LPC was appointed to review how the total EFS fleet (several thousands of vehicles and appliances) should be deployed to a number of regional locations around the United Kingdom, such that the appropriate numbers of each type of appliance could respond to different types of emergency (up to and including a nuclear attack) in any United Kingdom location within specified response times.
Using our own in-house distribution modelling tool, DiPS was used to determine how many regional locations should be used and where they should be located (bearing in mind that they should operate from bases that are as remote as possible from vulnerable centres), and how many appliances of each type should be deployed at each base. Regional zones were defined together with travel times to principal/strategic locations within each region.
LPC also advised on the maintenance and support facilities required at each regional depot, to maintain the fleet in a state of permanent readiness whilst effectively being mothballed.
The results of the study enabled the Home Office to take an objective view of fleet deployment, to quantify how many appliances of the various types should be retained to provide the level of cover required across the UK and the economics of maintaining the fleet in a state of permanent readiness.
Subsequently, LPC assisted with the identification of suitable Third Party Logistics Providers to whom the ongoing fleet maintenance and appliance “mothballing” operations could be contracted.
