Long-paper presented at ISCRAM-med 2015, Tunis, Tunisia Abstract The field of humanitarian logistics has evolved rapidly over the past decade, drawing on contributions from the areas of operations research, business engineering, supply chain management, information systems, and computer sciences. Even more varied are the specific problems that are modeled and addressed, ranging monitoring of the supply chain as a whole to decision support for specific sourcing or distribution decisions. While recently, few studies have presented taxonomies and identified research gaps, there is to this date not yet a clear understanding of how the different methodologies and domains shall be combined to achieve a consistent mix of methods and tools. In this paper, we present a start towards this aim comparing two distinct perspectives and related research approaches, methods and tools: business engineering and operations research. Our findings indicate that there are real opportunities for interdisciplinary research to improve the overal performance of the humanitarian supply chain.

1. On the Literature Divergences of the
Humanitarian Supply Chain
Hossein Baharmand1
Laura Laguna Salvado1,2
Tina Comes1
Matthieu Lauras2
1 CIEM, University of Agder
2 Mines d’ Albi, University of Toulouse
30.10.2015

2. THE NEED FOR
RESEARCH ON
HUMANITARIAN
SUPPLY CHAIN (HSC):
• Raise of number of humanitarian disasters
• The gap between appeals and funding
30.10.2015Baharmand et al.: On the literature divergences of the humanitarian supply chain 2
MORE EFFECTIVE AND
EFFICIENT RESPONSE

3. 30.10.2015Baharmand et al.: On the literature divergences of the humanitarian supply chain
Research on humanitarian response comprises a large
variety of expertise and knowledge. It demands for
integration across disciplines, like business-engineering
science (BS) and operations research (OR):
• BS looks at HSC management as a whole to keep track
of all included processes and at the same time attempts
to align them appropriately according to each other.
• OR decomposes HSC into separate problems (like facility
location, inventory management, transportation, etc.)
and use modeling and simulation approaches to optimize
their output.
3

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HUMANITARIAN LOGISTICS
• Logistics deals with efficient and effective delivery; the challenge is to
deliver the appropriate emergency supplies in sufficient quantities exactly
when and where they are needed.
• Humanitarian logisticians are forced to make quick vital decisions in a
highly dynamic and uncertain environment where time pressure is high
and resources are scarce due to strict budget limitations.
• Challenges like network design, facility layouts, fleet planning, etc.
• Humanitarian relief organizations are more focused on ‘getting the job
done’ and have forgot about performance measurement!
• There is a need for flexible ICT solutions that support relief operations.
“Logistics is the part [of any disaster relief] that can
mean the difference between a successful or failed
operation.” Van Wassenhove, 2006

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METHODOLOGY AND FORMULATED QUESTIONS
• BS and OR study HSC from different angles: holistic view vs.
detailed simulations and modeling.
• Four joint areas of interest are identified by reviewing recent
survey papers in both disciplines: HSC structure; flow
control mechanisms; time frames; dynamic uncertainty.
• Research questions formulated referring to four frequently
addressed topics in relation with BS and OR:
• What is the state of the art in HSC?
• What are future research directions in HSC?

6. • HSC encompasses all activities involved in sourcing,
procurement, conversion and logistics.
• Its different attributes in comparison to commercial
supply chains ask for balance between aims in efforts:
• Application of commercial process
modeling in humanitarian sector is limited.
• Furthermore, the use of simulation
tools to evaluate modifications of the
HSC and analysis of ongoing response
processes is still needed.
30.10.2015Baharmand et al.: On the literature divergences of the humanitarian supply chain 6
HSC STRUCTURE (BS VIEW)
Effectiveness Efficiency

7. • Three categories that OR has focused on:
(a) facility location problems, (b) distribution problems,
(c) inventory decision problems.
• Survey papers propose that previous research assumptions and
constraints leave the field still interesting for further research.
• To understand the situation better, there is a need for ground
up research:
30.10.2015Baharmand et al.: On the literature divergences of the humanitarian supply chain 7
HSC STRUCTURE (OR VIEW)
Before field study After field study

8. 30.10.2015Baharmand et al.: On the literature divergences of the humanitarian supply chain 8
FLOW CONTROL
Developing software for HSCM Performance Management
Performance Indicator
OR
Challenges:
• Zero lead-time,
• Reliable
commodity flow
• Material
convergence
BS
HSC

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TIME FRAMES
Literature concentrate on response mainly because
• BS: Time frames appears because HSC experience transitions
from agility to leanness. Sometimes it is called leagile.
• OR: Literature shows challenges in making and solving multi-
period models.
• BS & OR: During different time frames, objectives may become
different: moving from effectiveness to efficiency.
• BS & OR: To reflect real situations in the aftermath of disasters,
we need multi-period and multi objective models. These
models need to be solved timely efficient.
It`s about
saving
lives
Logistics
plays a
significant
role
Media
coverage is
huge

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DYNAMIC UNCERTAINTY
• Lack of efficiency and misalignment of the response with the
real situation are common implications of uncertainty.
• BS suggests:
• short term forecast and prediction;
• focus on the beneficiaries’ needs;
• the simulation of the HSC system.
• A decision support system that enable decision makers to have
a clear vision of the on-going situation and future of demand
can help in facing uncertainties.
• Shifting from deterministic modelling to stochastic modelling is
required in OR. Furthermore, efficient solution for these models
are necessary.

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RESEARCH DIRECTIONS
• Demand for ground up research in both
BS and OR to use in modeling and
simulations.
• Information flow is insufficient and
there is a need for identifying
performance indicators for HSC which
benefits both BS and OR.
• Referring to time frames, BS is looking
for leagile management system and OR
needs dynamic modeling.
• Predictive decision support systems and
stochastic modeling can help relief
organization in dealing with
uncertainties.

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SUMMARY
ARCH DIRECTIONS

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INTEGRATED DISTRIBUTION PLANS
• Integrated = Location + Allocation + Transportation
• Literature review reveals rare efforts in integrated
approaches in OR.
• This research outcome will be a model that focuses on
strategic and tactical decisions in response.
• Stochastic and dynamic approach will be used for
mathematical modeling.
• Model parameters are driven by insights from a recent
field study in Nepal (model development phase).
• The developed model can be a part of a potential
decision support system.

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Rekik et al. 2013

15. 30.10.2015Baharmand et al.: On the literature divergences of the humanitarian supply chain 15
DECENTRALISED SUPPLY NETWORK
• Develop a DSS to orchestrate the supply network response
with “leaglity” approach.
• It focuses on operational decisions in response.
• This research is based on the International Federation of the
Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
 Today:
3 main global hubs  Not economically sustainable
 Tomorrow (?):
Use the Red Cross National Societies potentialities as logistic
Network
• It will have a direct interface and connection with the
“distribution planes”.

16. Thank you all for participating in this session
Contact us!
30.10.2015Baharmand et al.: On the literature divergences of the humanitarian supply chain 16
ciem.uia.no www.mines-albi.fr
www.disasterresiliencelab.org
hossein.baharmand@uia.no
laura.lagunasalvado@mines-albi.fr
tina.comes@uia.no
matthieu.lauras@mines-albi.fr