Gyöngyi Kovács
Gyöngyi Kovács is the Erkko Professor in Humanitarian Logistics, and founding Director of the HUMLOG Institute.
www.hanken.fi/humloginstitute
https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/jhlscm.htm
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Gyöngyi Kovács made a comment
If the link doesn't work for you, please try this one: https://misinfo.me/frontend-v2/home (or https://www.futurelearn.com/links/l/l80vhqfafbksjal9xprjru67dh8sjhg )- and if possible, use Firefox.
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Gyöngyi Kovács made a comment
Thanks for flagging out, everyone, that the page has been moved. We are working on getting it back. In the meantime, please move on to the next point in this week.
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Thanks, Tuija, great examples! Here is also some research on drone-based Covid-test deliveries in Austria: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2021.03.015 (Kunovjanek & Wankmüller, 2021)
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Interesting distinction between the online vs word-of-mouth misinformation. In your experience, how did they differ in their effects?
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Very nice analysis from different power dimensions, thank you!
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Thanks for raising the matter with the current scabies epidemic! It's all across Europe but the decisions you mentioned clearly impact on how it may or may not be contained in Finland.
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Thanks for spotting that, the link has been corrected in the text. It should be https://vimeo.com/765762838/40e0ab7b66
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What are your experiences in comparison? Can we add some more countries and cultures' experiences here?
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Good point with sharing ICU capacities across borders. That was indeed done in the COVID-19 pandemic in the EU, and this tool helped in those decisions.
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Lauri Kuula
This tool was indeed used for decisions on moving patients also across borders. Spot on with the question what is restricting ICU capacity. More often than not, it is a matter of ICU staff, also since that's a highly specialised environment.
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Indeed, AI is used quite a lot for predictive models. How would you though see to it that it gets the parameters of an unknown pandemic right?
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Gyöngyi Kovács made a comment
Hi everyone! In addition to the above, we are now facilitating the course with a team of educators who will be active on this platform during March-April 2024. Meet also Margot Rocheteau, Sarah Schiffling, and Tamara Kirkwood-Wright. All of them have worked with various humanitarian organisations before, especially in the area of medical aid. Sarah is also the...
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@RajithaWickramatunga , what was the most surprising thing you've learned from this podcast?
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Many countries have indeed relocated PPE production back to their countries & regions, and also in other supply chains, there has been a rise of at least a "China + 1" policy to mitigate the risk of disruptions.
However, many crucial raw materials for PPE do not exist in every country. What are your suggestions for how to tackle issues with such global...
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You have a fair point with pre-positioning some of these supplies, and indeed countries that did fared somewhat better in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pre-positioning also gives time to activate procurement while starting to use this stock. Then again, how would you address the next step if there is no PPE production in country?
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Gyöngyi Kovács made a comment
Back to you: what is your experience with medical logistics and supply chains?
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Interesting examples, thanks for sharing!
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There are in fact targeted endeavours to do just that, e.g. the IMPACCT project (https://vosocc.unocha.org/Report.aspx?page=xMiSZAHxxxplusfTkn9Cdo8roG8gxxxequalxxxequal).
Also, countries have in fact refused e.g. vaccines they deemed they couldn't handle - but that results in delays in vaccination outroll. It may seem like a big challenge with some vaccines... -
Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Anna Rahikainen
So true! This is an inherent difficulty in managing pandemics, as well as mitigating supply chain disruptions. What other such surprises have you encountered?
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Good catch, indeed it was meant for 3.7 and 3.8.
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Good point about the movement of people. There is also other open data that can help with that, e.g. from traffic management systems. Any other that comes to mind?
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Fanny Norrena
You are raising an important point, both the data one has and how one can work with it changes over time. What would you do as a next step with even more data?
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Laura Medina
Good you highlighted that. An important aspect to consider is which transfer mechanism would work for beneficiaries. Sometimes one can e.g. distribute sim cards for mobile cash, but you only get so far if you have the telecoms in place. If not, good old debit cards and merchants who can take them in the area may be a backup. There is lots more info to be had...
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Matthew Cua
How interesting! Curious: how do you get the right raw materials for such sophisticated prints?
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On this note, there is also a debate in the UK whether it has become too heavily reliant on its armed forces during the COVID-19 response: https://www.economist.com/britain/2021/10/23/the-british-state-is-becoming-worryingly-reliant-on-its-armed-forces
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Gyöngyi Kovács made a comment
For more resources on this topic, check out the virtual issue of the Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management on "Logistics & SCM in the context of relief for refugees and internally displaced persons" at https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/jhlscm/logistics-and-scm-context-relief-refugees-and-internally-displaced-persons - all...
