7/30/2019 Aung Kyaw Moe-Task (7)-Module (1)

Aung Kyaw Moe / Task 7 - Humanitarian Aid and Supply Chain

Memo
To: Francois Damba
From:  Aung Kyaw Moe
Date: 28 May 2013

RE: TASK 7 – HUMANITARIAN AID SUPPLY CHAIN

Dear Francois,

I would like to present my task in two portion: The first portion is describing the
mapping of supply chain currently working in SCILaid Betaland. In this part, I will
mostly refer to my previous reports and analysis. The second part is more elaborative
since it is concerned with how SCILaid Betaland supply chain can be improved in
different steps of information flow and goods flow. In this part, I my presentation will
mainly depend upon the Study manual I received and some of my past experiences in
the logistics business.

MAPPING OF SUPPLY CHAIN IN SCILaid Betaland

Target Beneficiaries

Betaland has a long border shared with Alphaland in the southern part of country.
There had been arm conflicts in Alphaland and as a result, influx of refugees from
Alphaland come into Betaland and Betaland‘s government accommodated refugees
 by opening some refugee camps near the border.

Previously, SCILaid was providing shelters for refugees but it is finished now. I
started to distribute food rations 6 months ago to the following camps along the
 border.
1. 12,000 refugees in Bagor Camp
2. 13,000 refugee in Nator Camp
3. 35,000 refugees in Parna Camp

Therefore, SCILaid provided food to 60,000 beneficiaries in the camps. There are
other 40,000 refugees in 2 other camps in Kohrna. SCILaid requires 1000 metric

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tonnes food per month for distribution and now ration are distributed biweekly.
SCILaid is now considering moving to a monthly distribution schedule soon.

SCILaid received the demand information mainly from the target beneficiaries and
Programme Section made a baseline survey and need assessment of these
 beneficiaries before implementing its aids programmes.

Procurement in Betaland

Although UNFA provides rice, bean, and oil, SCILaid needs to buys salt and sugar to
add for ration. A local contractor, Ralem Company based in Mugla, a sea port town, is
 providing supplies. The contract between Ralem and SCILaid is near to end and the
 process of re-tendering is on the way. SCILaid expect to have a new supplier with a
cheaper price for food.

Materials/Goods and In-Kind Donation

Sometimes, SCILaid received in kind donation from governments and organizations.

UNFA provides rice, bean, and oil but SCILaid buys salt and sugar to add for ration.
SCILaid also receives 25 USD per tonne for ITSH (Internal Transportation, Storage
and Handling) cost from UNFA.

SCILaid received 4 trucks donated by Xrayland and they also received some charges
for the running cost of these trucks. Epsilonland government is going to donate 2
generators and I learn that the government of Xrayland also want to donate Wheat
Soya Blend (WSB) to SCILaid Betaland.

Commercial Sourcing

The commercial organizations are not only providing donations and funding to the
Humanitarian Organizations but they are the main sources of materials and supplies
needed for the humanitarian aid operations. To identify and select the appropriate
suppliers and placing Purchase Orders to them are the most important things a
Humanitarian Organization should do.

A local contractor, Ralem Company based in Mugla, a sea port town, is the major 
supplier who is providing supplies to SCILaid in Betaland . The contract between

Ralem and
SCILaid SCILaid
expect is near
to have to end
a new and the
supplier process
with of re-tendering
a cheaper is on the way.
price for food.

Customs Clearing
Since SCILaid makes local procurement in a small scale, most of the supplies were
imported from the other countries. In this sense, Customs clearing becomes a big part
of SCILaid’s Supply Chain in Betaland . The Importation rules are strict in Betaland
 but SCILaid has tax exemption status for all emergency supplies. Recently, 2
generators donated by Epsilonland government are coming soon and the government
of Xrayland also want to donate Wheat Soya Blend (WSB) to SCILaid Betaland.

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Warehousing
After clearing the cargo from the sea port and airport, they must be put in the
warehouses. SCILaid has 2 warehouses for storage of food: one is a big store of 2000
Sq. meter and situated at Mugla Port. In Chagong there is another warehouse which
has space of 500 Sq. meters but it is sufficient to store food temporarily before
sending them to the camps. SCILaid also intended to increase stock in Epsilonland for 
emergency use. One of its partner organization, UNIRP, is also building some stock 
 piles in Betaland

Stock Piling
Most of the humanitarian organisations are holding their own stocks in order for 
responding a given emergency situation as soon as possible. These stocks will have
 been donated or sourced from commercial sources. A clear-cut definition of stock 
 piling strategy will have been put into place to determine what goods are to be held,
where they will be held and what quantities will be held.

Transportation
In terms of transportation, SCILaid Betaland has a vehicle fleet of 14 vehicles in
which most are 4 x 4 trucks. Only 10 trucks are running in Chagong, whereas the
remaining 4 are in the Capital, Dhetra. The government of Xrayland donated 4 Isuzu
FS33 trucks to SCILaid Betaland but these trucks consume fuel so high. But fuel price
in Betaland is just 0.5 $ per litre and SCILaid has a contract with Betagaz for fuel
supply. Xrayland government also subsides the expenses of fuel and maintenance cost
of these car.

General road conditions in Betaland are quite workable and it needs just 2 days
roundtrip between Mugla and Chagong and from Chagong to Camps we need only 1
day for roundtrip. It is difficult to reach to the camps in wet season if there are
torrential downpours. Air transport is possible but there is only one international
airport in Dhetra and one domestic airport in Chagong. It is supposed to be 3 flights
 per day between Dhetra and Chagong but it is not very regular.

Telecommunication
As far as I know, telecommunication is accessible in Betaland and both HF and VHF
systems are working well in the area. But internet access is not 100% available here.

Human Resourcesorganisations usually have two types of employees, viz., full time
Most humanitarian
employees and volunteers (reservists) that they can call on when needed. There can be
not only international staff but there are also national staff recruited locally.

Sourcing of human resources may be from various ways, something like by

advertising the post in public media and newspapers or by requesting governments
and international donor organization to provide the required technical experts.

Following is a checklist for a Humanitarian Organization when responding to a

disaster situation

• To identify the specific skills/knowledge/experience that is needed

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• To identify the number of people required.

• To identify the place to find these human resources, local or international
• To put in place specific mechanisms to get access to trained experts. For 
example, to have an agreement with a hospital to release
immediately already trained staff for a short period of time

OPPORTUNITIES OF IMPROVEMENT IN SUPPLY CHAIN OF SCILaid

1. Planning Supply Requirements

To establish a good supply chain in SCILaid, we should start with a good supply
 planning. The objective of Supply planning is to define and schedule supply
requirements to meet the needs of the programme and internal operations. A supply
chain without a well-defined supply plan is like a blind man walking on a dark lane in

the moonless night.

The major problems in Supply planning are the Limited use of planning process to
define objectives, activities and needed inputs and Weak identification of supply
needs in the programme. Limited involvement of staff responsible for supplies in
 programme planning is another factor of risk in supply planning . Lack of awareness
of supply procedures, estimated costs, and procurement lead times to realistically
 budget and specify supply requirements are also hindering the smooth supply
 planning.

The following points of Control should be established for a good supply

planning.
1. Define need for supply assistance within the context of overall activity
 planning for both programme and operations activities.
2. Define supply input requirements in adequate time to allow for procurement
and delivery before implementation of the activity
3. Supply and Programme staff to effectively interact during work planning with
the awareness of procurement procedures, lead times, need for clear 
specifications and clear understanding of supply input requirements.

2. Defining Supply Specifications

Sometimes, a smooth flow in the supply chain is delayed because of the lack of detail
definition of Supply specifications. The flow of information concerning the detail
supply specifications is also a crucial aspect of any supply chain. This information
may include the following aspects:

• WHAT kind of goods/products we need to supply for beneficiaries?

• WHAT is the number of total available beneficiaries/end-users?
• HOW MANY (quantity) of supplies needed for supply of goods?
• WHEN these goods must be supplied?
• WHERE these goods must be supplied?
• HOW these goods should be supplied? (means of transportation)

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Better we know about these kinds of information, clearer our vision of what we need
to do become. This information is going to determine the entire supply chain process.
All the activities involved in the supply chain process are to be implemented in
accordance with this information.

