Mis in Fedex – Term Paper

FEDERAL EXPRESS [FedEx ]: In 1965, Yale University undergraduate Frederick W. Smith wrote a term paper about the passenger route systems used by most airfreight shippers, which he viewed as economically inadequate. Smith wrote of the need for shippers to have a system designed specifically for airfreight that could accommodate time-sensitive shipments such as medicines, computer parts and electronics. In August of 1971 following a stint in the military, Smith bought controlling interest in Arkansas Aviation Sales, located in Little Rock, Ark.

While operating his new firm, Smith identified the tremendous difficulty in getting packages and other airfreight delivered within one to two days. This dilemma motivated him to do the necessary research for resolving the inefficient distribution system. Thus, the idea for Federal Express was born: a company that revolutionized global business practices and now defines speed and reliability. Federal Express was so-named due to the patriotic meaning associated with the word “Federal,” which suggested an interest in nationwide economic activity..

The company incorporated in June 1971 and officially began operations on April 17, 1973. Company headquarters were moved to Memphis, Tennessee, a city selected for its geographical center to the original target market cities for small packages, the rare closures and the weather. In the mid-1970s, Federal Express took a leading role in lobbying for air cargo deregulation that finally came in 1977. These changes allowed Federal Express to use larger aircraft and spurred the company’s rapid growth. Today FedEx Express has the world’s largest all-cargo air fleet, including Boeing 777s and MD-11s and Airbus A-300s and A-310s.

The company entered its maturing phase in the first half of the 1980s.. In fiscal year 1983 Federal Express reported $1 billion in revenues, making American business history as the first company to reach that financial hallmark inside 10 years of start-up without mergers or acquisitions. Following the first of several international acquisitions, intercontinental operations began in 1984 with service to Europe and Asia. With the integration of the Flying Tigers network on August 7, 1989, the company became the world’s largest full-service, all-cargo airline.

The first evolution of the company’s corporate identity came in 1994 when Federal Express officially adopted “FedEx” as its primary brand, taking a cue from its customers, who frequently referred to the company by the shortened name. By that time, customers used the term as a verb, meaning, “to send an overnight shipment. ” It did not take long for the meaning to catch on, and today it’s common terminology to “FedEx” a package. The second evolution came in 2000 when the company was renamed FedEx Express to reflect its position in the overall FedEx Corporation portfolio of services.

This also signified the expanding breadth of the FedEx Express-specific service offerings, as well as a FedEx that was no longer just overnight delivery Today, the FedEx corporation consists of the following operating companies:FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, FedEx Office, FedEx Custom Critical, FedEx Trade Networks, FedEx SupplyChain and FedEx Services. ?FedEx Express: It is basically the core and flagship company of the FedEx Corporation. It is a combination of the air and ground networks functioning to deliver packages or freights in over 220 countries in a time-sensitive manner with guaranteed on-time delivery.

Presently the FedEx corp. has over 260,000 employees globally with a turnover of about $40 billion of which FedEx Express has an employee share of 143,000 with around $20 billion exclusively. History Founded in 1971 as Federal Express Corporation Headquarters •Worldwide: Memphis, Tennessee. •Asia Pacific: Hong Kong, China •Canada: Toronto, Ontario •Europe/Middle East/Africa: Brussels, Belgium •Latin America: Miami, Fla. Principal Officer David J. Bronczek, President and CEO FY11 Revenue $24. 6 billion (includes FedEx Trade Networks) Workforce More than 143,000 employees worldwide

Average Daily Volume Approximately 3. 5 million packages and 11 million pounds of freight Service Area More than 220 countries and territories, including every address in the United States Air Operations More than 375 airports served worldwide Air Fleet 687 aircraft Delivery Fleet Approximately 43,000 motorized vehicles Operating Facilities 1,057 stations (676 U. S. ; 381 outside U. S. ) and 10 air express hubs: •Asia Pacific: •Guangzhou, China •Canada: •Toronto, Ontario •Europe/Middle East/Africa: •Paris, France •Latin America-Caribbean: •Miami, Fla. •United States: •Anchorage, Alaska Fort Worth, Texas •Indianapolis, Ind. , •Memphis, Tenn. (SuperHub) •Newark, New Jersey •Oakland, Calif. Dropoff Locations •691 FedEx World Service Centers •1,797 FedEx Office locations •6,613 FedEx Authorized Ship Centers® and Alliance Partners •42,920 FedEx Drop Boxes (including 4,979 US Postal Service locations) The company competes with United Parcel Service(UPS) Inc. , DHL, United States Postal Service and TNT ?INPUT, PROCESSES, OUTPUT and FEEDBACK: FedEx as such has a complex yet efficient system which is an amalgamation of information technology, logistics and human resource.

Basically, the corporation deals with goods of all kinds which has gone on to include penguins all the way to a huge snowball. Handling about 3. 5 million packages and about 11 million pound freights daily, it has a very reputed and reliable logistics network which is enhances by the information systems used. Also, they have been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards for their ‘timely’ services. INPUT: As in all courier services, the inputs for FedEx express is also the parcels or freights which are to be transported to another location within a specific time period.

This, goods can come from various sources ranging from individuals and families all the way to corporate and hospitals. The input could be in the form of letters, books, application forms, documents, accessories, apparels, medicines, technological gadgets, etc. FedEx has links with various companies including online marketing companies which require for a product ordered online to be delivered to a particular destination with a particular time. The agreements with numerous other corporations also require that specific goods like documents or parts, etc also need to be transported.

So, any goods which are not illegal (such as drugs, weapons, chemicals, etc unless they have formal pre-requisite permission to deliver the same) can be sent with the fees depending on the weight of the parcel and the delivery-time expected. Infact, FedEx has transported goods for the US Armed Forces at various occasions. A notable feature of FedEx which other competing Shipping services have also commenced is the door acceptance of goods- the FedEx employees will come to the doorsteps to get the parcel from the sender if a call is put out to the company. PROCESSES:

Pick-up: It begins with a customer requiring shipping of a good. The customer can download and print a form containing the necessary details to be filled including the bar-code. If a call comes up asking for a FedEx employee to pick up a good to be delivered, the employee comes to the particular address of the sender, obtains the data of the sender, receiver, package-contents, etc through the form filled. Simultaneously, the central hub gets to know about the acquiring of the package when the employee reads the bar-code using the bar-code reader to confirm the acquiring of the package and receival of payment.

The sender also is given a receipt number which can be used to track the shipment via the internet through the FedEx website www. fedex. com . ?Package Tracking: The implementation of wireless technology keeps customers informed about package whereabouts. This process is called package tracking which makes use of SuperTracker Technology. “Wireless Solutions is easy to track the status of your FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, and FedEx Freight shipments or find the nearest FedEx Express drop-off location using your Web-enabled wireless device – anytime, anywhere” (FedEx 2006).

FedEx benefits from package tracking by using web-enabled devices such as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) phones,Personal Digital Assistants (PDA), and pagers to notify its customers about the location of their package. The WAP phone provides limited Internet content to mobile phones as the basis for communication between drivers and the business. Thus, FedEx’s shippers and receivers still use these web-enabled SuperTracker Technology devices for package tracking but integrate the use of RFID as part of their new technology implementation as mentioned in the sections below.