ALAN uses CSCMP forum to announce 2019 Humanitarian Logistics Awards

As this year’s CSCMP EDGE conference came to close, The American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) announced the 2019 winners Humanitarian Logistics Awards. 

“Each year we have a chance to recognize outstanding companies and individuals who are living, breathing examples of what selfless logistics is all about,” said ALAN Board Chair Mark Richards, while presenting the awards.  “When the chips have been down, these honorees have repeatedly been there to help – and to ensure that hope and comfort reached those who needed it most.” 

This year’s recipients included:

·         Disaster Relief by Amazon, which received ALAN’s Outstanding Contribution Award

·         Total Quality Logistics, which received ALAN’s Outstanding Contribution Award 

·         Dr. Nezih Altay of DePaul University, who received ALAN’s Research And Academic Contributions Award. 

The awards also honored author and supply chain resilience expert Phil Palin, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

As we have noted in recent reports in both LM and sister-publication, Supply Chain Management Review, ALAN has been in the forefront of global emergency efforts in some of the hardest-hit regions for the past several years. 

ALAN has not done it alone. 

Disaster Relief by Amazon earned its award for leveraging Amazon's extensive services, operations and logistics technology to help advance the cause of effective and large-scale disaster relief. Most recently, in the wake of Hurricane Dorian, the Disaster Relief by Amazon team is mobilizing two Amazon Air flights, full of tens of thousands of donated relief items such as tarps, buckets and water containers, for upcoming departures. 

Total Quality Logistics received its honor for Moves that Matter, a program that provides funding to help non-profits and businesses defray the cost of humanitarian shipments – and for TQL Cares, an in-house initiative that raises millions of dollars and contributes thousands of volunteer hours to various compassionate causes each year. 

Altay was lauded for being one of the first U.S. academics to recognize the importance of applying operations research and supply chain management to the challenge of disaster relief. His 2006 paper, OR/MS Research In Disaster Operations Management, was one of the first papers to spark research in humanitarian logistics and remains the most cited article in its field.  

Palin was honored for his ongoing work to help government and businesses develop greater alignment when providing disaster relief.  Over the years, he has worked closely with federal, state, local and private sector leaders to prepare for and respond to complex wide-area catastrophic events and served in a variety of capacities, most recently as the FEMA team leader for the supply chain Ecosystem Assessment. He has also authored numerous books and articles about supply chain resilience, including Out of the Whirlwind: Supply and Demand after Hurricane Maria. 

“Each of these recipients is living proof that humanitarianism isn’t just a one-time event – and that true service extends well beyond a single disaster.  It truly is part of their corporate DNA and personal passion,” Richards said. “We’re grateful to them for the many contributions they have made, and we are proud to recognize them today.”