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to ELYSEE KIBIRIBIRI D
Your observation is spot on. Airdrops are reserved for a matter of last resort, exactly for that reason. And as you said, one can also have people parachuting down to organise the distribution on the ground. That approach has even been used in bringing in people to hurricanes before they hit as to speed up needs assessment and also transport infrastructure...
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Sami Syrjälä
Very good point about the overlaps. As much as we distinguish between phases, types of disasters and organisational mandates, there is much to be said about focusing on how they feed into one another.
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Torun Eklund
Thanks for bringing up the service provision to one another already. That is such a growing area in humanitarian logistics!
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Maria Koudinova
Good points, Maria. Rarely would LSPs also "distribute" aka hand out items to beneficiaries without humanitarians present to at least oversee that process, but they can take care of all sorts of logistical functions until then.
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to JUAN ANTONIO ARANDA DIAZ
Interesting that you've started with the (commercial) logistics service providers and what they do in this field. Great addition to the discussion.
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Gyöngyi Kovács made a comment
Welcome to the course! This is a special run to met popular demand; who wouldn't want to know more about humanitarian logistics right now?
The course will take you through the principles of humanitarian operations, but you get the most out of it the more you discuss with one another. Now we know the COVID-19 response is on everybody's minds but it's not...
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Gyöngyi Kovács made a comment
There is another course on the SDGs as well if you are interested to learn more: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/organising-for-sustainable-development-goals
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Granth Chandra B R
Water is a tricky one. It's heavy! If there is water in the region, you are better off avoiding to transport it and rather work with water purification systems. That way you can also avoid a lot of waste.
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Armidah Balerite
I'm intrigued by your answer of sourcing medicine locally. Can you give some examples for which items that would work vs for which you would need international/global sourcing?
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Mehtab Khattak
We also have an online course on the SDGs, check it out at https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/organising-for-sustainable-development-goals
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Mikko Harteela
Mikko, we have an entire masters and PhD programme, if you are interested :) - but in the meantime, I'd also like to draw your attention to the various courses that different humanitarian organisations have for their own staff & roster, but also to train co-deployment.
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Teresa E
Thanks for posting the guidelines!
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Christiana Torricelli
In addition, there are also other important barriers to consider, e.g. intellectual property rights, and of course quality <-> patient safety, among others.
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Giles O'Halloran
Do you happen to have the link to the EPC pamphlet you mentioned, and could you post it here?
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Graham Heaslip
@SandyWatts Sadly, not all articles are open access, but you will find some in authors' own university repositories, depending on the publishing house's embargos and other requirements. Those that I've written and are either open access or the embargo is over can be accessed through https://harisportal.hanken.fi/en/persons/gy%C3%B6ngyi-kovacs/publications/
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Some lean scholars disagree themselves on how lean management has been perceived from the "zero waste" / "zero inventory" perspective only. Here is a some food for thought from lean management as a process improvement technique in health care: Holden (2011) at https://www.annemergmed.com/article/S0196-0644(10)01322-3/fulltext
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Filipa Munoz
Good question, as they could be both. There is no common classification in this sense, but there are specific co-ordination mechanisms, and different types and foci of organisations. Also within organisations it differs to a great extent how logistics is seen, and where in the organisation it is situated.
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Erica Carvalho
@EricaCarvalho that's a great question. However, isn't the question equally applicable when distributing goods in-kind?
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@ChristianaTorricelli, this will depend quite a bit on the type and role of government, as well as the way disaster management is organised in a country. There is no unified "Western" way to that; just as there is no unified way access to health care is organised.
More generally, however, there are some conditions that apply for being able to deliver... -
Gyöngyi Kovács made a comment
Let's add some questions to the ones above:
1. Which items would you consider most apt for 3D printing?
2. Under which conditions would 3D printing be vs. not be possible?
3. What are the main problems with 3D printing to date? And how would you overcome them? -
Gyöngyi Kovács replied to GEORGIOS MARKOU
@EziashiChukwurah you hit the nail with your point on switching between CBI and in-kind material flows. It's a million dollar question how to solve that if and when one needs to make that switch. Any suggestions what could help there?
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Food for thought: Some HSPs have been labelled LSPs themselves. What do you reckon, are they?
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Sandy Watts
@SandyWatts, for sure! Though if you look at global logistics service providers, many of those also have quite a localised structure through service tiering, use of local freight forwarders etc.
