Logistic distribution in humanitarian supply chain management: a thematic literature review and future research

Logistics distribution problems in responding to disasters have triggered numerous studies on humanitarian logistics (HL) and humanitarian supply chain management (HSCM). This is indicated by the growing number of publications on the topic every year. However, thematic literature reviews on humanitarian logistics and supply chain management (HLSCM) in natural disaster management are barely available. Therefore, this article proposes a sequential thematic literature review method to extensively review HLSCM publications to identify gaps and future research directions. The Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases have been used to obtain influential articles published between 2001 and 2021. The literature review found that distribution delay, demand uncertainty, and high operation costs are primary logistics distribution problems for disaster management. Therefore, theme determination was carried out using a problem-cause-solution order to solve these problems. Then, five specific themes of HLSCM were grouped namely (i) lean and agile, (ii) information technology and information science, (iii) modeling and simulation, (iv) determining and mitigating risk, and (v) management inventory. Finally, in terms of future research direction, there is a possibility for this study to be used as a reference for further studies on HLSCM.