We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • ProMat 2023
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • ProMat 2023
    • Upload Your Video
Home » Blogs » Steve Geary on Global Logistics and Risk » Occam's Razor and the Corona Virus

Steve Geary on Global Logistics and Risk
Steve Geary on Global Logistics and Risk RSS FeedRSS

Stevegeary epub
Steve Geary is adjunct faculty at the University of Tennessee's Haaslam College of Business and is a lecturer at The Gordon Institute at Tufts University. He is the President of the Supply Chain Visions family of companies, consultancies that work across the government sector. Steve is a contributing editor at DC Velocity, and editor-at-large for CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly.

Occam's Razor and the Corona Virus

Ask any scientist anchored in the real world, and they posit that the simplest of competing theories is preferred to the more complex.

January 14, 2021
Steve Geary

Ask any scientist anchored in the real world, and they posit that the simplest of competing theories is preferred to the more complex. Look it up in Webster’s. The concept is called Occam’s razor.

So how would Occam design the vaccine supply chain network for covid-19?

The days of the neighborhood pharmacies and corner grocery stores are long past. Now, large pharmacy chains like CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid are ubiquitous. Add to that list grocers with in-store pharmacies: Walmart, Kroger, Safeway, Albertsons, Vons. Food Lion, Stop & Shop, Hannaford, and Publix. These chains understand inventory, turnover shelf life, and refrigeration.

Most importantly, this slice of the private sector understands logistics, distribution and retail delivery.

Since December, the logistics profession has shown that they can effectively get the Covid-19 vaccines to the point of need. Yet getting it to the point of need is not the same as satisfying the patient’s need. Showing somebody the vaccine is not the same as giving the vaccine.

The challenges have been in getting the vaccines administered.

Since mid-December, according to the New York Times, in New York City just over 200,000 vaccines had been administered. To ramp up progress, the Times reports, “On Sunday, New York City opened five vaccination centers: facilities for mass inoculation at the Brooklyn Army Terminal and the Bathgate Contract Postal Station in the Bronx; and smaller “vaccine hubs” at the South Bronx Educational Campus, the Bushwick Educational Campus in Brooklyn and Hillcrest High School in Jamaica, Queens.”

New York City is doubling down on a top-down mandated solution, but there are alternatives. Consider the opportunity in existing private sector pharmaceutical networks. This week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis launched distribution of Covid-19 vaccinations in Collier, Flagler, St. Johns, and Volusia counties through grocery store chain Publix. CNN reports that pharmacists nationwide have the capacity to administer 100 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine once supply is available, citing Steven Anderson, President and CEO of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.

According to the Arkansas Department of Health, vaccines will be available at pharmacies across the state beginning on January 18.

We could drive delivery through the private sector and let market forces, not bureaucrats, establish the equilibrium. Look to your local pharmacies and grocery stores. We may already have a big part of the solution to delivery right in front of us.

Remember Occam’s razor.

Most Popular Articles

  • Union Pacific agrees to provide more predictable schedules for union rail workers

  • Schneider National opens innovation center at Wisconsin headquarters

  • Parcel carriers, shippers steer into choppy waters as a perfect storm of challenges approaches

  • Trucking companies face “modestly unfavorable” outlook heading into 2024

  • E-commerce 3PL gains $100 million funding for its network of Mexican warehouses

Now Playing on DCV-TV

Mason case study thumbnail ste dcvtv

See How Mason Drives Continued Growth with Multiple Pack & Ship Automation Systems Consolidated Under One Roof

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
We sat down with Craig Ritzinger, Facilities Manager, Mason Companies, to hear how the companies' continued growth and expansion has required innovations in warehouse fulfillment over time. Mason worked with StreamTech to implement a new fulfillment system for one of their brands, as well as bringing the other...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • How to Use Economic Uncertainty to Gain Competitive Ground with Automation

  • Exploring Customized Forklift Solutions

  • Exploring the Future of Labor Management With Capacity Planning

  • Three layers of forklift safety: Promoting operating best practices

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2023. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing