First-Ever Deployment Of Private Sector Logistics Emergency Teams

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-ever 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 World Food Program (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 the face of such devastation, regional and local business leaders are very interested in supporting the humanitarian operation, but there's often no mechanism to locate and engage them quickly," said Mariam Al Foudery, VP - Corporate Social Responsibility for Agility. "Because each of the LETs companies has strong local background and networks, we are able to provide the bridge to connect humanitarian and commercial networks."

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.

"Corporate logistics specialists can integrate with humanitarian logistics specialists in warehouse operations in order to leverage the best of both commercial and humanitarian systems," said Ludo Oelrich, Director of the TNT/WFP Partnership. "When we share our practices and standards, we increase speed and efficiency of aid distribution. When corporations provide additional hands to support these operations, we also allow the UN staff to focus on their critical direct relief work."

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.

"For UPS and for our LETs partners, a critical part of this initiative is to develop local expertise. Our logistics experts provide logistics and safety training so that the local workforce is prepared to take over operations when we leave," says Lisa Hamilton, president of The UPS Foundation. "This helps the LETs team deliver the critical element of sustainability."

Another LETs project underway in Myanmar involves supporting the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which assists displaced victims in their return or resettlement. LETs staff are working with the UNHCR to plan labor, space and management practices for a special project to deliver supply kits to over 40,000 displaced families in the field. Each kit contains a cooking set, water cans, soap and other life support items. Due to limited warehouse space and manpower, the LETs team has recommended a just-in-time delivery model that reduces need for storage space without restricting the flow of kits to those in need. The LETs team is working with the Global Logistics cluster to provide required warehouse space as well as labor and material for this project.

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.

Logistics Emergency Teams:
The very idea of Logistics Emergency Teams dates back from the World Economic Forum's 2005 Davos meeting. In the wake of the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, three companies, Agility, TNT and UPS, decided to look into a coordinated, industry-wide emergency support to humanitarian organizations. Under auspices of the World Economic Forum and initiated by TNT CEO Peter Bakker they started sharing best practices from their bilateral humanitarian partnerships and they developed a joint operating structure -- today's LETs -- to lend a collective hand to humanitarian organizations.

The Logistics Emergency Teams add to the member companies' respective humanitarian partnerships. Agility's projects in the last two years alone include helping with the transport of enough food to feed 43,000 people in Indonesia for the World Food Program after serious flooding in Jakarta, working with the local government in Bangladesh to procure and transport food and bottled water after a cyclone, delivering critical life support materials to 500 displaced families in Iraq with International Medical Corps, financing a primary health care center to serve 13,000 refugees in Darfur, and conducting nation-wide blood drives for the American Red Cross in Agility offices in the United States.

TNT has worked with the World Food Program for six years, supporting WFP with knowledge, means and staff, helping over 1 million school children and tackling over 30 emergencies. In 2007, TNT supported WFP with emergency relief activities in Mozambique, Sudan, Bangladesh and Nicaragua. In addition to the LETs' support, TNT carried out a 300 MT shipment of relief materials on behalf of the Thai Government using the TNT Asia Road Network from Bangkok to the Myanmar border.

The UPS Foundation has long been a contributor to disaster relief. The Foundation has contributed funds, logistical expertise and in-kind transportation donations for virtually every major disaster in recent years. In addition to LETs, just the last year, UPS has provided loaned executives to CARE and the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to streamline disaster relief supply chains. UPS also is a major sponsor of AidMatrix, an online system that connects donors and aid agencies to ensure greater efficiency in the delivery of goods to emergency relief sites. In addition to supporting the LETs efforts in Myanmar, UPS donated $200,000 to CARE, and flew 71 tons of relief supplies to Bangkok.