Abstract

VAN WYK, E.; BEAN, W.L.  and  YADAVALLI, V.S.S.. Modelling of uncertainty in minimising the cost of inventory for disaster relief. S. Afr. J. Ind. Eng. [online]. 2011, vol.22, n.1, pp.1-12. ISSN 2224-7890.

Natural disasters - and even those caused by people - are largely unpredictable. So disasters need to be researched and their impact fully understood, so that the aid supplies required to ensure survival during and after disaster events will be available. The member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are the countries of interest for this paper, as insufficient research has been conducted into inventory pre-positioning for disaster response in these countries. It is vital to anticipate the needs of disaster victims in potential disasters. These needs are evaluated according to the types and amounts of aid supplies required. This paper proposes a stochastic inventory model that can be applied in a generic way to any SADC country, providing a means to improve disaster preparedness through keeping aid supplies in pre-positioned facilities in the SADC region, at reasonable and affordable cost.

        · abstract in Afrikaans     · text in English     · English ( pdf )