Alternative Courses Of Action : The Parcel Management Program

During the 1980s, the air express industry was a medium to attractive industry to already be a major player in, but not a very attractive industry to try and break into. The industry can be characterized by high rivalry from competitors who compete on the same services with very little differentiation, medium power from suppliers who supply the resources necessary to run the business, high buyer power because customers can basically find an equal service from any firm in the industry, low substitution threat from other means of shipping transportation, and low threat of new entrants due to the high initial capital outlay and need of management

a) Economies of scale—the top three carriers (Federal Express, UPS, and Airborne Express) serve slightly more than 85% of the domestic express mail market. All three carriers deliver a high volume of packages, and thus, are able to spread fixed costs over more units. Also, each carrier has integrated technological systems that improved operational efficiency. In addition, intensive training programs of employees increase service and delivery efficiency.

FedEx created overnight delivery service and second-day delivery service in order to satisfy customers’ need in a way that its competitors cannot. Both services guaranteed delivery time to every customer, they willing to pay the premium price. In this case, customers self-select the option based on their preferences, depending on the relative values of prices or their situational needs. If there is an urgent package, the customer can select overnight service. However, a second-day delivery is a cheaper choice for customers if they do not need to send the package right away. However, these services are still not much different from its rival such as UPS or DHL. FedEx has to add capacity control strategy, which allows it to maintain its revenue.

FedEx has two major customers who consist of businesses and individual customers. These business customers have accounts with FedEx to arrive at their location to pick up packages daily or weekly. Two-thirds of FedEx’s business comes from these customers so FedEx curves their operations to satisfy this clientele. Since FedEx’s competition is trying to acquire some of this clientele they have begun to operate and market to this clientele more effectively. Individual customers are also in FedEx’s internal environment. These customers represent one-third of their business. With increased competition from competitors FedEx has marketed to this market substantially. They have created boxes that are prepaid for shipment as long as the contents fit into the box. This has effectively increased business amongst individual customers for FedEx.

In this report we focus on the two main competitors in the package delivery industry: Federal Express Corporation (FedEx) and United Parcel Service of America, Inc.

The evolution of the express mail industry had become a quick on-time shipping and delivery of packages. The service had become effective, reliable, and prompt, which most of the top companies could deliver on these guaranteed promises 96-99% of the time. But, delivery services were only a portion of the services being offered to their customers. Carriers had mastered information management that they shared with their customers. Customers were now able to fill out labels, track the route of their package, and assisted in billing using both via carrier provided software or the Internet.

Amber Inn & Suite, Inc. was built in 1979 and is composed of 250 hotels chain empire of which each consisting an average of 120 exquisite guest rooms or suite units. The profits are $422.6 million and deficits of $15.7 million. The Amber Inns & Suite have total of 30,000 rooms. The Company’s objective is to cater mainly to professional clienteles that are traveling with fabulous guest rooms at an economical price. Amber Inn & Suites, Inc. is located in areas amid ten western and Rocky Mountain States with two hundred fifty numerous property hotel chains. In most cases, each property is made up of one hundred twenty single guest rooms or suite units. Amber Inn & Suites Inc. positions its properties on prime areas such as major

By capitalizing on this strategy, FedEx was able to boost its average delivery volume in 1976 to 20,726 packages per day via its three services, Priority-One, Standard Air, and Courier Pack, compared with an average of 10,521 delivered daily the prior year. Clearly the company’s calculated use of strategically-located hubs, nighttime flight routes, and limited package size allowed the company to carve out a niche by reliably delivering packages on an immediate, overnight basis.

