A Humourless Lot

Tag: Aid logistics

The ways and means that divide: parallel supply lines for medical supplies
Kathleen McDonald asks for my views on INGOs who set up their own (parallel) supply lines for medical supplies, as opposed to using the country’s normal supply lines.

Let me start with a truism: horses for courses. When deciding to use the local supply chain or set up your own, you will need to take into account your programme needs as well as your environment; and that means that it is impossible to make any sweeping statements about which way to go is better.

Reasons to set up a parallel supply chain

Some of the reasons that INGOs give for setting up a parallel supply chain:
- Specific supplies are not locally available. Some programmes are so far ahead of what happens locally, that they use supplies that cannot be gotten through the national supply chain. This happened quite a lot in the early years of the international HIV response, when it was hardly ever possible to source antiretrovirals locally. It is still a consideration in some programmes.
- Local supplies are of unproven quality. An INGO that takes its duty of care towards its patients seriously, will want to ensure that medications and other medical supplies qualitatively sufficient. This is not always easy: local producers and distributors are not always open to audits by customers, especially not if they cannot be guaranteed a certain minimum amount of custom. National regulatory agencies in ‘weak’ nations often lack the means to adequately ensure quality.
- Local suppliers cannot scale up sufficiently. This can be a consideration in very large programmes or responses, especially in case of outbreaks/epidemics.
- Local supply chains have broken down (temporarily). This will often be the case after large disasters or areas that are prone to violent conflict.
- Local supplies are (much) more expensive than imported ones. It might be surprising, but in quite a number of cases imported supplies – even factoring in transport, taxes and import duties, clearing costs, and other incidental costs – can be cheaper than locally bought ones, sometimes by a large margin. This usually happens when only a small number of suppliers have a stranglehold on the market. (more…)
June 17, 2010
Humourless Links for June 13, 2010
- Remember my post on how to get patients and health care together? It turns out that I had forgotten one major factor: legal bickering. At least, in Australia.
- Yet another idea to combat counterfeit medicine. Not a bad one as things go, but again missing the poorest. Not that I would know how to do better.
- The UNDP has put out an RFP for ‘the Provision of Services to Strengthen the National Supply Chains for HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria Programmes in Northern Sudan’. Section 8 can lead to some interesting issues.
- This year’s Aid & International Development Forum seems to have a lot of logistics subjects, starting with the first session: “Transport – How to achieve effective transport with smaller NGOs”. Could be very interesting if you are anywhere near. If you do go there, please post some feedback here.
- Fast Company showcases eleven designs for when disaster strikes. Unsurprisingly, logistics figures prominently.
- The International Transport Journal writes about aid logistics. It paints an overly rosy picture, but overall it is not a bad introduction into international emergency aid logistics.
[Image: Liquid Links by Desirae; some rights reserved.]
June 13, 2010
Latest job opportunities (June 11, 2010)
- Crown Agents are looking for senior procurement specialists for their office in Arlington VA (USA) and Malawi; procurement specialists for Mongolia and Malawi; an ARV logistics officer for Botswana; a procurement consultant for Tanzania; a supply chain operations manager for Malawi; an SCMS deputy country director for Rwanda; a logistics assistant for their office in London (UK); public procurement advisors for several countries; and a team leader for Malawi
- Save the Children is looking for an operations director, a senior procurement specialist and two roving logistics specialists for Haiti; a senior manager procurement, contracts and compliance for the West Bank/Gaza; and two senior logistics specialists to be based in Washington DC (USA).
- Maxwell Stamp is looking for a project costing and procurement specialist for Laos
- UNICEF is looking for a procurement assistant for their office in Geneva (Switzerland), a contracts officer for their office in Copenhagen (Denmark), and a supply and logistics specialist for North Korea. Sorry, no links, they still hide their vacancies behind a registration process.
- DanChurchAid is looking for a field logistics officer for Katanga (Congo DRC).
- Merlin is looking for deputy logistics coordinators for Côte d’Ivoire and Congo (DRC); a logistician for Congo (DRC); logistics managers for South Sudan, Kenya, Pakistan, Congo (DRC), and the Central African Republic; a logistics/administration officer for Gode (Ethiopia); senior logisticians for Grand Kru and Montserado (Liberia); and a surge logistics officer for South Sudan.
- JSI is looking for a deputy chief of party SCMS for Nigeria.
- Concern Worldwide is looking for a transport manager for Haiti; an assistant country director systems for Afghanistan; and a general systems manager and a logistics and administration coordinator for Zambia.
- The IRC is looking for logistics managers for Congo (DRC) and Haiti.
- The IFRC is looking for a trainee logistics delegate for based in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), an operation coordinator for Guatemala, a head of support services based in Panama City (Panama), a procurement delegate for Haiti, and a senior procurement officer based in Geneva (Switzerland).
- MSH are looking for a senior program associate – supply planning/MIS/M&E for Bangladesh.
[Image: Job opportunities by Coffeechica. Some rights reserved.]
June 11, 2010
Struggle with the knot: push and pull systems

Ordering systems come in two basic flavours: push and pull, plus any number of hybrid systems. All have pros and cons, and each is most appropriate for a specific situation. In this first article in a miniseries on push and pull systems, I will discuss the basics: what exactly are pull and push systems and when would you use either.

