Issues and Challenges in Self-Sustaining Response Supply Chains

Abstract

The most basic representation of a supply chain has three elements: supply, demand, and the flow between the two. A humanitarian response supply chain (RSC) has to a large extent unknown demand and at best uncertain supply demand with disruptive flow. A self-sustaining supply chain (SSSC) requires that the supply chain itself provide all resources consumed while transporting supplies, thus complicating the operations with numerous challenges and unfamiliar issues. If an RSC is self-sustaining, it will reduce some of the uncertainties in supply. However, self-sustaining response supply chains (SSRSC) generate significant additional cost for being extreme supply chains. To understand the costs associated with SSRSC observed in special operations and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), they must be compared and contrasted against the known characteristics of traditional supply chains. This work explores the issues and challenges of SSRSC that arise in logistics networks.