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FedEX |
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The roots
of FedEx began in Beginning under the acronym FDX Corporation it was quickly renamed FedEx. With this change FedEx and its subsidiaries were born. The FedEx Corporation has many smaller organizations under its corporate name. These smaller portions of the corporation are divided into FedEx Express, Ground, Freight, Custom Critical, Trade Networks and Supply Chain Services. In late 2003 FedEx made a large acquisition of Kinko’s Inc., the world-renowned copier and print retailer. This deal expanded FedEx to include 1,200 Kinko’s Outlets including more than 400 stores that operate twenty- four hours a day, seven days a week. Deals like this have been common through out the history of FedEx, this is the main way that the company has seen such growth over the years. (fedex.com) Today FedEx has the world’s largest all-cargo air fleet. The planes each day carry around 25.5 million pounds of cargo nearly 500,000 miles. The couriers travel nearly 2.5million miles or the equivalent to 100 trips around the Earth. The operation that FedEx senior executives manage takes an overwhelming knowledge of supply chain principles. Although FedEX’s supply chain must be very efficient and well organized there are other parts of the company that contribute to the successes of FedEx. (fedex.com) The FedEx name is known all over the world. The collaboration of each of the divisions of FedEx operates under the motto, “operate independently, and complete collectively.” According to the FedEx website the company uses a Demar economy approach and a “pull type of supply chain.” This enables the customers to have the upper hand in the overall choices of how, where and when their packages are delivered. Adding to the organization of the divisions of this company is a strong mission statement: “FedEx
Corporation will produce superior financial returns for its shareowners by
providing high value-added logistics, transportation and related information
services through focused operating companies. Customer service requirements will be met in the highest quality manner appropriate to
each market segment served. FedEx Corporation will strive to develop mutually
rewarding relationships with its employees, partners and suppliers. Safety
will be the first consideration in all operations. Corporate activities will
be conducted to the highest ethical and professional standards.” The mission statement vows to produce returns for the shareowners using “high value-added logistics, transportation and related information services.” FedEx has delivered on this part of their mission with many advances in supply chain technology. The second part of the mission statement deals directly with the customer. The technology that FedEx uses has helped make the company have high quality standards for customer service requirements. There are several examples that follow on how FedEx has fulfilled the first two sections of its mission statement leading to superior supply chain management. FedEx launched its website in 1994 as one of the first true corporate web services. Since its inception, the site has offered package-tracking applications that allow for “8 million unique visitors per month (to visit the site) and handle on average, 3 million package tracking requests daily.” Aiding in the tracking and supply chain of FedEx’s global organization are technologies such as the internet that allow nearly two thirds of 5.4 million shipments a day to be tracked electronically. One of the newest features to the company is that of FedEx Insight. FedEx Insight enables the customers to track their package without a tracking number and see their shipment in “real time” allowing for instantaneous feedback to the customer with information on their delivery. Not only can customers track their deliveries via web enabled equipment such as WAP phones or digital pagers, but it also allows for customized information and lots of extra detail on deliveries, for example if the package is stuck in traffic and is going to be delayed. The third part of the mission statement deals with relationships between employees, partners and suppliers, which has been increased through technology. Employees have the “Power Pad” and a main computer located in each delivery vehicle. This enables the courier to keep in contact with his vehicle for up to 30 feet. The information shared via blue-tooth technology over this network is linked to the main hub and enables data to be transferred from the employee, directly to the supplier or back to the customer. In these examples the supply chain that FedEx uses has
all been increased through the use of new
technologies. Each new technological advancement in
the industry allows FedEx to improve on fulfilling its mission and bettering
its supply chain for the customer, supplier and the employee. The future will only bring more efficient
delivery times and more up to the minute information to each end of the
supply chain. In the immediate future
FedEx has planned to be able to re-route packages in shipment and change
delivery addresses. These types of
advances will help the relationships between the suppliers and the company.
In the business that FedEx runs, the sooner the information is to the
supplier, the faster the job gets done. (fedex.com)
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