SIMS: Kerala’s hack for supply chain distress in the times of COVID-19

Express Computer has been doing comprehensive coverage of how state Governments are tackling the COVID-19 pandemic by using digital tools and other technologies. In today’s edition, we cover the state of Kerala.

The lockdown broke the back of supply chain operations in India. However it has forced states to find ways to seamlessly continue services, in case if a similar situation strikes again. Kerala has taken a lead in devising an integrated supply chain application to track the daily stock levels of all wholesale and retail traders in every district in Kerala on a daily basis. The system, in the form of a dashboard, ensures the regular delivery of essential commodities in every district, right upto the local body level. The team from the department of civil supplies and consumer affairs, posted at the COVID war room in the state is currently keeping track of stock levels in every district. The system was developed and designed in just five days. Kerala partnered with Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management- Kerala (IIITM-K) to devise the system. As an enhancement measure, the plan is to host it on a Blockchain platform going forward. Given the results the system has delivered in the last few days, Kerala is also planning to scale up the system and also upgrade it further with advanced analytics.

Both the private and public sector are included in the purview of wholesale and retail traders. The public sector players include the fair price shops Licensed for the PDS, by the civil supplies department. The private players are the general traders.

Kerala is basically a consumer state and is dependent on other states for deliveries of rice, grains, etc. As soon as the lockdown was announced, the deliveries were interrupted and at times, completely halted. The state, in this case the civil supplies department listed the essential deliveries to be restored. It required a system to guide adequate replenishments to reach all the districts. It will help the state to identify the districts, localities with shortage and accordingly decisions can be taken.

The primary job before the team at IIITM-K was to map district-wise, onto the system, all the major wholesale and retail dealers, dealing in essential commodities. Subsequently, record their stock levels on a daily basis. “We have leveraged the E-Way Bill data from the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) database and replicated it into the supply chain information management system (SIMS),” says Ajith Kumar. R, Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management- Kerala (IIITM-K). The E-Way Bill data has information about the trader, the quantity of the produce loaded in the truck and the value of the produce. The data of both the buyer and the seller is mentioned in the bill.  

Moreover, the field teams working at the district level collect the numbers from the major traders on a daily basis and enter the data digitally on a daily basis. The geo coordinates of the shops are also captured in the system. It helps in effective logistics and supply chain planning. 

Additionally, the state has opened up the system to the traders to update their recent stock levels. Datasets from more sources lets the state arrive on an accurate stock position. The price comparisons can be done alongwith having a visibility of the availability of essential supplies.

Before the lockdown, the mechanism was completely manual. The taluka officer working under the civil supplies department manually collected information from the major traders of essential commodities and conveyed the information on the next day, which was aggregated at the state level. Now, the information is entered digitally and almost on a daily basis.

The price fluctuations can also be tracked. “The system can now alert about the price asymmetry in various states and thus necessary action can be taken,” informs Kumar. The state is now in a better position to penalise traders who are manipulating prices.          

“Given the unprecedented times of distress, this system can be implemented at a pan India level,” Kumar concludes.

(Kerala is a front runner and has raced past most of the other states in being able to arrest the pandemic using technology. How ? Find here, from a few stories covering aspects on using drones for surveillance and a way to bust fake news)