In the backdrop of emerging challenges post-Covid, the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode and Switzerland based HELP Logistics have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to engage in a collaborative partnership and provide consulting services and logistics training. The MoU will be in force for a year, and will endeavour to carry out the activities that integrate efforts to shape supply chains that benefit humanity, amidst prevailing worldwide uncertainty as a result of natural as well as man-made turmoil.
The partnership between IIMK and HELP Logistics, a registered non-profit organisation and a subsidiary company of the Kühne Foundation, Schindellegi, Switzerland, aims to develop humanitarian logistics in India and the region by providing consulting services and logistics training to prominent actors during a humanitarian crisis — United Nations bodies, Government institutions and non-Governmental organisations.
Announcing the cross-continental tie-up with the European organisation, Prof Debashis Chatterjee, Director IIM Kozhikode, said “This association will not only expand our network in the calamity-prone vulnerable South Asian regions but will also greatly enhance the capability of stakeholders to effectively provide humanitarian logistics capacity in these unprecedented times. In its wider effort to make humanitarian organisations and actors efficient, this collaboration will transfer experience and knowledge through advocating the best practices and recent trends in the domain of operations and supply chain management.”
Mr Jason Connolly, Regional Director, HELP Logistics Asia, shared "The MoU signifies an important step for both organisations to leverage each other's strengths, knowledge, best practices and expertise in the humanitarian logistics sector. We hope that this collaboration will benefit both HELP and IIMK to deepen our understanding of supply chain challenges in humanitarian operations. Through our partnership with IIMK, we look forward to providing best-in-class supply chain and logistics support to enhance the capacity of humanitarian actors in South Asia."
The partnership, which also includes financial support, aims to enhance regional knowledge on humanitarian logistics matters and advance awareness on the subject among humanitarian agencies, government bodies, academia and private sectors. The MoU will endeavour to jointly achieve the following objectives:
Consulting
The expertise of IIMK and the experience of HELP Logistics would be used to develop new products, such as, learning programmes, games, optimisation models, and so on, in the domain of Humanitarian Supply Chain (HSC) to assist the clients of HELP Logistics to improve their processes and make their humanitarian operations more efficient and effective.
Training
IIMK and HELP Logistics would offer high-quality learning and training programmes to the practitioners in the HSC across all levels (operational, tactical and strategic) on diverse topics related to HSC.
Collaboration and outreach
IIMK and HELP Logistics would jointly carry out research in the field of HSC to create new knowledge through surveys, case studies/action research and present the same in seminars academic conferences and trade shows.