Digital Helpers in Times of Need

For authorities and organizations with security tasks (BOS), such as the fire department, rescue services, aid organizations and the police, such crisis situations are a great burden and challenge. They are responsible for ensuring that protective equipment, spare parts for emergency vehicles and medical equipment are and remain available. If materials become scarce in the affected areas, BOS in other regions nearby are asked whether they can deliver relief supplies without jeopardizing their own regular operations.

The service developed by Fraunhofer IML and the Berlin Fire Department for “Maintaining regular operations when delivering relief supplies in global crises (ReCheck)“ is a simple, web-based application that can support the requested BOS in making a decision. When an article such as “compress“ is entered, the OTD NETWORK supply chain simulation tool from Fraunhofer IML carries out a simulation run. It takes stock levels, historical consumption data and ordering policies into account. The results of the simulation are displayed as traffic lights in a dashboard , which provides an immediate overview and shows which items can be delivered without restricting regular operations.

The coronavirus pandemic has dramatically demonstrated that global problems can also occur with the availability of materials such as masks or antibiotics. But local events, such as the blockade of the Suez Canal, also have a major impact on global supply chains and can therefore hit companies and BOS hard. In order to be able to react to such events at an early stage and ideally even avoid supply bottlenecks altogether, the researchers developed the “Evaluation of Security of Supply (EvaVe)“ service. The application works in a similar way to “ReCheck“: it is a web-based application that simulates the disruptions entered, such as a sea route blockage, and visualizes the possible effects with the help of a traffic light in the dashboard. In the next step, recommendations for action can also be generated. Coupling the simulation tool with AI makes it possible to run through a large number of possible solutions in the shortest possible time and thus see which approaches would bring about an improvement and what costs would be incurred.

Reliable decision support is essential, especially in crisis situations. “ReCheck“ and “EvaVe“ are two services that can forecast the effects of supply bottlenecks and collect, generate and communicate specific information. However, both services need a solid data basis, such as stock levels, consumption data, ordering policies and supply chain data, in order to generate reliable simulations. A survey conducted by the Berlin fire department among members of BOS revealed that only around a third of the organizations surveyed use digitalized inventory management systems. In terms of ordering and procurement, only around ten percent of the participating BOS were using these systems, meaning that widespread use is currently hardly conceivable. However, the digitalization of these systems could enable crisis situations to be managed much more efficiently and effectively in the future, thus minimizing the consequences.

Fraunhofer IML is currently working on a service that focuses on the resilience of companies' supply chains. In the “ResiOpt“ project, the researchers developed the Supply Chain Risk Assessment, which aims to increase resilience in supply chains. This involves analyzing supply networks and then generating a catalog of measures that can effectively minimize risks caused by disruptions in the supply chain.