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US supply chain community mobilizes for Haiti

19 Jan 2010

Source: DCVelocisty.com, 13 January 2010

The supply chain community has begun marshalling resources to support relief efforts in the wake of the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti that virtually destroyed the capital of Port-au-Prince and may have killed as many as 100,000.
The American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN), which helps channel resources from members of various supply chain organizations to approved relief agencies in times of crisis, said it has contacted the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster—a group that represents the major non-governmental organizations (NGOs)—to offer its members' support.

ALAN, which maintains a web portal that enables providers and relief groups to connect, said its technology partner, the Aidmatrix Foundation, has relationships on the ground in Haiti as well as a Web portal presence in the country. Aidmatrix "will keep us posted on what they know," John T. (Jock) Menzies III, ALAN's president, said in an e-mail.

Menzies told DC Velocity that it would take "a couple of days" for the supply chain community to determine specific needs and how they might be addressed. NGOs serving as so-called first responders "usually have initial supplies or relationships with suppliers. We tend to engage as surge and unanticipated needs arise—and they always do," he said.

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