Intro:

Impacts of the coronavirus have caused many businesses to rethink their supply chain strategy and have accelerated the timeline of some emerging trends

Global air and ocean capacity constraints, a competitive workforce environment, intensifying customer expectations for high speed and low cost and a dramatic rise in e-commerce

Businesses are evaluating their distribution and fulfillment processes in order to achieve greater flexibility and efficiency

Companies are looking for ways to manage costs, balance skilled labor and automation, and meet consumer expectations in a very competitive e-commerce space

Speed of delivery, predictability, reliability, and visibility are critical

 Smart warehouse technology, combined with a strong, global transportation network can be a key to helping businesses achieve these goals

UPS’ Customer First, People Led, Innovation Driven strategy is about our people working together, embracing technology and the UPS portfolio of services to create the best possible experience for our customers.

Warehousing & Fulfillment:

Many SMB companies don’t have the resources, capital or expertise to implement an automated warehouse strategy on their own

The “warehouse of the future” must be more modular, scalable and economical to help SMBs achieve success

3PLs exist to help make this a reality for these companies through scaled solutions designed to lower capital investment, improve ROI, and exceed customer expectations

 Examples of new technology reshaping the warehouse management industry

Warehouse digitalization

Foundation of deploying new technologies

 Moving from manual tracking of data to real-time tracking of inventory and labor

 Leads to more advanced tech like predictive analytics, AI and machine learning

Enhanced fulfillment systems

Allows autonomous warehouse operation, which reduces human decision-making required to operate a complex fulfillment operation

Robotics

Drives improved operational performance

Removes process redundancy and frees up labor to complete more complex tasks

 Inventory asset management

Allows companies to efficiently validate, update and track inventory without disrupting warehouse operations

Companies can have access to these new developments by tapping into the UPS network and the automation services at UPS Supply Chain Solutions

 For example, UPS eFulfillment can reach almost all of the U.S. in two days and is Amazon Prime and Walmart 2-Day certified

Global Transportation (GFF):

 From a global freight forwarding perspective, SMBs want simplicity, efficiency, visibility, and value from a provider than can trust

Simplicity –fast, reliable service that is simple to quote, book, ship and track online

 Efficiency –ability to manage air and ocean freight together

Visibility –having visibility across multiple modes of transportation with the ability to respond to shipment information and critical milestones as they occur

 Value –not only providing a portfolio of transportation services, but also understanding customers’ objectives,sharing commercial insights and helping them solve their problems and seize opportunities

 Trusted provider– working with a 3PL that is trustworthy and understands its customer’s business needs and delivers on its commitments

 In October, UPS debuted its UPS® Forwarding Hub, a digital tool that allows customers to manage their UPS Global Freight Forwarding Air & Ocean freight from a single online portal

For example, customers can use the highly interactive dashboard to retrieve price quotes, book and track shipments and chat with customer support

Successful forwarders do not lean on technology alone

Meeting customer needs and expectations requires a network of experienced people, resources andrelationships

Our strategy says it all: Customer First. People Led. Innovation Driven.

Conclusion:

Successful SMBs will partner with 3PLs that have the technology, experience, and people to help them meet customer expectations, operate more efficiently and grow profitably.