Deployment of Private Sector Logistics Emergency Teams for Victims of Myanmar Cyclone

Logistics Insight Asia - Industry News, 21/7/2008

Logistics experts help address supply and warehousing challenges of world food program response.

The management and distribution of food and other critical relief supplies into Myanmar is being facilitated with support and expertise from some of the world’s leading logistics and transport companies, due to the first deployment of a unique United Nations (UN) partnership initiative. Agility, TNT and UPS comprise the joint Logistics Emergency Teams (LETs) unit that has been supporting the WFP led “Global Logistics Cluster” supply chain efforts both on the ground in Yangon, and in the critical staging area at Bangkok’s Don Muang airport.

“The Myanmar response provided us with proof of concept for the LETs initiative. The augmentation of the logistics cluster by the LETs ensured the widest possible benefit to the activities of the humanitarian community”, said Matthew Hollingworth, WFP Logistics Officer and Head of the Global Logistics Cluster Support Cell.

In the immediate aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, the deadliest natural disaster in the recorded history of Myanmar, the local airstrips, roads and other infrastructure were devastated. Therefore, the international flow of food and other donated relief supplies was directed to nearby Bangkok, where representatives of the LETs program first convened in early May with the WFP and dozens of relief organizations assembled there.

During the early planning and coordination period, LETs experts worked closely with humanitarian logisticians, providing logistics consultation and basic information on transportation, warehousing, and customs clearance support for the greater humanitarian community. In addition, the LETs companies were able to leverage their local resources to expedite operations and increase efficiencies. For example, a senior LETs executive supplied by UPS was able to reach out to his supply chain for valuable input on what logistics processes would best work in the impacted area’s complex environment. Likewise, TNT was able to leverage their strong local Thailand presence to efficiently coordinate a major shipment of supplies to the Myanmar border. Similarly, Agility used its network to locate for the UN a shipping company with landing craft suitable for operating in the challenging Mayawaddy Delta region. Utilizing corporate local knowledge and relationships for the UN’s benefit is central to the LETs model.

In addition to assisting with relief logistics strategy, at the behest of WFP, staff from Agility, TNT and UPS jointly organized and have been managing a 20,000 square meter warehouse in Bangkok. The warehouse receives food and non-food items that need to be received, identified, inspected, inventoried, palletized and prepared for shipment. The companies provided full warehouse operations support services, customs clearance support and some flight operations planning support. Working side by side with UN relief workers, corporate competitors have united and formed an integrated team to increase speed and efficiency to the humanitarian efforts.

Once the airport was sufficiently restored in Yangon, staff from the LETs group were deployed there to work with local organizations to expand warehousing operations and capacity to receive and distribute the stockpiled supplies coming in from Bangkok. In the first four days, the LETs group managed hundreds of metrics tons of cargo and dispatched over 40 trucks. On average, the LETs group is receiving and discharging 200 metric tons of cargo per day using LETs managed transportation assets and warehouses.

In Myanmar, representatives from the LETs companies meet each morning, and often each evening, with representatives of the Global Logistics Cluster to plan incoming and outgoing freight management from the primary UN warehouse. To facilitate the warehousing process, LETs companies have used their expertise to develop inventory management, issuing and receipt processes that are compatible with the existing UN systems. This includes property release forms for outbound trucks and cargo, and property receipt and inventory documentation for materials received.

An important role of the LETs team is to help build local logistics capacity, including linking the UN logistics team with local logistics organizations. This work also includes conducting safety training with warehouse staff in Myanmar, instituting security access at the UN warehouse compound, and helping to procure equipment locally at a fair price. For example, when the UN recently needed to rent a forklift, LETs companies reached out to local agents and obtained same-day quotes to speed along the procurement. Currently, the LETs group is in the process of transitioning the UN’s Myanmar warehouse to be fully supported by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), without ongoing reliance on corporate managers or staff.

Staff provided by the LETs companies are serving on a purely pro bono basis. By the design of the LETs initiative, they are engaged during the early emergency relief phase of relief efforts following large scale natural disasters. The partnership concept was first demonstrated on the ground in August 2007 in Indonesia during an operational exercise organized and hosted by WFP. However, response to the Myanmar cyclone is the first large scale deployment of the teams since the launch of the initiative at Davos in January 2008.

Agility www.agilitylogistics.com
TNT http://group.tnt.com
UPS UPS.com.