Case Article—Humanitarian Supply Chains and Inventory Management: Planning Medical Supply at the International Committee of the Red Cross

Abstract

This case is based on an actual project with the International Committee of the Red Cross. The rich context allows instructors to cover important topics in inventory management, supply chain management, and humanitarian logistics at a level appropriate for different student backgrounds. At a foundational level, the case presents opportunities to practice concepts like cycle stock, safety stock, and service level. Technical audiences can appreciate applications of machine learning and optimization for inventory management. Practice-oriented audiences learn about the challenges of applying commercial operations metrics and heuristics like ABC analysis to humanitarian logistics. Realistic data and models are provided. Funding: B. Thakur-Weigold acknowledges funding from the Engineering for Humanitarian Action initiative launched by the ICRC, ETH Zurich, and EPFL. International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich, and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Supplemental Material: Supplemental materials are available at https://www.informs.org/Publications/Subcribe/Access-Restricted-Materials .