Challenges in Supply Chain Management during Pandemic - COVID 19

As far as supply chains are concerned, these are unprecedented times, and we are
seeing unprecedented disruptions in supply chain across industries. While
internationally it started with China lockdown, leading to global shortages of raw
materials to different industries, we saw some large automobile makers being
forced to shut their factories because of shortages of parts being supplied from
China. And then we heard the contagion getting spread across Europe and
America. While all this was happening, we never thought that it will strike India too
in the way it did in rest of world. While India was not affected by the Virus at that
point of time, export of essential protective items led by heavy demands abroad,
created acute shortage of these items locally.

While the demand for some items was increasing locally also, the prices of these
items started rising exponentially from as early as mid-February. The 3- ply masks
that we were buying @ 75 paise went up to over Rs 10 per piece at one point of
time along with much higher consumption. The second thing to get most affected
was Hand Sanitisers, and so on.

Although thankfully the Virus per se has not been that bad in India, may be because
of the timely action taken by the government, however the repeated lockdowns
definitely created a havoc for the supply chains. Everything came to a grinding halt,
well before we could really gear up for the big thing we were up against.

This was a testing time especially for the Healthcare , because this was the sector
that had to be up and running uninterruptedly. Like in a war, it is the Army that has
to be up and running and all its supply lines take priority over everything else,
similarly here it was the Healthcare which was expected most to rise to the
occasion and meet the unprecedented challenges.
With a sudden lockdown, everything stopped where it was. The factories stopped
midway, production came to a halt, movement of finished goods stopped, as all
type of transport services including rail, road and air stopped without any
exceptions, and as a result the supplies got stuck where ever these were lying.
The challenges were severe, as even getting our teams to work was equally difficult
as there was no mode of transport for many, and even our offices were shut.
Working from home was next to impossible, as this was about running operations
of the size of 12 hospitals with a bed capacity of 2500 beds with ever increasing
demand. Many of the items required were new with no major known sources like
PPE Kits, Covid PCR Test Kits, Covid Antibody Test Kits, VTM’s, Safety Goggles,
Face Shields etc.

So we started by organising ourselves into 2 teams. While one team worked from
home to ensure regular supplies were taken care of, the other team was the crack
team which was to work on Covid related supplies. The Crack team got themselves
into a small conference room at one of the hospital sites and created a makeshift
office. We tied up with our internal teams like Ambulance and administration to
mobilise company cars and other vehicles to pick up and move material. Infact,
some of our team members also ferried material in their own cars.

The other challenge was, there was no idea of the way demand was going to unfold
and it started with estimates and guesstimates which were quite erroneous. While
we believed that most of the items will be re-used, and therefore started ordering
a few hundreds of PPE Kits, we soon realised that we will immediately need close
to 20000 kits quickly as these were disposable and will not last beyond a few hours.
Secondly, there were hardly any manufacturers of PPE Kits which was the most
important item, and none of their products adhered to the defined standards. Most
of the initial lots we procured got rejected for quality. Moreover none of our teams
had really any idea of what exactly was required in the PPE Kits. This was the time
when we decided to rope in Garment Manufacturers and contacted many of them
for developing the protective garments for us. In fact we worked with one of the
apparel manufacturers very closely to develop the product.

Here I will like to share one example of how we evolved. We started with a belief
that a quick test for the fabric of PPE Kit is that it should not allow water to pass
thru. And we started working on it. As soon as we got the first supply, our Chairman
while having a look at the garment, randomly tested it by pouring hand sanitiser
on it. To our surprise, it just dripped thru it. And we had to reject and a new learning
dawned on us. And then we realised that we would need a thin laminated garment.
By the time we got samples of the laminated version, summer heat was catching
on fast. Although this fabric provided perfect barrier, it was a bit plasticky and was
not comfortable to wear. And then we realised we needed a fabric with virgin grade
soft PE lamination. And this is how the learning kept evolving.

And on the top of this, there was a huge mental pressure, as we needed these
protective items to protect the main warriors, the doctors, the nurses, the
paramedics, and therefore failure on either quantity or quality could have been
disastrous. So while generally our procurement is from established brands, quality
was never a challenge, but here most of these items were to be procured from new
unknown sources, we took on ourselves the additional task of checking quality of
each lot delivered to any of our warehouse.
We also tried to look at imports, and even ordered some of the stuff, but could not
arrange the logistics to get the material here since no airlines were flying.
Due to critical supply shortages, we had to turn to new unproven suppliers. The
main challenge was identifying and vetting these suppliers was very time
consuming, and despite all care, many of the times we landed up with poor quality
stuff which had to be rejected, quarantined and sent back, creating more pressure
on the already reeling supply chain.
But the teams worked incessantly day and night to develop more and more
sources, and struggled all the way to keep their heads above water, and were able
to provide adequate stocks of good quality at all points of time. It is a matter of
great pride that with unrelenting efforts of Supply Chain teams we as of now are
having our warehouse full of all required items of desired quality at the most
reasonable price and finally our battle has been won.
I will also like to mention that in all this struggle we nowhere compromised either
with the costs or took undue risks by giving any advances to unknown parties at
any point of time, especially in these times of crises when one is forced to lower
their guard. We held on to our ground and did not yield to any market pressures.

I strongly believe that supply chain function is not only about getting material, but
about getting right material, right quantity, at the right time, and at the right price.
I will also like to mention that this episode clearly demonstrates the importance of
supply chain function in any organization. Generally Supply chain is believed to be
a sidelined department, but I believe it is backbone of the industry including
healthcare.
I would like to thank our vendors and all support teams who helped us get
successful and that includes our finance team, our ambulance team, our
administration team and the top management whose whole hearted support made
us survive in this battle.

Now, I earnestly request to please share your experience. As learning is a

continuous process, it shouldn't stop.