Assessing the factors affecting implementation of unmanned aerial vehicles in Indian humanitarian logistics: a g-DANP approach

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the factors affecting the implementation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Indian humanitarian logistics. The factors listed are significant as they are hindering the incorporation of this new technology into the humanitarian supply chain, thus creating inefficiencies in the humanitarian logistics sector. Design/methodology/approach This research is approached using a two-step process. In the first step, the particular barriers for UAV implementation are determined by a literature review and consultation with experts. Next, the proposed framework, a combination of grey-decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (grey-DEMATEL) and analytic network process (ANP), i.e. g-DANP, is used to determine a hierarchical structure for the factors and sub-factors. The grey hypothesis provides sufficient analytical data to an otherwise lacking DEMATEL technique. Also, the use of ANP gives weightage to each factor, allowing us to categorize their importance further. Findings This study reveals that factors like expensive commercial solutions and high transport energy costs are significant factors of the “cause” group, whereas the uncertain cost for maintenance and repair and deficiency of high-level computing are crucial factors of the “effect” category. The mentioned factors, along with many others, are the main reasons for the delayed incorporation of UAVs in humanitarian logistics. Practical implications The results of this study present insights for humanitarian supply chain managers, UAV producers and policymakers. Those in the humanitarian logistics sector can use the findings of this study to plan for various challenges faced as they try and implement UAVs in their supply chain. Originality/value This research is unique as it analyses the general factors hindering the implementation of UAVs in Indian humanitarian logistics. The study enriches existing literature by providing an analytic approach to determine the weightage of various interrelations between the identified factors affecting UAV incorporation in the humanitarian supply chain.

Sustainable disaster supply chain management for relief operations in Bangladesh

PurposeNumber of disastrous events are rising globally, and it is important to manage the humanitarian supply chain management process to assist the disaster affected individuals in terms of relief operations. Effective relief operations can help to recover the materialistic loss due to any disaster. But there is a paucity of studies regarding this issue for developing countries. This study, hence, inspected the factors that affect the disaster supply chain management (DSCM) processes for relief operations in Bangladesh.Design/methodology/approachThis study examined the factors affecting relief operations through a qualitative analysis. This study used thematic analysis. Interviews were conducted with related supply chain individuals who were triangulated by data from related publications and blogs.FindingsThe study showed that sustainable DSCM for relief operations in Bangladesh require addressing few factors as organizational capabilities, warehousing locations and inventory management, infrastructure facility, coordination among partners, government and local authority support to create a transparent, efficient, effective and sustainable DSCM process for relief operations in Bangladesh. The system loopholes can be identified and rectified on the base of these factors.Research limitations/implicationsThe number of interview respondents was limited to twenty who were selected randomly from four organizations. To create a sustainable disaster supply chain management (SCM) for relief operations few factors were considered as predominant factors in Bangladesh context to generalize the developing country contexts and other factors were not considered. Therefore, for farther humanitarian research, the model of this study can be used for quantitative research and the hypotheses can be tested empirically to get more acute findings.Practical implicationsAs this study identifies the factors which can help to create a sustainable DSCM system for relief operations, hence practically, Bangladesh humanitarian SCM agencies will be beneficial from this study. They can easily recognize the factors need to be considered to create a sustainable DSCM process for relief operations.Originality/valueThis is a unique study carried out to examine the factors affecting DSCM process for relief operations in Bangladesh.

Metaheuristics in the Humanitarian Supply Chain

Everyday there are more disasters that require Humanitarian Supply Chain (HSC) attention; generally these problems are difficult to solve in reasonable computational time and metaheuristics (MHs) are the indicated solution algorithms. To our knowledge, there has not been a review article on MHs applied to HSC. In this work, 78 articles were extracted from 2016 publications using systematic literature review methodology and were analyzed to answer two research questions: (1) How are the HSC problems that have been solved from Metaheuristics classified? (2) What is the gap found to accomplish future research in Metaheuristics in HSC? After classifying them into deterministic (52.56%) and non-deterministic (47.44%) problems; post-disaster (51.28%), pre-disaster (14.10%) and integrated (34.62%); facility location (41.03%), distribution (71.79%), inventory (11.54%) and mass evacuation (10.26%); single (46.15%) and multiple objective functions (53.85%), single (76.92%) and multiple (23.07%) period; and the type of Metaheuristic: Metaphor (71.79%) with genetic algorithms and particle swarm optimization as the most used; and non-metaphor based (28.20%), in which search algorithms are mostly used; it is concluded that, to consider the uncertainty of the real context, future research should be done in non-deterministic and multi-period problems that integrate pre- and post-disaster stages, that increasingly include problems such as inventory and mass evacuation and in which new multi-objective MHs are tested.