United Parcel Service (UPS), is the world’s largest express package delivery firm that handled more than 4.7 billion packages and documents in 2015. This global transportation and logistics service provider operates in more than 220 countries, and offers an array of supply chain management solutions (UPS Fact Sheet, n.d.). The firm has diversified its products and/or services to include freight forwarding and logistics services via air, ground, rail, and sea. U.S. Domestic Package operations, International Package operations, and Supply Chain and Freight operations are the three operating segments UPS. Through technology advancements UPS delivers online package tracking, e-commerce services, and specialized

FedEx’s new product Courier Pak makes sense because of its’ high profit margin and potential to generate new volume. Out of the 3 services that Fed Ex provides, CP yields the highest profit margin at 66% while Priority-One is at 55% and SAS is only at 27%. In addition to this, the company believes that it will be able to boost up sale of CP from 1300 to 6000 packages per day. This shows that CP is the most profitable and huge potential for growth.

FedEx was first established in 1973 as a logistic company with the name Federal Express that be created by founder and first CEO Frederick W Smith. The Headquarters is in Memphis, Tennessee in the US. The company became well known for its fast and reliable delivery service around the world. On its first night of operation FedEx delivered 186 bundles to 25 urban locations in the US with only 389 employees and a 15 Dassault Falcon aircraft. In 1980 FedEx purchased a system for live updates on the packages. In this system, FedEx drivers share the current locations from the trucks to provide updates of the packages to the customers. This information was sent to a central computer of FedEx then the company improved the update system by introducing FedEx.com webpage. This webpage allowed the tracking data to be easily accessible. However, recently, FedEx uses Savvy bundle for packing and tracking the products across couriers. (Baldwin, 2016)

Trends and opportunities of the parcel service industry include globalization, e-commerce, and supply-chain management. Internet logistics was FedEx and UPS’s fastest growing business. The internet enabled customers to link directly to retailers and their manufacturers. In 2001, parcel carriers served almost all of the online market. They were able to provide information on packages to customers through tracking systems on the web. This allowed customers to plan ahead and decrease delays in deliveries. It also allowed for faster transactions and lower communication costs. Parcel companies created partnerships with large Internet retailers. These partnerships allowed parcel service companies to expand its overall delivery volume. Parcel companies improved tracking by implementing several technological innovations. These included “laser scanners and bar codes, state of the art software programs, satellite and cell phone communication equipment, electronic information interchanges, and the Internet.”

UPS has been in the package delivery business for 95 years, providing services to businesses and consumers worldwide in more than 200 countries. In 1994, UPS began to investigate the potential of e-commerce and started an internal group focused on enabling e-commerce. UPS redefined its core business and found ways to change its structure and processes, forming new businesses to take advantage of new opportunities. UPS was interested in finding ways to leverage their extensive infrastructure and expertise in basic transportation of goods, services, and

FedEx has not fared as well as UPS in financial performances. FedEx¡¦s total revenue has grown 60% from 1996 to 1999 while their net income has doubled in the same period. FedEx¡¦s acquisition of RPS will challenge UPS for the ground delivery business and affect the sustainability of UPS¡¦s advantage in the ground deliver business. FedEx has been competing well in the higher-end, high-service segment of the package delivery market. Although, digitations of documents and emergence of electronic signatures is threatening the express business which FedEx has the advantage over UPS.

These are their daily volumes for those services. FedEx has many service areas. They service over 220 countries, territories and every single address in the U.S. FedEx tends to make more than 6 million package tracking requests daily. This is an outstanding number for a company dealing with packaging and locator with tracking numbers. Their express facility has 1,057 stations, and 10 air hubs. While their ground services has 32 hubs and over 500 pickup/delivery terminals. Freight has approximately 355 service centers and nearly 2,000 office locations. Despite all their services FedEx has a mission. Their mission is to produce outstanding financial returns for their shareowners. However, all customer requirements will be met while providing high value logistics, transportation and related business through operating companies. According to FedEx website, “FedEx will strive to develop mutually rewarding relationships with its employees, partners and suppliers” (About FedEx). Safety is their number one concerns and first considerations in all operations. However, all their corporate activities will be conducted according to the highest ethical and professional standards. FedEx values their people, service, innovation, integrity, responsibility, and most of all loyalty. This company strategy consists of three levels; compete collectively, operate independently, and manage collectively. These strategies will help the company accomplish their goals. Standing, as