Just 2 weeks ago, Prof. Jeff Heyl delivered his Guest Post from New Zealand saying 8,000 fully laden Boeing 747’s would be needed to deliver a single dose of a Covid-19 vaccine to the world’s population. The Wall Street Journal (Oct. 6, 2020) asks: “If just 50 million doses were available today, could we distribute them?” The answer is almost certainly ‘No,’ states the head of the International Air Transport Association.
The pandemic has revealed shortcomings in global supply chains and forced business to make logistics a bigger strategic priority. Nonetheless, the air-cargo industry is making plans for delivering as many as 20 billion Covid-19 vaccination doses, even before regulators have approved any of the treatments under development. (Pharma companies say they expect the bulk of vaccines to be transported by air.)
Carriers such as FedEx, DHL,and UPS have started preparations such as introducing new temperature-monitoring systems to track future vaccine shipments. They are building “freezer farms” combining multiple refrigerators at their airport hubs to store vaccines in transit. Vaccines have to be kept at a very low constant temperature throughout the journey to prevent spoiling.
Cargo flights are fast filling up through February with bookings for consumer electronics, apparel and industrial parts through the holiday season and new year. Cargo executives said they expect it will take 2 years for a vaccine to reach all of the world’s population, with particular challenges in some emerging markets where infrastructure is limited. Fortunately, the air-cargo industry isn’t starting from scratch. Pharma products have been one of the fastest-growing and most profitable cargo types over the past decade.
Classroom discussion questions:
- Why is this such a complex logistics issue?
- What OM approaches can be deployed to increase the distribution efficiency?