Evaluating the Effectiveness of Pre-Positioning Policies in Response to Natural Disasters

Abstract

Recent natural disasters highlight the complexities associated with planning, coordination and distribution of supplies in a manner which provides timely and effective response. In this paper, the authors present a model to quantify the benefits associated with pre-positioning local supplies. They assume the supplies are in a high-risk location and may be destroyed if an appropriate strategy to protect the supplies is not implemented. A stochastic linear programming model is developed where the first-stage decision pre-positions existing supplies to minimize the supply loss. Second-stage decisions attempt to maximize the responsiveness of the system by allocating supplies to satisfy demand. The benefits associated with pre-positioning versus non-pre-positioning are discussed.