Navigating Supply Chains Through the COVID-19 Outbreak Using Interactive Maps
Apart from threatening millions of lives, the recent COVID-19 outbreak has shown the vulnerability of supply chains. Whether we accept it or not, the virus is dictating new rules. Supply chain management risks related to COVID-19 shouldn’t be underestimated.
Challenges in supply chain due to the COVID-19 outbreak
The coronavirus affects manufacturers by causing them to shut down factories in regions with COVID-19 outbreaks. This has been especially true in China, which holds a lion’s share of the production power for global corporations.
Delivery of products is limited due to flight bans and other transportation restrictions. Limitations affect even second- and third-tier suppliers delivering goods across the borders of countries that are not the most affected.
But probably the biggest concern for supply chains is customer demand. People have panicked in response to the coronavirus outbreak, dropping a shadow on international suppliers.
This has already caused severe damage to global supply chains. What could save them from total collapse? Only immediate and well-informed decisions based on location intelligence for transportation and interactive COVID-19 outbreak maps.
COVID-19 outbreak maps can keep supply chains moving
To keep a supply chain rolling, outbreak maps should provide recent data with regular updates. Recent means that data one to two days old is already unacceptable. Data should be updated urgently, in a matter of hours if not in real time.
Fortunately, map and location data providers like HERE Technologies and ESRI have proven able to build fast and up-to-date maps. These companies are among the pioneers in building COVID-19 outbreak maps to track location information on the virus’s spread.
Tracking COVID-19 on HERE maps:
Cases of COVID-19 on ESRI maps:
Integrating these accurate COVID-19 outbreak tracking maps with real-time asset tracking systems can help to optimize routes and keep supply chains moving.
How to ensure outbreak maps really work
Modern maps for specific use cases rely extensively on data. The most important steps in dealing with recent issues in supply chain management are collecting data, processing it, and updating content on a base map.
Collecting data in the usual way — using geolocation surveys or manually uploading new data sets — takes precious time. It can take weeks or even months to collect proper mapping data. And don’t forget about the time to compile a map with all updates, which may steal another day or two.
What’s critical is to provide open APIs to automatically saturate maps with recent data on the CОVID-19 outbreak. This will ensure accessibility for a larger number of users and a faster data flow. APIs can be used for interactive dashboards, maps, and prediction models.
The optimal mapping pipeline should rely on tools to build maps according to rapid changes in volatile situations. A week is too long to wait for location data on the virus outbreak, and only an automated and optimized map building pipeline can accelerate this process:
- Collect data from various sources and in different formats via accessible APIs
- Automate data injection and conversion to proprietary formats
- Validate data, create clipping algorithms, and put labels
- Optimize the pipeline and create custom tiles and databases
- Optimize cloud infrastructure
Mapping solutions that perform these steps in one to two days instead of weeks give supply chains a chance to avoid serious disruptions. Otherwise, there are several scenarios in which coronavirus outbreak could develop.
Final thoughts
COVID-19 maps are quickly grabbing the attention of people following the pandemic. But compiling recent data on the COVID-19 outbreak onto transportation and logistics maps can save a lot of delivery companies from the shadow the virus throws on their services.
Such solutions can help to assess potential supply chain management risks and provide insights for real-time decisions, preventing stagnation across affected regions and the recovery of product supply.
GitHub already has a repository of recent data for COVID-19 outbreak maps, which has become fuel for the rapid development of map building technologies.
https://github.com/CSSEGISandData/COVID-19
Don’t hesitate to use it!
