In spring 2020, a state of emergency was declared by the Spanish government. Among other measures, the issued decree made the use of face masks outdoors mandatory to slow coronavirus transmission rates that were surging at the moment. Skyrocketing demand for face masks led to a dramatic shortage in their supply.
The pandemic sparked a new wave of solidarity in Spain, with many companies and individuals willing to assist and donate for social projects. One of such projects focused on face masks manufacturing. The project united the Asociación Alicante Solidaria volunteer organization and the amateur EVOCATI Moto Group motorcycle association. The volunteers collected requests from people and organizations that needed personal protective equipment (PPE): masks, face coverings, caps, and gowns. Also, they received donations. The motorcycle association helped to hand materials over to volunteers with sewing machines and later distribute ready-to-use items.
The associations needed to establish digital network channels that would unite everyone: those willing to make donations, volunteers who would sew face masks and coverings, and motorcyclists who would distribute them.
Portice Iniciativas, our partner in Spain, offered its help with better process management. Thanks to the integrator, the volunteers’ activity was backed up by Wialon, the Logistics app, and WiaTag. They managed to create a fully-fledged face mask supply chain without high upfront investments into separate GPS trackers – a smartphone was enough. The WiaTag app serves as a GPS tracker, collecting location information and sending it to Wialon, the monitoring platform.
Logistics, the Wialon-based app, allowed the associations to organize their routes. Volunteers collected fabrics for mask production from warehouses and factories and manufactured face masks. When the product was ready, motorcyclists picked it up and transferred it to a location where masks would be further distributed to associations, local organizations, nursing homes, police forces, firefighters, hospitals, and health centers.
Planning and scheduling routes for the volunteer associations
WiaTag showed which volunteers were available and their location so that the associations could coordinate their efforts, better organize mask pick-ups and deliveries. The solution provided the contact information and the route to follow.
Usually, we write about financial results and business success. But this project shows how effective Wialon and Wialon-based products can be for volunteering programs, the value of which is assessed differently. Telematics in general and Wialon with the Wialon-based apps, in particular, managed to create a transparent online network. The solution interconnected volunteers from different initiatives and helped to organize donation and mask delivery effectively.
The volunteers were able to quickly set up an efficient and smooth workflow.
While medical institutions and companies needed more time to re-organize their activity, volunteers took care of urgent issues, like mask production and distribution.
Volunteers could concentrate on their core task – mask delivery – and didn’t get distracted by coordination issues.