Push versus pull

In the push model, “higher”, central levels decide on supply allocation for “lower”, local levels; these decisions are typically based on supply at hand and in the pipeline, and on calculated expected consumption – the latter often approximated, based on (in the case of medical supplies) patient numbers or population data. In the pull model, “lower” levels decide on the necessary supplies for the next supply period, which are then either procured independently or obtained/ordered from the “higher” level.

The basic difference between the two models is the responsibility for timely, complete, and accurate initiation of distribution: in the push model this is the “higher” level, in the pull model the “lower” level. (more…)

May 26, 2010
Blood will flow: fragility and robustness of supply lines

You have designed and implemented a pretty good logistics system and are proud of how effective and efficient your aupply line provides your programmes with any materials they need. Transport and administration cost are now at their minimum, fulfilment rates are close to 100%, and you process and fill almost every order within set timeframes. You feel pretty good about yourself (and not without reason), and are ready to hand over the system to your successor with justifiable pride.

And then the ministry of trade announces that as of tomorrow, clearing rules will be changed, adding three weeks to the current four to five days it takes you to clear your goods. Suddenly things look a lot less optimistic: your carefully balanced and trimmed-down supply chain is strained to the snapping point, and you are looking at having some of your key operations suspended. Even worse: one of those is a treatment programme for TB patients, and suspension of treatment might cause resistance to the drugs involved – making a bad situation suddenly look catastrophic. (more…)

May 14, 2010
Latest job opportunities (May 12, 2010)
- Mary’s Meals are looking for a logistics manager for Malawi.
- Oxfam GB is looking for a logistics coordinator and a procurement manager for Haiti; and an HSP supply and logistics coordinator (based in their HQ in England).
- IMC is looking for a logistics manager for Haiti, an operations manager for Sudan, and a logistics coordinator for Congo (DRC).
- UNICEF is looking for a logistics manager for Haiti.
- MSH are looking for a technical deputy director for Bangladesh.
- UNFPA is looking for a humanitarian logistics specialist, based in their HQ in New York (USA).
- ACTED is looking for a country logistics manager for Sudan, country logistics & security managers for Chad and Iraq, a logistics intern for Chad, and a pharmaceutical procurement manager for their HQ in Paris (France).
- JSI is looking for a deputy chief of party SCMS for Nigeria, and a supply chain advisor intern.
- Solidarités are looking for a logistics coordinator for Kenya/Somalia; a logistics support officer and a logistician for Haiti; and a flying logistician based in their HQ in France.
- Merlin is looking for a supply chain manager for Pakistan.
- Creative Associates International is looking for a procurement manager for Sudan.
- The British Red Cross is looking for logistics and procurement delegates for Bangladesh and Haiti.
- PSI are looking for an associate procurement & logistics officer, a procurement & logistics officer, and a voluntary pooled procurement & logistics officer, all for their HQ in Washington, D.C. (USA)
- The PNG Advisory Support Facility is looking for a procurement manager and operations advisor.
[Image: Job opportunities by Coffeechica. Some rights reserved.]
May 12, 2010
Emergencies and crossroads: complexities of scale and response logistics

Scenario 1: a house in your town catches fire, killing one person and making 5 people homeless. As the logistics officer of your town’s emergency services, you are in charge of the logistics support for the initial response as well as for the physical support of the newly homeless people.

Scenario 2: you are still that town’s logistics officer, but now a gas explosion rips through an entire block. Ten people are killed instantly, tens are seriously wounded, and scores are made homeless.

Scenario 3: you did well in the previous two cases, and have been promoted to your state emergency services’ logistics position. Three days after you start your new job, a number of bush fires break out under very hot, dry, and windy conditions, and converge on your state’s capital. More than a hundred people are killed in the next three days, several hundreds are seriously wounded (swamping the hospitals’ emergency, IC, and surgical departments), and almost a thousand people are now without homes.

Scenario 4: as emergency logistics coordinator at your country’s ministry of internal affairs, you are confronted with a devastating earthquake that destroys large parts of the capital and trashes the main harbour and the two airports. First reports indicate over a thousand casualties, untold numbers of wounded, and up to a million people who are living in the streets under improvised shelters.

