UPS Logistics Group Automotive Services Unit Revs Up
Beep, beep! UPS Logistics Group is pouring on the speed with more services in the automotive sector. The company, a subsidiary of United Parcel Service, has formed a unit dedicated to the automotive sector that will provide a variety of third-party services steered toward improving supply-chain efficiency.
The UPS Logistics Group—Automotive Services will provide parts suppliers and distributors around the world with supply-chain reengineering, transportation-network management, service-parts logistics and technology systems.
"The advent of supplier exchanges, build-to-order business models and consumer-friendly Web technology are trends dramatically affecting the automotive industry and its supply chains," Jim Thompson, senior vice president, UPS Logistics Group, said. "Our expertise combines technology with supply-chain reengineering and advanced-management practices to help reinvent the industry."
The UPS Logistics Group, a subsidiary of UPS, has a long history of serving the auto industry, with contracts with such heavyweights as DaimlerChrysler, Toyota and Honda.
UPS Logistics Group also created another dedicated unit—UPS Autogistics Inc.—that will lead reengineering of finished-vehicle delivery networks. UPS Logistics Group said that Autogistics' first mission will be to improve Ford Motor Co. delivery network for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles.
That project will be part of a strategic alliance between UPS Logistics Group and Ford that was announced Feb. 2. The project's goal is to reduce delivery time of Ford vehicles from plants to dealers by up to 40 percent. The project, to be implemented over the next 12-to-15 months, includes development of information systems that eventually will allow dealers and consumers to track vehicle delivery.
The type of partnerships formed by such third-party operators as UPS Logistics Group—Automotive Services could lead to suppliers sharing warehouses, truckloads and information-technology systems to enhance efficiencies across their businesses, Thompson suggested.
"Vendor- managed inventory and shared supply chains are already a reality for many high-tech and consumer retail manufacturers," Thompson said. "The automotive industry can have the same benefits."