Covid-19 beyond health: how has the pandemic affected Logistics?

Article written by Professor João Ferreira Netto.

Every day new challenges arise in the field of Logistics. Therefore, academia plays a fundamental role in the search for innovation and solutions for Logistics and supply chain management. The consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic fit into this context. From the outset, many challenges arose to ensure the supply and distribution of essential items in the fight against and prevention of the disease, such as medicines, respirators, hand sanitizer, liquid soap, and masks.

During the strictest lockdown period, logistics for distributing products sold electronically also had to reinvent itself to serve customers and guarantee system service levels. All of this led companies to realize the significant difference in the ability of logistics systems to respond quickly to unexpected market and economic impulses.

Related to this, one of the focuses of the studies carried out by the Logistics Center of ESEG, a college of the Etapa Group, relates to the understanding and evaluation of the indicators used to assess the levels of logistics service within companies. We consider that the accuracy in generating the indicators, the ability to interpret them, and an integration between systems that allows for a rapid response to what is observed in real time, is one of the keys to the success of logistics activities.

Researching ways to enable and facilitate all of this is a way to contribute to the evolution and development of production systems. Topics such as inventory management, order management processes, and a focus on service quality still have much room for development. This includes tools from the Logistics 4.0 approach, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Companies with good tools and strategies for analyzing and responding to indicators were better able to cope with the variations and impacts of the pandemic during the most critical periods.

We also consider it important to evaluate transportation systems as a whole, since they are the set of activities that generate the most costs for organizations. Infrastructure and the possibilities of modal integration are the focus of the Logistics Center's research, seeking ways to make supply and distribution more productive and, simultaneously, more sustainable and innovative.

Finally, we must reiterate the importance of Logistics in helping us through this turbulent period we are experiencing due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Its activities, in addition to enabling a smaller impact on the supply of essential products to the population, should also be considered important tools for getting the vaccine to the population as quickly as possible. This is possible through adequate inventory planning and efficient use of transportation systems.

The Logistics Center at ESEG, a college within the Etapa Group, is a research group that seeks to understand and propose solutions and improvements for logistics activities and other processes that enable companies and organizations to integrate into increasingly comprehensive and global supply chains.