The impact of these four scenarios more or less follows a logarithmic scale: each is about ten times as big as the previous one. Does that mean that the logistics for each is ten times as difficult as the scenario that precedes it? Nothing like it: organising the logistics for scenario 2 will take considerably less resources than ten times scenario 1; but scenario 4 will take considerably more than 1000 times as much to respond to at the same level – and organising its response logistics is probably several thousands of times as difficult. In fact, it becomes a practical impossibility to offer the same level of response: there is no way that we can give all those casualties dignified burials, all those wounded top-notch medical care, get everyone who is made homeless under a solid roof within the day; even if we would have the resources to do so. (more…)

May 10, 2010
Humourless links for May 8, 2010
- An analysis by Alanna Shaikh of how we tend to react to critics. Of course it is easy to take down an ill-conceived initiative like 1millionshirts, but it is important to reflect on whether we react much better when we are the focal point of criticism.
- Wired Magazine writes about the logistics of the Haiti response as a spring board for a wider discussion of disaster response logistics. It’s a bit overly endowed with ‘human interest’, but on the whole I would say that it is a very good introduction. “Organizing Armageddon”, though? (H/T Cynan Houghton.)
- Alex de Waal writes a great article on the ‘humanitarians’ tragedy’: the inescapable cruelties that come with our work. Sadly, it is hidden behind a paywall, but I recommend it highly if you do have access.
- The Royal Geographical Society is holding a conference on how to improve the response to natural disasters. I would expect that logistics will be an important part (although sometimes that sort of expectations are incorrect).
- I am trying to find somebody who can tell me more about the cooperation between Handicap International and Atlas Logistique. Email to their general address goes unanswered. So if you work with/for them or know somebody who does, could you please ask that somebody in the know contacts me?
- Texas In Africa writes an excellent post on how to go from saviourism to empowerment (but seriously, Laura: Barbra Streisand lyrics for a title?). On a related note, Linda Raftree writes about community dialogue, which in turn leads to some interesting discussion over at Tales From the Hood.
- According to Scott Gilmore, mercenaries, missionaries, and madmen should not work in aid.
- A video from MSF showing how bad logistics can cost lives.
- Aid logistics is getting more and more serious attention from universities. The Hanken School of Economics will organise an external course in supply chain management in development aid at the University of Manitoba (Canada).
- How a simple legal mistake by a national mail carrier can cost lives.
[Image: Liquid Links by Desirae; some rights reserved.]
May 8, 2010
Eleven helpful skills and traits for aid and health logisticians
1. Tenacity. No, I did not put it there because I have been looking for an opportunity to use that word for as long as I can remember (although that is true): a lot of what we do in logistics needs long-term, relentless attention – you will need to follow through what you start in the long term.
2. Patience. Hardly anything will happen as quickly as you might want to. The flip side of the tenacity is that you will need the patience to wait things out – which sometimes can take quite a while.
3. Numeracy and maths skills. A lot of what we do requires a feel for numbers and some basic mathematical skills. You don’t have to be an operations research whizz (although a basic understanding might help), but you have no business working as a logistician if you don’t understand the sawtooth graph and its mathematical underpinnings, how it affects what we do, and how our decisions affect it in turn.
4. A flair for administration and communication. Information management is immensely important for what we do. Without a certain facility with the underlying paperwork and with communicating the information, you will be less effective than you could be.
5. Time management. As logisticians, we will always need to juggle several balls: it is rare that we can concentrate on one issue. If you don’t manage your time well, you are sure to drop one or more of those balls.
6. The ability to delegate. You cannot do everything yourself. If you don’t know how to delegate (without abrogating your responsibilities), you will probably do more harm than good.
7. The ability to ‘switch off’. People who cannot stop mulling over the daily problems and challenges when they go to bed are prime candidates for a burn-out. This is true for most aid professions, but especially for logisticians because logistics is usually a 24/7 process. I put in long hours, but most people I work with have learnt to respect that I prefer not to discuss work when I’m off.
8. Language skills. You will hardly ever work in a country where everyone (or even a sizable majority) will speak your native language. Speaking more than one language helps, but what is even more important is a facility to quickly pick up the rudiments of a new language. (more…)
May 6, 2010
Latest job opportunities (May 4, 2010)
- UNDP is looking for a supply chain management consultant and a procurement advisor, both based in their HQ in Copenhagen (Denmark); and for a procurement specialist for Sudan.
- The Mine Advisory Group is looking for a support services manager for Iraq.
- MERLIN is looking for a deputy logistics coordinator for Congo (DRC); logisticians for Haiti and Congo (DRC); and logistics managers for the Central African Republic, Pakistan, Haiti, and Congo (DRC).
- Marie Stopes International is looking for a senior procurement and logistics manager for their HQ in London (UK).
- Crown Agents are looking for a procurement coordinator and a procurement specialist for the USA; an ARV logistics officer for Botswana; a procurement specialist and a senior procurement specialist for Malawi; a procurement consultant for Tanzania; a supply chain operations manager for Malawi; and an SCMS deputy country director for Rwanda.
- A non-specified global health charity is looking for a finance & operations director for the UK.
- ShelterBox is looking for an operations manager for the UK.
[Image: Job opportunities by Coffeechica. Some rights reserved.]
May 4, 2010