Understanding the Complexity of Emergency Supply Chains

While conventional commercial supply chains may be complicated, emergency supply chains are inherently complex. In responding to an emergency, they lack a developed forecast, primarily use manual requisitioning systems, and do not possess sophisticated means to sense and respond to the rapidly emerging and changing demand. Multiple stakeholders come together, many for the first time, to execute “on the fly.” Their success is mostly defined by effectiveness, in either preserving combat capability or providing relief; the primary focus becomes getting the job accomplished “at all costs.” As a result, supply chain efficiency is an afterthought, and optimization is difficult, if not undesired. This book completes the education of both practitioners and academics across multiple domains and disciplines. It contributes to military and nongovernmental operators, logisticians, and organizations’ understanding of emergency supply chain strengths and vulnerabilities. Similarly, emergency management professionals will gain a sense of how these supply chains accomplish, limit, or constrain the emergency management process. Undergraduates and other supply chain professionals seeking a deeper understanding of supply chains will also benefit, as the book explores circumstances that run contrary to supply chain theory and thus reinforces a solid grasp on supply chain fundamentals.