A multi-organisational approach for disaster preparedness and response:the use of optimisation and GIS for facility location, stock pre-positioning, resource allocation and relief distribution

From 1992 to 2012 4.4 billion people were affected by disasters with almost 2 trillion USD in damages and 1.3 million people killed worldwide. The increasing threat of disasters stresses the need to provide solutions for the challenges faced by disaster managers, such as the logistical deployment of resources required to provide relief to victims. The location of emergency facilities, stock prepositioning, evacuation, inventory management, resource allocation, and relief distribution have been identified to directly impact the relief provided to victims during the disaster. Managing appropriately these factors is critical to reduce suffering. Disaster management commonly attracts several organisations working alongside each other and sharing resources to cope with the emergency. Coordinating these agencies is a complex task but there is little research considering multiple organisations, and none actually optimising the number of actors required to avoid shortages and convergence. The aim of the this research is to develop a system for disaster management based on a combination of optimisation techniques and geographical information systems (GIS) to aid multi-organisational decision-making. An integrated decision system was created comprising a cartographic model implemented in GIS to discard floodable facilities, combined with two models focused on optimising the decisions regarding location of emergency facilities, stock prepositioning, the allocation of resources and relief distribution, along with the number of actors required to perform these activities. Three in-depth case studies in Mexico were studied gathering information from different organisations. The cartographic model proved to reduce the risk to select unsuitable facilities. The preparedness and response models showed the capacity to optimise the decisions and the number of organisations required for logistical activities, pointing towards an excess of actors involved in all cases. The system as a whole demonstrated its capacity to provide integrated support for disaster preparedness and response, along with the existence of room for improvement for Mexican organisations in flood management

Can 3D Printing address operations challenges in Disaster Management?

Disaster management entails activities for responding to and recovering from disruption to normal conditions. Disasters restrict the ability of operations managers, but technologies such as 3D printing have been proposed as a means of overcoming some of the restrictions. This research uses a state-of-the-art review of 3D printing technologies to determine the current and future potential to meet disaster management challenges. Specifically, one of the main categories of items listed in the Sphere Project handbook is considered. The analysis evaluates short, medium and long term feasibility and provides a research agenda for 3D printing and disaster management

Disaster preparedness in humanitarian logistics:A collaborative approach for resource management in floods

The logistical deployment of resources to provide relief to disaster victims and the appropriate planning of these activities are critical to reduce the suffering caused. Disaster management attracts many organisations working alongside each other and sharing resources to cope with an emergency. Consequently, successful operations rely heavily on the collaboration of different organisations. Despite this, there is little research considering the appropriate management of resources from multiple organisations, and none optimising the number of actors required to avoid shortages or convergence. This research introduces a disaster preparedness system based on a combination of multi-objective optimisation and geographical information systems to aid multi-organisational decision-making. A cartographic model is used to avoid the selection of floodable facilities, informing a bi-objective optimisation model used to determine the location of emergency facilities, stock prepositioning, resource allocation and relief distribution, along with the number of actors required to perform these activities. The real conditions of the flood of 2013 in Acapulco, Mexico, provided evidence of the inability of any single organisation to cope with the situation independently. Moreover, data collected showed the unavailability of enough resources to manage a disaster of that magnitude at the time. The results highlighted that the number of government organisations deployed to handle the situation was excessive, leading to high cost without achieving the best possible level of satisfaction. The system proposed showed the potential to achieve better performance in terms of cost and level of service than the approach currently employed by the authorities

Stock Prepositioning For Disasters In Mexico: A Case

Different governments are recurring to stock prepositioning to improve immediate disaster response because it can reduce procurement delays and distribution lead-time. However, it can be an expensive policy. Mexico has used this policy for several years with poor results. The purpose of this research is to integrate GIS and optimisation for the analysis of the location of warehousing facilities and prepositioning of stock at a national level. The system was tested using data obtained from Mexican disaster authorities and compared to the current policy, showing better coverage in terms of quality and a reduction of shipment time for several areas

Decision-making and operations in disasters: challenges and opportunities

Decision-making structures are commonly associated with the logistics challenges experienced during disaster operations. However, the alignment between the operational level and the decision-making structure is commonly overlooked. The purpose of this research is to provide an analysis of the fit of both levels and its impact on performance. The research is developed around a case study in Mexico. Through a review of the disaster management policy in the country, interviews, and secondary data, the article provides an analysis of the current decision-making structure, the logistics activities undertaken by authorities and the impact of the alignment between both components on logistics performance. The analysis suggests that several of the challenges commonly associated centralisation are actually rooted on its alignment with the operational level. Logistics performance is negatively affected by faulty assumptions, poorly planned procedures, inconsistent decision-making, and poorly designed structures. The case showed the need to align the operational level with a centralised perspective to increase responsiveness, flexibility and the interaction between different organisations. This article identifies the impact of the misalignment between the decision-making structure and the operational level on logistics performance, an area currently understudied. It moves from the current argument about the appropriate decision-making structure for disaster management to the identification of components to implement an efficient and effective disaster management system. Additionally, this paper provides recommendations for best practices in humanitarian logistics which are applicable to Mexico and other countries using a centralised decision-making approach

El Sistema Jurídico Andino: ¿Utopía o realidad jurídica?