Bibliometric Analysis of the Potential of Technologies in the Humanitarian Supply Chain

This study presents a bibliometric analysis of research on technology in the humanitarian supply chain. The methodology includes performance analysis and science mapping to explore the application of technologies in humanitarian supply chains. This paper contributes to the literature by examining the most influential authors, trends, journals, countries, institutions, and the recent humanitarian supply chain collaboration. The information presented in this research was obtained with the Scopus database. The study identified 342 documents after applying filters to screen for duplicates and manuscripts unrelated to the topic. The articles were analyzed using MS Excel and VOSviewer. The research provides an overview of state of the art showing a high collaboration between the authors Ramesh A. and Kabra C, and the most relevant institutions were the Griffith Business School and the Delft University of Technology. Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management and Journal of Disaster Research were the most productive journals. The terms analysis shows that “disasters”, “disaster prevention”, “humanitarian logistics”, and “human” are the most used keywords. The study identifies future research lines related to the interaction between critical technologies to deliver real benefits to the humanitarian supply chain. As a result, it proposes integrating the significant contributions of new technologies, such as blockchain, big data, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, virtual and augmented reality, and the social media relief phase following the disaster. It also indicates gaps in knowledge in terms of research related to human-made disasters and health emergencies.

Methodology for Designing Humanitarian Supply Chains: Distribution of COVID-19 Vaccines in Mexico

This paper presents a methodology for designing a humanitarian supply chain (HSC) for immunization in Mexico. The study analyzes the abilities of HSCs provided in the literature and those that are relevant for the HSC vaccination in Mexico. In addition, the stakeholders involved in HSC for immunization were studied. A sentiment analysis of more than 900 newspaper articles was conducted to determine society’s perception of the government’s strategy for vaccine distribution. Considering these aspects and a review of the state-of-the-art in the design of supply chains, a methodology for HSC is proposed. Some of the findings are that resilience and agility, the most important abilities in HSCs in Mexico, can be achieved through government support and strong collaboration between different stakeholders, which was found to be the weakest point of the strategy. The problems observed in the vaccination strategy in Mexico were as follows: (1) a single physical space per municipality was defined for the application of the vaccine, (2) there is a shortage of vaccines, and (3) as far as we know, no methodology has been applied to carry out immunization. This approach considers the design of HSCs in terms of capabilities and stakeholders, which, to the best of our knowledge, is a novel aspect of the literature. This methodology can be used for various scenarios of HSCs in Mexico.

INTEGRATION OF INTERNET OF THINGS AND BLOCKCHAIN TO INCREASE HUMANITARIAN AID SUPPLY CHAINS PERFORMANCE

This paper provide an overview of the benefits that the integration of IoT and Blockchain can produce on the Humanitarian Aid Supply Chain (HASC). Consdering the large number of partner involved in HASC, traditional centralized information systems become very vulnerable. In the same sense, the lack of mutual knowledge obstruct the needed cooperation. The joint use of IoT and Blockchain can overcome these problems. Main benefit as well as barriers to this implementation is analyzed, considering the diferent phases of the HASC. KeywordsCovid19, Blockchain, Supply Chain Management, Internet of Things, Humanitarian Supply Chain

MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES AND SUPPLY CHAIN PERFORMANCE OF RELIEF AID ORGANIZATIONS IN WESTERN UGANDA

Purpose-The paper presents the influence of managerial competencies on supply chain performance of relief aid organizations in western Uganda.Methods-The study employed a cross-sectional and quantitative research design comprising 105 relief aid organizations operating in western Uganda. Data was analyzed using SPSSv22, to generate descriptive statistics, run correlation and hierarchical regression analysis.Findings-The findings showed a positive significant influence of managerial competencies on supply chain performance of relief aid organizations in western Uganda. Limitations-The study did not examine the influence of other factors such as the other supply chain enablers which include infrastructure on humanitarian supply chain performance. The focus was on the influence of managerial competencies on supply chain performance.Unique contribution to practice and policy- relief aid organizations should emphasize attracting, training and retaining staff with professional, social and personal competencies to ensure efficient delivery of relief supplies.