Strategic inventory management for disaster relief

Abstract

Not much can be done to prevent the occurrence of a disaster, but one can be prepared in the event of such a disaster. Pre-positioning of aid supplies has become a crucial part of disaster management, providing the means to overcome the impact of a disaster and to reduce the suffering and loss of life associated with these events. Natural and man-made disasters are largely unpredictable, therefore disasters need to be researched and their impact fully understood so that the aid supplies required to maintain survival during and after disaster events will be available. The member states within the South African Development Community (SADC) are the countries of interest for this project, as research conducted on inventory pre-positioning for disaster response in these countries has been insufficient. It is imperative to anticipate the needs of disaster victims for potential disasters. This need is evaluated according to the types and amounts of aid supplies required. All the natural and man-made disasters that have manifested in these countries over the last 30 years are identified, as well as the appropriate aid supplies required to successfully address the impact of such disasters. General research contributions applied to humanitarian operations have progressed signif- icantly, whilst operations research methods have not yet been comprehensively introduced to cater for disaster-related problems. A literature review examines the problems associated with the disaster preparedness phase and the existing models used to solve these problems. This project proposes two generic mathe- matical models that can be used to effectively determine the types and quantities of aid supplies required in pre-positioning facilities within the SADC. A Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) model is formulated to enhance the survival capability of people in the region directly after the oc- currence of any of the disasters identified and a stochastic inventory model is presented to minimise the total cost of the aid supplies kept in inventory. Finally, various methods are utilised to illustrate the functionality of the models.