El desarrollo del comercio internacional exigió la creación e implementación de un sistema jurídico, a través de acuerdos multilaterales, acorde con las realidades económicas y comerciales del intercambio de bienes y servicios entre Países Miembros de los mismos. La dinámica de cada país, los intereses particulares, y las asimetrías de los mercados, entre otros factores, dispararon las controversias propias de estas actividades. La permanencia de los acuerdos y la solución de estas controversias dependen de la eficacia del ordenamiento jurídico y son directamente proporcionales al poder coercitivo de sus instituciones para lograr el acatamiento de las sentencias proferidas en virtud del sistema jurídico de que se trate. Este artículo pretende estudiar si estos factores se encuentran vigentes en el interior de la Comunidad Andina.   The expansion of the international trade of good and services demands that an appropriate legal system be developed and incorporated into the different trade agreements that have arisen in the past decades. Each country’s inner dynamics, individual interests, and market asymmetries, among other factors, evolved into a proliferation of claims and disputes that demand effective solutions. The continuity of a trade agreement depends, to a great extent, on the power of decision of the court created to resolve disputes and conflicts, and also on the unified interpretation of such a legal system. This essay tests the validity of this statement within the scope of the Andean Community of Nations, CAN

If Blockchain is the answer what is the question?

The purpose of the paper is to identify the issues and challenges to employing blockchain technology for different operations context. The paper analyses five cases to identify drivers and barriers to adopting the technology. Our findings suggest that interoperability and platform dependency can limit the wide-scale deployment of the technology. Additionally, trust in rule-based software automation and consensus among supply chain actors can inhibit effective adoption. In summary, the paper finds that care should be taken when applying blockchain, since there are many situations where its implementation is not feasible or not beneficial

Understanding Value of Social Media in Supply Chain Management

The purpose of the paper is to extend the social media analytics frameworks reported in the existing literature to create value from the data captured from heterogenous social media and IoT sources in a global supply-chain. The paper will aid the practitioners to understand the importance of focussed analysis and the key requirements for this analysis by offering a guide to organisational needs. The framework and requirements proposed in the paper will aid managers to capture value from the data (i.e. gain key insights) and augment human decision-making

Turismo sostenible para el municipio de Socha Boyacá a partir de los aspectos históricos, culturales y naturales.

El correcto desarrollo del turismo trae consigo el auge económico para las regiones y para sus habitantes, si bien en Boyacá existen grandes atractivos turísticos dado su patrimonio natural y cultural, existe un municipio testigo de la libertad, llamado Socha con un rico legado histórico que no ha dado a conocer sus atractivos turísticos, incluso sus habitantes no se imaginan el inmenso legado que esta tierra posee. Dada la conmemoración del Bicentenario se pretende analizar los aspectos históricos, culturales y naturales junto con la importancia del turismo histórico y cultural para el municipio de Socha Boyacá donde recorrió Simón Bolívar junto con su ejército en 1819, dejando un enorme legado histórico y de enseñanza que es investigado. Ahora bien, dada la trascendencia histórica, y el escaso desarrollo económico y social del municipio, por medio de esta monografía investigativa se busca identificar los sitios y lugares importantes en la historia de la región que pueden ser aprovechados para darlos a conocer como una viable oferta turística que este área geográfica puede ofrecer al departamento y que a su vez contribuirá a generar el desarrollo social y económico; dado sus enormes atractivos naturales/culturales que hoy en día son escasamente aprovechados y poco conocidos.The correct development of tourism brings with it the economic boom for the regions and for his habitants, yes well in Boyacá exist great tourist attractions given its natural and cultural heritage, there is a town witnessing freedom, called Socha with a rich historical legacy that does not They have made known their tourist attractions, even their inhabitants can´t imagine the cultural potential that their land contains. Given the commemoration of the Bicentennial is intended to analyze historical, cultural and natural aspects together with the importance of historical and cultural tourism for the town of Socha Boyacá where Simón Bolívar and his army in 1819, leaving a huge historical legacy and teaching that now he will be remembered. Now, given the historical significance, and the limited economic and social development of the municipality, through this research monograph seeks to identify the important sites and places in the history of the town, which can be used to make them known as a potential offer tourism that this region can offer the department and that in turn contributes to generate social and economic development given its enormous natural / cultural attractions that today are scarcely used and little know

El Sistema Jurídico Andino: ¿Utopía o realidad jurídica?

The expansion of the international trade of good and services demands that an appropriate legal system be developed and incorporated into the different trade agreements that have arisen in the past decades. Each country’s inner dynamics, individual interests, and market asymmetries, among other factors, evolved into a proliferation of claims and disputes that demand effective solutions. The continuity of a trade agreement depends , to a great extent, on the power of decision of the court created to resolve disputes and conflicts, and also on the unified interpretation of such a legal system. This essay tests the validity of this statement within the scope of the Andean Community of Nations, CAN.El desarrollo del comercio internacional exigió la creación e implementación de un sistema jurídico, a través de acuerdos multilaterales, acorde con las realidades económicas y comerciales del intercambio de bienes y servicios entre Países Miembros de los mismos. La dinámica de cada país, los intereses particulares, y las asimetrías de los mercados, entre otros factores, dispararon las controversias propias de estas actividades. La permanencia de los acuerdos y la solución de estas controversias dependen de la eficacia del ordenamiento jurídico y son directamente proporcionales al poder coercitivo de sus instituciones para lograr el acatamiento de las sentencias proferidas en virtud del sistema jurídico de que se trate. Este artículo pretende estudiar si es tos factores se encuentran vigentes en el interior de la Comunidad Andina