Metrics That Speak to the C-Suite

“People think about trucking as a meat and potatoes business where you pick something up and then deliver it to a destination, but it’s not that simple, it’s a highly competitive business, and in order to thrive, firms need to implement innovations that will give them a competitive edge.”

United Parcel Service, a logistics company has established itself through its strong corporate culture, continuous ability to innovate, and its far-reaching global network. The company has maintained a competitive advantage over the years by implementing continuous growth strategies—the first was geographic expansion, next the early adaptation of electronic tracking technologies, and then came a series of acquisitions. Although UPS is financially strong and is able to maintain its role in the courier and delivery industry—it is vital that UPS continue to act strategically as to strive for long-term success. UPS is heavily dependent on the U.S. economy and it is important that it find greater and more profitable ventures

330-10-30330-10-30-1 The primary basis of accounting for inventories is cost, which has been defined generally as the price paid or consideration given to acquire an asset. As applied to inventories, cost means in principle the sum of the applicable expenditures and charges directly or indirectly incurred in bringing an article to its existing condition and location. It is understood to mean acquisition and production cost, and its determination involves many considerations. 330-10-30330-10-30-2 Although principles for the determination of inventory costs may be easily stated, their application, particularly to such inventory items as work in process and finished goods, is difficult because of the variety of considerations in the allocation of costs and charges.

Barclays (July 2013). The big players in the global logistics business are oligopolistic as they are

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 purpose of this paper is to illustrate three technology opportunities associated with the transportation and logistics industry. With today’s constantly evolving business environment, consumers are placing demand on businesses of all industries, and they want products and services faster, with more added value, and delivered immediately. Nevertheless, customers are smarter by requiring more quality, innovation, and choice, and at the same time wanting to spend less money and effort. Consequently, every transportation business has to remain highly competitive in researching and developing innovative cost-cutting techniques in order to save money.

By 1976, at a volume of 1,300 packages per day, FedEx’s Courier Pack service was only fulfilling one tenth of a percent of the “emergency rush” market, which totaled 870,000 packages delivered per day. By comparison, at 13,400 deliveries per day, the company’s Priority One “emergency rush” service accounted for one percent of the total market. Clearly both services have potential to gain more share of the rush delivery market, but the Courier Pack’s untapped potential is nearly limitless. Surely, the remaining 98 percent or so of customers using competing services for emergency rush delivery, including Emery Air Freight and USPS Express Service, are not familiar with Fed Ex’s less expensive, and more consistent Courier Pack service, and would switch brands with heightened awareness gained through careful marketing.

It is widely known that logistics is the life blood of anything major. The logistics and transportation industry in the United

This analysis investigates the management policies of the two primary competitors of the Air Delivery & Freight Services industry. I use ratio analysis to peek under the covers of profitability to understand how management, investment and financial management activities impact the overall performance of FedEx and UPS and study how the ratios change over time for FedEx.

Russell, R. S., & Taylor III, B. W. (2014). Operations and Supply Chain Management, 8th edition. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

INTRODUCTION Businesses – from manufacturing, merchandising and service industries alike – take careful consideration in the analysis of their costing systems in order to be able to set up competitive prices in the market. Misallocation of costs may lead to incorrect price estimates, continuous production of unprofitable products, and ineffective processing schedules. In this case study, we will discuss the costing methods which Zauner Ornaments have used or is currently using and, in conclusion, be able to distinguish the advantages and disadvantages of each costing method. CASE CONTEXT The case seeks to assist Zauner’s comptroller, Yu Chia-yi, in determining the best costing method for their overhead costs. In addition we also aim to

The organization is FedEx, the logistics company, and specifically its Express business unit, which is focused on overnight courier activities. The time period is generic basically the activities are repeated day over day. Product costing is important for the company, knowing that most of the cost structure is fixed costs. Normally, FedEx looks at service costs at the route level, and then the fixed costs related to the entire network that brings packages to customers around the world.

Information about competitive transportation services will be gathered. Questionnaires will be distributed to students and faculty of Kent State University in order to gather customer insight. Also, a financial consulting firm will be hired to provide professional assistance.

cost-of-goods-sold section might be in relation to the sales total. In the case of a merchandising firm,

The transportation sector is continually evolving. Whether moving people or products by land, sea, or air, all transportation strategies need to balance proficient network design and operations with rising intricacy, government supervision, environmental accountability, security risks and demands for flexibility and performance from consumers. Transportation solutions saturate all facets of business and comprise about ten percent of all economic action. Global economic disruption and explosive fuel pricing are driving the need for more restricted operations, ground-breaking service offerings, and inspired business models. The capability to manage change and drive continual process improvements are vital to transportation enterprises that want to uphold competitive advantage and survivability (Transportation and Logistics, n.d.).