After the 2004 tsunami, which heavily affected parts of Thailand and Indonesia, national and international disaster response was quick to support the affected regions.
Within several weeks of the disaster, approximately 400 international non government organizations (NGOs) were working in Indonesia alone providing basic assistance to the affected population.
Introduction to disaster relief
Several factors are necessary to improve response activities:
This study takes a closer look at supply risk management, but this time from the perspective of several small companies. This article tries to answer the questions what risks small company owners (SCOs) see and how SCOs mitigate those risks.
The demand of many products is connected to the weather patterns during and before the selling season. Ice cream can be best sold during warm summers, of course. But also other food products or clothes exhibit weather dependent demand pattern.
This article sheds light on the question of how much flexibility is necessary to secure the supply chain against disruption risks.
The paper reviewed today takes a closer look at three supply chain risks: supply, process and demand risks (figure 1).
Today I review an article called “18 Ways to Guard Against Disruption”. It was published in the Supply Chain Management Review in 2005 by Elkins et al.
This is already my second article (click here for the first) about managing supply chain risks in the chemical industry. This time by Paul R. Kleindorfer and Germaine H. Saad from Wharton and the Widener University. But this industry is quite interesting since it has to withstand a multitude of risks, so let’s get right to business:
Many articles, including my own research show, that companies tend to focus largely on risk mitigation measures concerning the supply side. Only little is done to include demand side risks or demand side measures into the mitigation of supply chain risks. The study “Pricing During Disruptions: A Cause of the Reverse Bullwhip Effect” focusses on optimal pricing measures during a disruption. And so it helps to close the gap a little bit.
I have to distract myself a little bit from thinking about supply chain risks too much, so I thought why not use the chance to read a different article once in a while. Well, at least the authors are familiar: Paul Childerhouse and Denis R. Towill and their paper of 2003: “Simplified material flow holds the key to supply chain integration”
The distinction between disruptions and recurrent / continuous risks is commonly used by researchers and practitioners in supply chain management. But how should the differences be reflected in the supply chain planning process? Is it necessary to differentiate between the risk types here as well?
In 2007 Sunil Chopra et al. analyzed this question in depth.
Submitted by Daniel Dumke on Fri, 2011-07-15 13:19
The first week in Bangkok is nearly over. I met a lot of interesting people and had inspiring talks about culture, supply chains and simulation. But the world did not stop moving, so I present you the highlights of the week in SCM.