Therefore, the Objective of obtaining detail supply specification and information is to

 provide accurate technical specifications, estimated costs, and required TADs to
facilitate proper identification and sourcing of planned supplies and provide adequate
information to enable procurement authorization.

Potential Causes in not getting detail information are:

• Weak technical supply knowledge of programme/office staff & partners
• Limited involvement of supply staff in defining specifications
• Limited availability of proper specifications for commonly used supplies
•
Limited awareness or use of existing sources of supply information
• Weak awareness of need for significant specification detail for international
 procurement, particularly for printing
• Lack of awareness of the many authorization limits that affect an office
• Delays in release of local/regional procurement authorization
• Weak monitoring of requests for local/regional procurement authorization.

The following points of Control should be established for a good supply

specification and information.

1. As a result of planning process raise timely requisitions which include

adequate specifications and realistic target delivery dates.
2. Use standard specifications for frequently purchased supplies based on
knowledge of the end-users' standards, needs, preferences and
maintenance capacities. Use reference materials for developing
specifications and estimating costs.
3. The staff to be fully aware of the procurement lead-times, importance of 
clarity of specifications and authorization limits for local procurement and
use this information during supplies planning.
4. Programme and supply staffs effectively coordinate on timely and accurate
specification development.
5. Select appropriate sources of supplies, mode of shipment and apply
adequate controls to approve high-price source and shipment options.
6. The exact location of supplies in the chain, the status of movement and
inventory level kept in, and the amount of supplies to move in transit
should be carefully monitored.
7. The estimated time of departure and arrival of supplies and important
instructions in the process of receiving and clearance of supplies (i.e.,
dangerous/hazardous cargo, highly perishable foods and vaccines which
must be kept under certain range of temperature) When goods will arrive
at different points in the chain, e.g. goods arriving at ports that will need
unloading and goods arriving that will need storing in a warehouse.
8. The volume of goods to arrive and making calculations of resources are
needed to move and unload them must be properly checked.

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9. Keep eyes wide open to any problems there are which are affecting the
flow of goods down the supply chain.
3. Selecting and Contracting Suppliers

The next step in the supply chain is to identify the potential suppliers/contractors who
are capable of supplying goods in accordance with the supply planning and
specifications. Therefore, the Objective of identifying and selecting suppliers is to
ensure the selection of the most appropriate supplier in terms of quality, cost, and
delivery time resulting in the issue and recording of purchase orders.

Basically procurement is an activity or a process that exchanges/transforms cash or 

financial resources into appropriate goods or services required and a good
 procurement needs the five “Rights” as mentioned below:

• Right Price
• Right Quality
• Right Quantity
• Right Packaging
• Right Delivery Time

By fulfilling these Rights, the procurement and order management component can
manage to source the goods that are needed to meet the needs of the beneficiaries.

Weakness for SCILaid in terms of selecting and contracting the potential

suppliers might be due to the following reasons:

• Limited market research to identify potential local suppliers

• Limited capacity to assess & qualify potential suppliers
• Weak evaluation practices to assess actual performance of 
selected suppliers
• Weak specifications & requests for bids reduces quality of 
returned bids
• Weak segregation of duties for receipt of bids and awarding of 
contracts
• Inappropriate staff/counterpart interference in the supplier 
selection process
• Weak knowledge/capacity of staff members to assess submissions
• Inadequate or inappropriate contractual terms & conditions in
purchase orders

These weaknesses can be corrected by using the following tools of Control:

1. Assess potential suppliers and maintain/use the list of qualified suppliers in the
issue of requests for bids and quotations.
2. Evaluate the performance of suppliers in the fulfillment of Purchase Orders
and use the findings to modify the list of qualified suppliers.
3. Use well-prepared bid/quotation request documents (appropriate

specifications, delivery dates, and contract terms) to invite qualified suppliers

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to competitively bid and appropriately assess the suppliers' proposals before

issuing a PO.
4. Establish procedures for submission and safeguarding bid documents, bid
opening, evaluating and selecting winning bidders.
5. Establish standard terms and conditions to be included in local POs and
ensure that these terms and conditions are verified during the drafting,
authorization and signature process.

