Endpoint: Proper planning keeps the army fed

Planning at both ends

07 July 2008 00:00  [Source: ICB]

Whether it's feeding an army or removing a city's sewage, you're going to need an efficient plan to keep the system running smoothly - or else
Ivan Lerner/New York

SINCE NAPOLEON Bonaparte recognized that logistics are often more important than tactics, it's appropriate that the quote "An army marches on its stomach" is attributed to him. By the way, did you know Napoleon had his chefs invent le pomme frite to boost the morale of French troops?

MREs

With the help of Neil Gussman, communications manager of the US-based nonprofit Chemical Heritage Foundation, and a reservist with the US National Guard, the New York offices of ICIS Chemical Business were treated to a couple of genuine Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MREs), the packaged food carried by US troops in the field.

We were initially going to mock the MREs, but they were tasty: hardly haute cuisine, but better or equal to the institutionalized meals we were served in high school.

Undoubtedly nutritious, with efficient high density polyethylene packaging, the Pentagon and its contractors have designed an effective food delivery system.

THE BIG STINK

On the other hand, there is Dubai's sewage problem. It seems that this city-state's sole, 30-year-old sewage treatment facility cannot keep pace with its massive construction boom. According to The Wall Street Journal, sewage output there is increasing 25%/year, and it was recently reported that a large quantity of miasmic effluvia overflowed onto a nearby development, flooding the streets.

Lines of trucks wait up to 10 hours to unload their septic tank collections at the plant, with many impatient drivers pulling over to deserted streets in the city and surreptitiously dumping their loads.

With roughly $300bn (€191bn) in new construction proceeding over the next 10 years - including the tallest building in the world - it's good that Dubai is spending $500m on a new sewage refinery, scheduled to open next April. But I'll bet there are those who wished the city planners had consulted "The Six Ps": "Proper prior planning prevents poor performance."

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