has the unique goal of using the supply chain for saving as many lives as possible. The unique characteristics that different from commercial ones include agility, short lead time, dependence on volunteers as well as employees for labor, logistics that deal with damaged infrastructure and reliance on the immediate coordination of organization partnerships in a short period of time. Demand is often uncertain and can fluctuate greatly. The American Red Cross and other aid agencies help thousands of people affected by disasters each year. As the number of disasters increases, improving the management of the humanitarian supply chain is essential for a faster response to saving lives.

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