4. Pre-Delivery Quality Control, Shipment Monitoring, and Receipt of Goods

After the Purchase Orders are put into place and the supplier is ready to deliver the
ordered goods, we need to do a pre-delivery inspection of goods. So the main
Objective of pre-delivery quality control is to ensure that delivered supplies meet the
specified quantity, quality, packing, delivery date and location terms and the final cost
as per calculations done by SCILaid.

The factors that make an inspection of goods ineffective are due to-
• Limited knowledge of pre-delivery inspection procedures.
• Vague specifications, packing and delivery instructions in POs.
• Unrealistic TADs requested by SCILaid & accepted by suppliers.
• Failure to confirm delivery of supplies at final destination.
• Inadequate planning leading to rushed/weak verification of 
quality & quantity.
• Improper segregation of duties for delivery verification, invoice
certification and payment request approval.
• Weak enforcement of contract terms and penalty clauses.
• Weak controls to identify duplicate invoices.

These weaknesses can be corrected by using the following tools of Control:

1. Ensure that pre-delivery inspections of locally-produced supplies are
conducted to meet the quality specifications before completing the order.
2. Maintain regular contact with contracted suppliers, monitor their progress to
meet specified TADs and provide timely feedback to relevant staff of any
deviations in expected delivery dates
3. Verify supply deliveries and record (by authorized staff/partners) against
specifications, quantities, packing & delivery instructions etc, and assess the
fulfillment of the supplier's obligations. Accurately report all deviations.

5. Shipment Monitoring and Port Clearance Process

What is not available locally must be ordered from other countries and in this case
shipment monitoring and port clearance process may become the main part of supply
chain. In this process, the following steps must be carefully carried out.

 PO Delivery Date and Shipment Tracking:

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PO delivery date is an agreement between SCILaid and the supplier about the
estimate date of the delivery of goods to the destination. Any PO which is
approaching to the delivery date or which is still outstanding after that date must be
closely followed up and checked with the supplier.

Shipment Pre-Advice and Shipping Documents:

Suppliers used to send shipment pre-advice before sending actual original shipping
documents. In this regard, when we receive a pre-advice of a shipment, we have to
start running documentation and trying to get necessary authorizations from the
respective government bodies. Check shipping documents very carefully because any
discrepancies in terms of BL Nos. quantity of packing and prices on the invoices may
cause unwanted delay in the supply chain process.

 Duty Free Exemption & Customs Clearance:

SCILaid is a humanitarian/non-profit organization and it must have a tax-exempted

status for all shipments and importations for her programme. Liaison with the related
line ministries and authorities concerned in timely manner is the most important task 
 before customs clearing. Lack of information sharing with the government authorities
about the nature of goods may cause some delay in getting tax exemptions. SCILaid is
mainly importing some food items and medicines and in this case the timely approval
of FDA in Betaland is necessary. Without FDA approval, the process of importation
of food items and drugs is impossible and cause some hindrances in the smooth flow
of supply chain.

6. Receipt & Warehousing Process

Sometimes, Warehousing is the most neglected part of a supply chain although it is a

very important for supplies and goods to be safely stored at transit or final destination
warehouses. To make warehousing and storage management of SCILaid, the
following checklist should be done regularly and properly.
 
1. Quarterly Inventory Report by age and value obtained jointly by
 programme and supply staff 

2.
3. Bi-Annual
Principle oforFirst
Annual physical
In First stock count
Out (FIFO) to be to be doneand expiry dates
followed
of foods and drugs closely monitored
4. Emergency supply storage is an issue to be considered and well-
 prepared.

7. Transportation and In-country Distribution Process

After procurement is done, the next step in the supply chain process is the physical
movement of goods from suppliers or donors to beneficiaries. The transport
component of the supply chain is the major part in providing this movement of goods.

