Supply Chain Solutions

[Dfigtree]

If SCS is UPS's engine for future financial growth, we are in trouble.

Analysts said that UPS put in a good performance in the first quarter, but that margins at the company's supply chain solutions business were disappointing.

The supply chain solutions business acted as a bit of a drag on the results for the quarter.

Although UPS' supply chain solutions and freight division revenue rose by 54 percent, the unit posted a loss of $25 million for the quarter.

The more we make, the more we lose.

Is the problem one of sales and marketing? Or, inferior technology? Or incompetent management?

 

[upsdawg]

Hey---maybe it is due to competition?? FedEx is doing the same thing that we are--and so are so many others-------there is a huge market and we are trying to capture a part of that market---so is everybody else!! I think that we went after the low hanging fruit---and it is getting harder to get a foothold in the market with some customers who are using our competitors.I know tht DHL is wanting to purchase a huge Logistics Company---TNT and they wil go after market share also!!

We may also be competing with ourselves----does it go UPS Hundredweight or UPS Freight----UPS Small Package Int'l or SCS ?? So I can see where we might be a little confused as to which customers we may be targeting!!

So it is not always our Marketing or Sales people----what are "YOU" doing to provide SCS Leads-----my understanding is that it is everyone's job to find new business!!???

 

[Dfigtree]

I actually provided my lead. Have you done the same? BTW He said when he called CSTC they could not provide him with anyone to talk with. Fortunately, the guy is my cousin and he called me at work. I got him where he had to go.

 

[Hangingon]

They keep pushing us to get leads, but it's a bit difficult to make time to talk to customers when you know even if you hurry you will not be done until after 9 PM with these new numbers. My last ride performance ride (2.5 average over for the 3 days and supe could find nothing wrong) I was told that I shouldn't be saying anything to my customers in my business except for 'Hi, sign here please.' and anything else should be on my time and taken off my breaks. Makes for some real friendly service, and doesn't lend itself to finding leads.

 

[brownhorn]

Is there any job in which so much is expected of an employee? The preloader can't make the packages fit in my car, so I reload it and voila! They fit! The sales rep needs help finding sales leads, so the driver (the face of the company) needs to help business development. The dispatcher doesn't know my area, so he needs the driver to help him with the delivery order listing,etc. And then after doing an ungodly amount of work, we get to look on the stupid WOR to see that, hey, you should've done it an hour and a half quicker. PUHHLEEEZE!!! If anyone thinks we are overpaid, they need to put down the crack pipe.

 

[Coldworld]

brownhorn you are soooooooooooooo right. Tell me one other delivery company where the driver is so under the gun and is more productive than a ups driver. Do you think fedex or the post office drivers look as actively for volume at customers and are pushed to do so than a ups driver. And dont tell me " thats your job" whatever. I think its important to get volume and be productive but ups takes it WAY OVERBOARD. You would think that since ups management knows ups drivers are by a longshot the most productive delivery drivers in the business period, that their "numbers" would take a backseat to letting us have time to win volume, etc etc. I think that one day atlanta will realize this but until then its going to be the same old same old. Ill finish with this idea, some management will tell you that the union is why ups has to be so anal all the time. This company has been this way since day one. Just think if there was no union, the attitude between management and workers would be 100 time worse than it is now, and I am no means a union freak. Most managenent at other companies treat their employees with at least a little respect. ups is by no means the "norm" when refering to employee relations. Ups is one of the worst companies out there regarding employee relations...period. It doesnt have to be that way people.

 

[TSG_Brown_06]

I don't follow SCS earnings all that much, but I can honestly tell you that the SCS helpdesk is abysmal, at best.

I dread getting high severity service orders from them. My last visit to a SCS site was a malfunctioning piece of hardware that TSG brown doesn't even have in their commonly used inventory.

I called the SCS helpdesk to get a self swap going. They said they couldn't do that and that they would be more than happy to dispatch TSG to address the issue... WHAT THE HELL? I said, "how is that going to help---I AM TSG BROWN!?!" The guy restated that he could not help me and they do not troubleshoot hardware. I nearly friggin snapped. I seriously thought that I felt something burst that day. What is sad, is that I made a second call to their pathetic global help desk and shortly after, got paged with a second Severity 2 log for the same issue. No lie... It took getting SCS management involved before I got a swap going.

I'm very thankful that we have competent TSC folks so help us when in a bind.

 

[ragitator]

Need to shed Morris Road, Too much overhead.