Developing resilience in disaster relief operations management through lean transformation

Abstract

The impact of disasters in terms of the loss of human lives, infrastructure, and economy has been increasing over time. Planning and management strategies for disaster relief operations (DROs) have got the attention of researchers and policymakers, particularly on how to achieve resilience in such operations. This research aims to investigate the use of the lean transformation approach, which in this context is the process of evaluating relief operations’ performance in terms of responsiveness and road mapping interventions, for achieving resilience in DROs. A systematic lean-based method instigated through DROs’ management initiative was developed. This was validated through an empirical industrial fire case study where selected lean concepts and tools like Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs and Customer (SIPOC)-analysis, value stream maps (VSM), key performance indicators (KPIs), fishbone diagram, and plan-do-check-act (PDCA) were used to investigate DROs resilience in terms of their responsiveness. The VSMs were developed for ‘as-is’ and ‘to-be’ scenarios, and comparative analysis against standardized KPIs was carried out. The lean transformation approach was found effective in the studied case of industrial fire for developing resilience in DROs. Furthermore, lean tools could help in devising pragmatic strategies to prevent delays and achieve enhanced resilience through better coordination, communication, capacity building, and awareness. This research contributes to the operations management and disaster management fields through lean transformation.

Keywords:

• Operations management
• lean transformation
• disaster resilience
• disaster relief
• disaster management
• industrial fire

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to all collaborators for their active participation in this research programme, especially the collaborators for the case study presented in this article: Rescue 1122 Punjab, Pakistan (Dr. Rizwan Naseer, Director-General RESCUE 1122 and Muhammad Mohsin Durani), University of Engineering & Technology Lahore, Pakistan, and the University of Cambridge, UK.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The first phase of this research was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) through the University of Cambridge Institutional Grant 2016-17 titled ‘Resilient supply chains for disaster relief operations in South Asia (DROPS)’. This programme has since continued through industrial funding and academic support globally, in particular from the UK, Pakistan, Turkey, and USA.

Notes on contributors

Amjad Hussain

Dr. Amjad Hussain is working as Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering with the University of Engineering and Technology (UET). Previously, he has served as Chairman at the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, at UET Lahore. His research interests mainly include Operations Resilience, Industry 4.0, Lean Transformation, Human Factors/Ergonomics, Sustainable Product and Process Design, and Technology Management. He has published more than 60 research articles in well-reputed journals and conferences all over the world. He has a Ph.D. in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering from Loughborough University, UK; M.Sc., in Manufacturing Engineering and B.Sc., in Mechanical Engineering from UET, Lahore, Pakistan. He is leading a research group working on the development and implementation of strategies and frameworks for sustainable industrial systems design, especially focussing on Industry 4.0 technologies.

Tariq Masood

Tariq Masood received B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees. He is currently a Reader with the Department of Design, Manufacturing and Engineering Management, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He is internationally recognized for his work on intelligent manufacturing, engineering design, and engineering management with over 100 publications of numerous book chapters, conference papers, and articles in leading journals. His research interests include topics particularly related to digitalisation, technology & operations management, smart factories, Industry 4.0 technology adoption, process & change management, lean transformation, supply chain resilience, and system design. He is on the Editorial Advisory Boards of various journals, including Wiley IET Collaborative Intelligent Manufacturing, Taylor & Francis Digital Twin, Taylor & Francis Cobot, and MDPI Energies. He is also an Academic Editor of PeerJ Computer Science. Before this, Dr. Masood has worked with the University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, Cranfield University, Cranfield, UK, Rolls-Royce plc, Derby, UK, and Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK. He has a Ph.D. in Reconfigurable Manufacturing from Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK.

Haris Munir

Muhammad Haris Munir is a postgraduate student at the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore Pakistan. He graduated from the same institute and has 5 years’ industrial experience in production and operations management and has expertise in lean and six sigma implementation. His research interests include supply chain resilience, disaster operations management, and risk management.

Muhammad Salman Habib

Muhammad Salman Habib is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore in the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. He earned his B.Sc. in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore. He obtained his Masters and Ph.D. in Industrial Management Engineering from Hanyang University, South Korea. His research interests include humanitarian supply chain, resilient and sustainable supply chain management, uncertain and fuzzy production planning.

Muhammad Umar Farooq

Muhammad Umar Farooq is a Gold Medallist (Top academic performance award recipient) by the University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Lahore. He did his BSc in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering and MSc in Engineering Management from UET, Lahore, and also was attached with Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea as Research Engineer. Currently he is affiliated with Univeristy of Leeds, UK; University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; University of Coimbra, Portugal; and Lulea University of Technology, Sweden as Erasmus Scholar. He does research in operations management, production processes, manufacturing, complex system modelling and optimization, advanced AI heuristics applications in organizational systems, applied machine learning, and decision analytics. His current focus is on the digital manufacturing, applied artificial intelligence in industry, roadmap, and implementation of Industry 4.0 enablers, and AI product management.