October 17, 2017
Photo courtesy de Villiers, distributing tarpaulins in Savane Cheval, Port-au-Prince in Haiti.
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Centre-of-Gravity Analysis in Network Design
Pre-positioning Emergency Relief
Gerard de Villiers
Professional Transportation Engineer, Arup Consultants
External Lecturer, University of Pretoria, South Africa
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The efficiency of emergency relief depends to a large extent on the availability of the right goods at the right time in the right condition and in sufficient quantities at the right place. There is usually very little time to reorder incorrect items or replenish inadequate quantities but at the same time, the emergency response supply chain should not be burdened with unnecessary stock, especially in the wrong place.
Centre-of-gravity analysis has been used very effectively in commercial network designs and the development of suitable channel strategies. De Villiers will explain the usefulness of applying this concept to emergency response situations. He will start with a discussion of network design and continue with an overview of disaster event locations, and why it is important to establish pre-positioning facilities for emergency relief items at the correct locations.
The current UNHRD (United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot) network will be the basis of the discussion, with the location of disaster events in Africa as a case study to suggest how centre-of-gravity analysis can be usefully applied. The talk will end with a brief reference to channel strategies and how each strategy can be aligned with an appropriate network.
The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session.
17 October 2017 | 18.00 - 19.00
USI Room A11
The event is open to the public.