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In terms of transporting goods along the chain, different actors may be involved in the
whole process, including commercial suppliers, UN organisations and NGOs. They
may all take responsibility for ensuring the goods are transported along part of the
 physical supply chain.

The following steps and sequences shows a generic humanitarian supply chain and all
the different movements of goods that will need to happen for the goods to be moved
from suppliers or donors, along the supply chain to the beneficiaries.

1. Supplies procured from the International Suppliers and In-kind donations of 
Donors come to the HQ level central warehouse
2. By means of sea freight or air freight, the supplies come to the sea port and
airport of country where humanitarian activities are implemented
3. After customs clearance, the supplies are moved to the country level central
warehouse
4. All supplied locally purchased are also joining to this central warehouse
5. Form central warehouse, the supplies go to the regional warehouses and local
warehouses in the programmatic area
6. Supplies are distributed to the beneficiaries from local warehouses

The following different factors in implementing transportation must be properly

checked at first:

• The urgency that goods are required.

• The type of goods to be transported.
• The volume of goods to be transported.
• The availability of different transport routes.
• The place to which the goods need to be transported.
• The cost of transportation.
• The availability of different types of transport.
• The terrain through which the goods need to be transported.

A range of different transport methods will be used to transport goods along a

humanitarian supply chain based on the information we collect about the above-
mentioned factors. These will include air, sea, road and rail, and may range from large
sea vessels to horse drawn carts.

8. Assess the Effectiveness of Supply Assistance

The Supply Chain in SCILaid is mostly complete when the goods and supplies
required have been successfully distributed to the targeted beneficiaries, but being
 jointly responsible with the programme section for the usability of supplies, it is
mandatory to assess the effectiveness and appropriateness of supply assistance after 
distribution.

The Objective of investigating the effectiveness of supply assistance is to assess the

effectiveness of procured supplies in the implementation of programme and office
activities.

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The reasons why we need to monitor and evaluate the supplies distribution are:
• To improve the design of a project or programme
• To improve future procurements (Feedback to improve Specs)
• To ascertain relevance of supplies to users and beneficiaries
• To provide Recommended actions for each case
• To obtain Data for planning supply component of Country Programme
• To identify risk areas in terms of supply delivery

The below-mentioned factors will create the Potential Risks of monitoring:

• Limited attention to assessing the role of supplies during
 programme reviews
• Weak assessment of the overall effectiveness of supply
supported activities
• Limited visits by SCILAID staff to programme-supported field
locations
• Weak assessment of the quality & use of supplies during field
visits

These weaknesses can be corrected by using the following tools of Control:

1. Review and evaluate the appropriateness and effectiveness of the supply

component of the programme-supported activities.
2. Review individual project activity to include a consideration of the
appropriateness and effectiveness of the supply assistance provided for the
activity. Ensure supply staffs are informed of the findings and use the
information in future supply planning and procurement actions.
3. SCILaid Staff maintain contact with programme-supported activities through
field visits, and regularly assess the appropriateness and effectiveness of 
 programme-provided supplies as a component of their field visits. The results
of these assessments can correct future programme planning and supply
 procurement actions.
4. What to monitor in this assessment of supplies distribute are:
•

Quality, Effectiveness and Appropriateness of supplies

• Timeliness of Delivery
• Whether and How the supplies are being used
• Accuracy of Installation
• Durability and Suitability of supplies
• Impact of a product on the users
• Whether an input should continue, be amended or stopped
• Logistics Chain (breaks, lead time etc.)
5. The following tools can be used in monitoring and evaluation of supplies
distribution
• Receipt documents of the end-users
• Tabulating available data

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• Periodic Progress/monitoring reports

• Field Trip Reports (separate field for supply monitoring)
• Warehouse visits at central, provincial, state and/or township
• Joint Monitoring/Evaluation visits (programme/supply)
•

•
Observing
Questioninginstallation andthrough
beneficiaries condition during field visits
interview
• Supplies/equipment evaluation form

 Best Regards,

Aung Kyaw Moe

Logistics Officer 
Sub-Office
SCILaid Betaland

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