Supply Chain Resilience : Push and Pull in Catastrophes
To repeat the prior paragraph with a different tone : Trying to urgently replace a high volume , high velocity supply chain that serves millions is delusional . Gap-filling capabilities can be very helpful in disasters . But for the four million-plus residents of Puget Sound ( and millions more impacted by the Cascadia Seismic Event ), the preexisting grocery network ( pharmaceutical , medical goods , fuel and water networks ) will either quickly adapt and recover or thousands will die . Other practical alternatives are entirely insufficient . These three issues are not the only strategic priorities , but they are clearly part of a small set of strategic priorities .
This is true for a Cascadia Seismic Event . It will be true when a Category 5 hurricane buzz saws from Miami to Orlando . It will be true when the New Madrid fault shifts . It will be true in a whole host of catastrophic contexts . A January 2020 report of the National Academies of Sciences is especially clear on the policy implications of this reality . It recommends , “ Shift the focus from pushing relief supplies to ensuring that regular supply chains are restored as rapidly as possible through strategic interventions .” 45
What Are These Strategic Interventions ?
The fundamental questions for feeding a large population are the same during a pandemic as for an earthquake as for any potential catastrophe : What and where is preexisting pull capacity ? What and where is preexisting push capacity ? Where are the principal channels for flow ? What has survived ? What can be done to maximize surviving capacity ?
How do we — individual decisionmaker , commercial enterprise , locality , state , and nation — answer these questions ?
First , we cannot wait until the potentially catastrophic event happens . We need to know what and where before the seismic fault shifts — before the pandemic rages — before the cyberattack . Most major US jurisdictions have — or soon can have — answers to these what and where questions . The first installment in this two-part series outlines how Puget Sound has deployed a specific method for answering the questions . 46
To find and know sources for pushing groceries , food regulation agencies , tax authorities , business associations , consulting firms , and the food manufacturers have answers . Transportation departments , regional planning agencies , trucking firms , and shippers know the principal nodes , links , and alternative routes needed to push food toward demand . This information exists . Options are available for pre-consideration . We need to organize the answers for disaster mitigation
45 Ibid .
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