Answering the call in Japan
Logistics industry works toward recovery.
| Kathy Fulton director of operations, ALAN |
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A month after the Japan earthquake, tsunami and nuclear incident, the events' impact on global supply chains is still a daily news topic.
The devastation to factories threatens the production of everything from cell phones to cars. A story that isn't getting as much attention is about Japan and the logistics industry, about the whole community of logistics professionals working towards recovery. It is a story of U.S. organizations coming together to offer aid, logistics professionals in Japan using their unique skills to deliver relief, and an intersection of logistics with the realities and needs of disaster response.
Japan, more than most areas, is well prepared for disaster response; with early warning systems, well developed emergency plans, and governmental structures organized to support emergency response needs. The scale and multipronged nature of this event overwhelmed the planning. Based on prefecture and city-level collaboration, plans were rendered ineffective due to the broad area impacted. The loss of government staff and facilities challenged reporting structures. Predetermined priorities of supply movements into damaged regions disrupted some necessary flows. Establishing perimeters after an extreme event is the norm, penetrating them once in place can be a challenge.
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ALAN received numerous offers to volunteer time and expertise from highly qualified logisticians with extensive humanitarian relief experience. In the United States, ALAN has witnessed private organizations providing warehousing and transportation for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) ramping up their relief efforts.
ALAN's association partners have engaged their networks to provide a source of information and potential support for responding agencies. We find ourselves reconnecting with logistics experts who were important resources during the Haiti response. Relief agencies are seen working together based on trusted relationships that have evolved over years and have been tested by events. New partnerships have been formed. A few logistics focused groups have joined together in a Humanitarian Alliance (www.humanitarian-alliance.com) in order to bolster the capacity of their individual resources.
Shipping aid from the United States to Japan is not without challenges. As the world's third-largest economy, Japan is capable of providing the majority of the items it needs for relief efforts. The nuclear crisis and concerns over drinking water safety prompted a surge in requests for bottled water. As U.S. non-profits sought to fill that need, they found that stringent labeling requirements made for importation slowdowns. ALAN was able to reach out to several U.S. governmental and industry organizations to gather advice on working through those requirements.
Relief needs continue to evolve. Shortly after the earthquake and tsunami lifesaving items were needed ' blankets, food and water. As days passed, needs turned to hygiene and comfort items ' underwear, toothbrushes, reading glasses. As people begin to return to their homes, to search for mementos or to clear away rubble, the needs have again shifted ' to boots, gloves, masks and cleaning and construction-related items.
What is needed where, the demand signal, is ever-changing. The logistics response plan has the municipalities initiating supply requests. In areas with significant destruction ' where entire cities and their workers were washed away by the tsunami ' the demand signals are non-existent and relief needs were deployed slower than planned.
The distribution flow in Japan is from a prefecture warehouse to a city warehouse to a predefined evacuation site. As in most disasters people gathered in areas other than those designated. In Japan, local medical professionals and volunteers act as impromptu logisticians; they check for possible evacuation locations and make arrangements for delivery of relief supplies to those areas.
Transportation was significantly hampered due to the infrastructure destruction, but Japan's government is efficiently and effectively managing this challenge. Maps showing road closures were updated and posted daily. Fear of the harmful potential from radiation and contamination of equipment adds another dimension. Logistics professionals will be busy in the months ahead determining how to keep commerce flowing despite these concerns.
The logistics community in Japan recognizes the impact that their expertise and skills have on relief efforts. Shortly after the quake several of the prefectures closed off access to external volunteers due to shortages of food and lodging. This left a limited pool from which to draw volunteers due to the devastation to the communities. To help speed recovery, two private sector parcel transporters, Yamato and Sagawa, provided warehouse picking support and transportation to distribute relief goods to affected areas.
Large events require creative thinking. Some planned resources will not be available. This event is a grim reminder that responsibility for preparedness belongs to us all.
A whole community response is necessary. Unleashing the capacity and ingenuity of the supply chain community must be a part of that response. The supply chain represents about 8 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (down from 18 percent in 1980) and in most other countries the range is 13 percent to 15 percent of GDP. That coupled with the fact that more than 85 percent of infrastructure and resources reside in the private sector make this an important resource to call on during extreme events.
The most important component of the supply chain sector is its operational bias; this group is about right product, right place, right time, right condition, right price, day in and day out.
Kathy Fulton is director of operations for the American Logistics Aid Network. She can be reached at (863) 668-4238 or by e-mail at Kathy@ALANaid.org.
ALAN engages the supply chain community to support humanitarian relief efforts. it makes supply chain related donation needs visible to the logistics industry and establishes an efficient process for providing the necessary goods and services through its Web portal, www.alanaid.org.