ErikR

  • Alumni

Submitted

FedEx Ground’s Remarkable Ride to the Top
ErikR
Posted on December 8, 2015 at 3:11 pm
Over the last 15 years, FedEx Ground has grown from nothing, into being widely viewed as the preeminent ground courier transportation provider. This success is largely attributable to the unique operating decisions the company has made.

Activity Feed

On December 15, 2015, ErikR commented on GNC – Supplementation Gone Wrong :

I don’t think they have the cost base to sell online. Most of their own products are “manufactured” by company’s like Iovate who also own brands (like Muscletech). The ironic thing is that Iovate actually outsources manufacturing to another third party. The result is that GNC is paying far too many margins to be price competitive on a site like Bodybuilding.com. They can still sell their high priced products in the retail environment (to generally uninformed consumers), but are losing volume as customers like Yaro no longer visit.

On December 14, 2015, ErikR commented on Designing the future at Bauhaus :

I can’t help but relate this to Kevin’s post on Ikea (as you alluded to at the end). It is so amazing when a “business” is able to create such a connection between different units with seemingly distinct tasks (e.g. “artists had to be trained to operate the machines while the machine workers had to be trained as artists”). It’s hard to believe that this Bauhaus-model is scale-able – it would be interesting to experience it in action.

On December 14, 2015, ErikR commented on FedEx Ground’s Remarkable Ride to the Top :

You are certainly correct on the cost stand point. It seems that “control” is not a huge issue so far – service is exceptional (based on all the bench-marking studies I have seen), but the ICs are rebelling in some areas.

Did you see this:

http://www.logisticsmgmt.com/article/fedex_agrees_to_pay_228_million_to_settle_long_running_calif._independent_c

On December 14, 2015, ErikR commented on FedEx Ground’s Remarkable Ride to the Top :

Yeah that’s a great point, it definitely takes a lot of FedEx’s value prop away if the majority of B2C moves become within-city.

On December 13, 2015, ErikR commented on IKEA: World’s Most Successful Furniture Retailer :

The part that I find most interesting is that they actually think about packing, handling and transportation while in the design phase. I can’t imagine that many other companies do that. It’s amazing that they can foster that kind of communication between different areas of the business – e.g. to understand transportation costs in the design business unit.

On December 13, 2015, ErikR commented on FedEx Ground’s Remarkable Ride to the Top :

UPS may or may not be in too deep… The number one problem is their union though.

On December 10, 2015, ErikR commented on FedEx Ground’s Remarkable Ride to the Top :

I have actually spent a lot of time thinking about that. Right now a lot of the disruption of the courier industry is in the B2C space, but longer-term companies like UPS and FedEx could be in trouble; if Amazon gains scale, why not go B2B? It will really depend on how much customers value same-day shipping. Same-day, if demand by customers, could lead to company’s redesigning their distribution networks and potentially cutting FedEx/UPS out.

On December 10, 2015, ErikR commented on Krispy Kreme Doughnuts: The Sweet Success of Business and Operational Alignment :

It is total genius that they use their store real estate as a manufacturing operation during off-peak hours. I am definitely going to be thinking of other businesses this is applicable to.