Logistics Relief in a Natural Calamity

Probizz’s area of expertise is chief of logistics in crisis response. Our client had a distribution warehouse in the area where a Category 4 hurricane hit. All the ground transportation routes were destroyed within 24 hours of the hurricane. Three of the distribution centers belonging to the client were totally out of power, and two of them were anticipated to be flooded in the next 48 hours. The client had about 50 million temperature-sensitive vaccines and emergency response equipment that required transportation to a safe place. Having no communication and the beginning of panic, I was given less than 48 hours to clear out $50 million worth of medical supplies.

Challenges

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Things were even worse than they were reported. Three warehouses were totally inaccessible by trucks, as they were flooded and the roads were piled up with debris all around them. Two additional warehouses would soon be flooded, destroying their medical store, which cannot endure heat or time. They would have their vaccines destroyed, and their precious emergency stores would be destroyed. One of the major weaknesses of the disaster plan of the client is that the plan was premised on the assumption that ground transportation would be available at all times. That presumption just failed dismally. Communication was also coming down as cell towers locally were brought down, one at a time. The emergency services in the area were overstretched. However, the most difficult issues were the human part; the managers of the warehouse were frightened. Some did not want to evacuate completely. Others desired to save all things in their warehouse, which was not possible.

Approach

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Lack of time did not allow me to carry out thorough assessments. I immediately began to gather intelligence with the assistance of the satellite communications at my disposal and the partial reports that I got. Speed was of greater importance to me than perfection. Making a good decision possible was better than waiting too long to make the best decision. In order to fulfill my mission, I established three priorities: to protect human life, evacuate high-value medical supplies, and lastly, save lower-value assets.

Details of the Case

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The customer was the owner of 12 warehouses in the area of hurricane threat. Five of these warehouses were in an immediate threat situation, and out of the five warehouses in question, two were most at risk of flooding in the next 48 hours. The client had millions of dollars in temperature-sensitive vaccines in the inventory, and when power was cut off to any of these warehouses, time was running out; such vaccines would not be of any use. A few of the warehouse managers panicked. Some of them even wished to risk everything in an effort to protect all the inventory items. I had to make all the decisions with them in real time.

Analysis

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This was a matter of assumption and not an issue of planning. The client thought that they had arranged for the disruption of ground transportation. They had initially assumed that they would still have communication but had erroneously thought that there would still be a cellular signal. Neither was present. The majority of the disaster plans are constructed on too optimistic assumptions. The very moment when the disaster took place, the assumptions were made nonexistent. One of the aspects they had not addressed or put into consideration was the human factor. Terrified individuals are not good decision-makers. Moving things from one place to another was not all that I did. My role was to make sure that managers stayed in their right minds as things were falling around them.

Solution

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To address these challenges, Probizz had two key plans to achieve the transportation task included the following:

• First: Get two helicopters to collect the top-priority medical supplies from one of the three inaccessible warehouses.
• Secondly: Negotiate a rail spur that operates and avoid the destroyed road systems.

To reach each group of managers in each warehouse, I chose to get rid of cell phones and created an elementary hourly check-in via satellite phones and SMS when possible. All 3 warehouse managers gave a status at the beginning of every hour. I also remained on the phone with the terrified warehouse managers all the time to assist them through human experience. I would not give them orders but rather coach them through all their numerous decisions. To each manager, I posed the question, “What is your utmost priority now? That should be your focus and not on anything else.” I was very calm, which enabled them to be much calmer.

Results

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I was able to empty 98 percent of the entire warehouse stock of the high-value medical supplies in the flooded warehouses in 36 hours. This ranked my original assurance of 48 hours to the client; hence, I was able to deliver early by 12 hours. No injuries, no refrigerated vaccines were lost, and no emergency response equipment was lost. The two flooded warehouses just lost low-value goods that previously were not considered salvageable. Nevertheless, the most important results were not merely regarding supplies; they were regarding people as well. The warehouse managers told me that the experience has changed the way they would react to a crisis situation in the future; they are no longer afraid to make decisions.

Conclusion & Recommendations

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These are the four important messages that every supply chain leader must be aware of in disaster management:

• First: Your disaster plan is not correct. Not because you cannot plan, but because crises in real life will show that most of your assumptions are wrong. Be flexible in all assumptions made.
• Secondly: There will not be ground transportation at the time when you require it most. Therefore, air and rail transportation options should be cleared and available before the storm hits.
• Third: The possibility of avoiding redundancy in communication is not an option; cell towers fall. Satellite phones and other tracking procedures, like check-in and out, will save lives and provisions.
• Lastly: It is crucial that the managers get coached for times when there is panic. People are not in the right state of mind when they are in panic, and therefore, your task as the logistics manager should be to be able to think clearly and enable other people to think clearly as well.

Do not merely give orders; keep in touch with them on the telephone. Provide the concerned person with simple questions, and make sure that they stay concentrated on one priority at a time.