Summary
The Mechanized Production System (MePS) of the National Resource Operations Center (NROC) is a new technology in repacking family food packs (FFPs) intended for the disaster-affected families. The MePs is a Php 58 Million project by the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the United Nations – World Food Programme with the support of the United Kingdom Government inaugurated on September 30, 2015 and has been operational ever since. The National Resource and Logistics Management Bureau envisions to maintain the quality of its products and services and because of the collaborative effort of the Bureau, this process has acquired its ISO 9001:2015 certification last December 2018.
Background and Problem
Typhoon Haiyan operations served as a learning curve by the department in managing its repacking activities. During this time, the Department was overwhelmed with the number of donations received and the number of volunteers who would like to help in the repacking activities. This resulted in some inefficiencies in the repacking operations and has a direct effect in the overall disaster operations. As the main augmenter of FFPs to the field offices, manual production has a limited number of outputs per day. It is for this reason that the DSWD acquired this technology to assure its beneficiaries that FFPs will be efficiently delivered within the 24-48-hour timeframe.
Solution and Impact
The MePs is one of the results of the strategic partnership between the DSWD and WFP aimed at enhancing the emergency response capacity in the Philippines. With the installation of the mechanized production system, the production rate of family food packs has reached 50,000 packs in a day which is enough to feed 250,000 people for three days. In fact, the DSWD saw the usefulness of the machine during the last strong typhoons when the Department was able to deliver almost immediately family food packs to Filipinos in need because the system of preparing them was very efficient and mechanized. It has also introduced the innovative way of packing goods from plastic to boxes which is now more convenient and environment friendly. The mechanized production system is composed of equipment which automates and streamlines the production of family food packs (FFPs) so the DSWD can quickly and efficiently provide relief resources to local government units (LGUs) around the country. The machinery also increases the production capacity of the National Resource Operations Center (NROC) from 20,000 FFPs to 100,000 FFPs per day using both the manual and mechanized production mechanisms. These FFPs contain food enough to feed more than 500,000 people for three days. The mechanized system has also been proven to be effective in calamities. Since its installation in September 2015, out of the total 1,752,069 food packs distributed by the NROO to disaster survivors, some 1,086,081 FFPs were produced using the mechanized production mechanism alone. It continues to help the DSWD augment resources to its regional hubs and LGUs across the country. Aside from the mechanized production feature of the NROC, a pallet racking system was also installed to improve the accessibility, mobility and tracking of goods inside the NROC warehouses. It also increased the NROC’s warehouse capacity by 189.4%.
Milestones
The MePS has a significant impact in the daily operations of the National Resource Operations Center. Its presence assured the center to have a stockpile of 100,000 Family Food Packs daily. It is for this reason also that the National Resource and Logistics Management Bureau was awarded as ISO 9001:2015 certified last December 2018 amidst its disaster operations, getting its another feather on its hat as the first government mechanized repacking facility in Asia to be given such certification.