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There are others as well, for sure. The opposite would be LIFO (last in first out), and what is much used in the pharmaceutical and nutrition sector is FEFO (first expiry first out). All of these are but rules of thumb, there is a lot more to it when you consider production batches, links to specific donations and what/whom they are earmarked for etc.
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@ClementinadeOliveira spot on! Have a look at some of the previous comments discussing FEFO (first expiry first out) for pharmaceutical and nutrition items in particular.
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You'll find some more input to your question in the warehousing part of the course for sure, but let's just say up front that there is much value in preparedness, including pre-positioned inventory.
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Gyöngyi Kovács made a comment
There are lots of great answers here with lists of humanitarian organisations. Back to the first part of the question, though, can you also list the specialised logistics structures?
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@LuanFelipeScuttler, do you mean (hand) sanitizer or something else? Sanitizers are essential health care items, and as such considered in medical / medical humanitarian supply chains.
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Gyöngyi Kovács made a comment
Welcome, everyone, who has just started the course! No worries if you started a bit late, we are keeping the course open still for a couple of weeks.
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Nyasha Mkombo
Nice you found the course, Nyasha! Welcome!
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Gyöngyi Kovács
In case you've missed it, you can still check it out at https://youtu.be/Jgoe6iCYLF4
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Juan Daniel Reyes
Welcome, Juan, to the course! Please do bring in all your experience, which I know is vast!
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Gyöngyi Kovács made a comment
There are great comments here focusing on ethical issues mostly. Others focus on local organisations as implementing partners. Apart from those important points, how do you see the role of
(a) local grassroot organisations in disaster relief, and
(b) local organisations for capacity building and disaster as well as community resilience? -
Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Samrat Kandel
Why do you say that? Can you please elaborate?
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Nico Mira
At the risk of re-posting this, we will have a discussion on this very topic in a "virtual open forum". Feel free to join!
Virtual open forum discussion entitled “An Action Agenda for Effective Post-COVID-19 Supply Chains”.
When: April 16th, Thursday, 2020 (60-120 minutes)
Japan Singapore Amsterdam London New York San Francisco
21:00 (9pm) 20:00 (8pm)... -
Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Rami Syed
Great example! Everyone, are there any others you are aware of?
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@RouaMoawiaAbdalhadiMohamed There are quite a few humanitarian organisations present in Sudan but if you are looking for one with a strong volunteer base, check out the activities of the Sudanese Red Crescent Society. Their website seems down but they have a LinkedIn page as well. More specifically for the Covid-19 response there is also a WHO representation...
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Gyöngyi Kovács made a comment
Welcome all again!
Most of you are now in your week 2 of the course, while others may just join up. This course is about humanitarian logistics more in general, but if you are up for a discussion on supply chains in the COVID-19 outbreak, you can also join an open forum dedicated to the matter:
Virtual open forum discussion entitled “An Action Agenda...
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Julian Espejo
Hola Julian, we are always looking for good PhD students in humanitarian logistics. Check out the Hanken PhD website at https://www.hanken.fi/en/apply/phd-programme and sign up for the newsletter to get info and updates on the next application round.
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Magnus Björk
@MagnusBjörk Absolutely! It would be fun to see what all came true.
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Thanks for flagging out if there is a technical glitch. And even bigger thanks for not giving up but providing a verbal description as answer.
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There are quite a few actors that can be active in disaster relief, the government certainly being one of them. Even in a case in which they wouldn't actively "deliver" anything, they have a crucial role in co-ordinating relief efforts.
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There is quite a lot of focus on digitalisation but beware of (a) the impact of a disaster on telecoms/energy infrastructures, and (b) the "digital divide". Those you need to reach are the most vulnerable, after all.
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Rami Syed
You are right that we push out what we know will be needed, but the earlier we have a more nuanced needs assessment, the earlier there is a change to pull - or even to cash.
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Ali Saeed
Very good point on checking what is already on stock!
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You are spot on with each disaster being a unique event, but there are also quite a few commonalities, both in terms of which logistical principles are applied in which phase of disaster relief, but also in terms of basic items we know people will need. Focusing on commonalities helps in preparedness and speeds up response.
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@LizBreen CILT UK has also set up a platform to match logisticians with the NHS in the UK. Their database can be found here: https://ciltuk.org.uk/covidresponse
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Afra Mukhtar
Hi Afra, if you are studying service management, have you seen that there is another Hanken MOOC starting next week on that topic? Check it out: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/principles-of-service-management
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Gyöngyi Kovács made a comment
How would you modify "first in first out" for pharmaceutical and nutrition products?
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Well spotted with alternate telecommunication; networks are often impacted by a disaster itself, whether we are now talking of the impact of a natural hazard or a conflict. Less so in a pandemic, of course.
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Warren Meek
Those are good questions for needs assessment. You may also want to consider others such as who has the capacity to help themselves/get help from their own network, vs. who would be left out. We talk about vulnerability-capacity assessment (VCA) as well as needs assessment in this regard.
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Great point on risk assessments. Apart from countries and regions having those, you can also derive the disaster profile of particular countries from disaster databases such as this one: https://www.emdat.be/
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Good point on building back better, it's essential for improving resilience.
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Magnus Björk
Good point in preparedness being not just warehousing but also the nurturing of supplier relations!
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Those of you in other countries, please add your city's / region's responses here as well; we may just help in connecting people to the right co-ordination centres and endeavours.
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Rami Syed
@RamiSyed, can you please comment on Mikko's question a bit more up from here?
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Not entirely sure about other cities, but the Finnish Red Cross departments in the central areas of Helsinki have formed a joint centre (tilannekeskus). There are a few FRC members here in the course, those of you in different cities/regions, please comment!
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Morro Trawally
No worries, we are here to assist :)
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Matthias Bühler
Hi Matthias, welcome back to a Hanken course! Didn't you do your exchange term with us a long time ago?
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Magnus Björk
Hi Magnus, welcome back to a Hanken course! Nice to see you are still working with strategic sourcing; wasn't that what you've written your master's thesis on? Looking forward to your contribution in the procurement section of this course in particular.
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Christiana, and all others, if you are looking for literature in humanitarian logistics, you may just want to start with Peter Tatham's bibliography. You can find it here: https://www.hanken.fi/en/departments-and-centres/department-marketing/humlog/journal-humanitarian-logistics-and-supply-1 It was last updated on March 13, 2020.
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Lene Krog
Great example. The reminder of not disrupting the market is crucial. The other question is whether you need to deliver food in kind, or whether cash distribution could be more appropriate, again depending on the market situation.
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Emmanuel S
That's a fair point, Emmanuel. There is a lot of discussion of the humanitarian-development nexus that is relevant here. There are a few additional perspectives that may be of interest: the sustainability of aid, the question of surge capacity of existing systems, as well as the one of exit strategies.
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Paul Danjuma
Very good point! Here is btw some resource on preparedness vs response at ACF: https://www.actioncontrelafaim.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ACF_Report_Supply-Chain-Exp-and-Inv.-Opportunities_20171124_Final.pdf
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Gyöngyi Kovács made a comment
Wow, what a great group already! There is a lot to learn here from one another, whether from the "insiders" who work with humanitarian organisations, or their suppliers, or researchers dedicated to this topic. Welcome to all of you! I for one will certainly learn a lot :)
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Joni Lilja
Welcome, Joni! For those of you who are not familiar with Red Cross emergency relief units, ask Joni about them! It's a fascinating system. Take it from another FRC logistics delegate here :)
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Stephen Pettit
Yay, another facilitator here! For the others, Stephen has done quite some research in this field as well; looking forward to learning more from him here.
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Lene Krog
Good point on kits, they are super-important for speedy delivery so you can also use materials instantly. Check out the inter-agency health kits that are put together following the same standards, so that any humanitarian organisation can easily start using one another's kits in the field.
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Ikali Karvinen
Important point on the Log Cluster and on cluster leads. Which other clusters do you know?
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Claire L
Wow, welcome, Claire! Nice to have more facilitators on board as well :)
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Gyöngyi Kovács replied to Maryam Zomorrodi
Congrats to your PhD! You may have seen that we are looking for a post doc for our project HERoS, which is a COVID-19 response project. You'll find the job ad at https://hanken.rekrytointi.com/paikat/index.php?jid=138&key=&o=A_RJ&rspvt=ahopu6rzguwcgo0ocwgwk48ogsko4c0
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Gyöngyi Kovács made a comment
In addition, what do you think makes the logistics of pandemic response unique?
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Gyöngyi Kovács made a comment
Welcome to the course! This is a special run to met popular demand; who wouldn't want to know more about humanitarian logistics right now?
The course will take you through the principles of humanitarian operations, but you get the most out of it the more you discuss with one another. Now we know the COVID-19 response is on everybody's minds but it's not...
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Gyöngyi Kovács made a comment
Thanks to you all for taking the course! It's been super-interesting to see what you got out from it, and especially to read your key take-aways here. Always hoping for even more answers, of course.
