|
 Every second, millions of business transactions speed across telephone wires, computer networks and wireless equipment. This data triggers the movement of goods and funds connecting buyers and sellers, as well as all the intermediaries that make commerce work.
In a perfectly synchronized global supply chain, producers use only the resources required to meet existing customer demands. Intermediaries like merchants, transportation carriers, suppliers and governmental agencies all work together seamlessly to deliver the goods in an efficient, timely manner so that currency flows across the economy.
A streamlined supply chain means that raw materials can be transformed into finished products quicker, leading to faster cash receipts and higher profitability. Improvements in efficiency can lower inventory requirements, economize transportation and other distribution costs, accelerate cash flow and strengthen receivables.
It means that more capital is available to help build and sustain the local economy, hire more workers, and find new and better ways to serve the marketplace.
It means that waste is minimal, both in terms of physical goods and time.
But the real world isn't like that.
The data that surrounds business transactions is often erroneous.
Customer demand is unpredictable. Market forces change on a minute-by-minute basis. Political and economic events can affect a neighborhood hardware or grocery store a half a world away as soon as the next day. Goods can be stalled, orders can be inaccurate, accounts can go into arrears, workers can be left idle.
The effects of inefficiency ripple across the economy and affect business's accounting books, government coffers and employees' paychecks.
It is estimated that an average 10 percent of the world's GDP is devoted to the supply chain activities that keep goods moving in the marketplace. Even incremental improvements in supply chain performance can have a dramatic impact.
Increasingly, companies are looking for ways to connect more efficiently with their business partners so that each can benefit from the resulting savings in time and money.
 Back
to Top
 For years, UPS has seen its role as managing the flow of goods, funds and information.
The company's core business of transporting packages has grown into managing supply chains - utilizing technology to oversee the goods (and the funds they represent) as they move across the world. These goods are managed by UPS in a variety of ways - as components, as inventory, as orders and as shipments to name a few. UPS manages not only its own global transportation network that includes ground and air; it also manages other carriers by land, by air and by sea to ensure that customers' shipments arrive at the right place, at the right time for the right price.
If the goods are destined for international locations, UPS can manage the paperwork for customs, duties and taxes, and other required trade documentation.
UPS also manages goods as inventory in their own distribution centers - transforming products into orders. Specialized services might include kitting, tagging, subassembly, packaging and technical configuration. And it has a special unit dedicated to post-sales services like returns management, warranty repair and critical parts management.
Since UPS is involved in so many links in the supply chain, it is in a unique position to synchronize commerce by streamlining the flow between a buyer and a seller - resulting in a more efficient use of resources across the entire journey.
Back
to Top |
Speeches
