DC Velocity - August 2009

newsworthy

warning of the dire consequences of bringing FedEx’s express operations under the jurisdiction of the NLRA. A change in labor classification could result in a “hidden package tax” of more than $5 billion and deprive businesses of rush deliveries and consumers of needed medicines, among other potential disruptions, FedEx said.

On its Web site, FedEx warned that representation under the NLRA would give unions the power to call job actions within a city or a region, creating a ripple effect across the FedEx network and leading to delays of time-sensitive deliveries to and from the affected area.

UPS spokesman Malcolm Berkley says FedEx Express is the only company in U.S. transportation whose drivers, sorters, and loaders are covered by a labor law designed for airline workers instead of ground-service employees. He believes it is only fair that FedEx workers be subject to the same rules that govern their counterparts at UPS. “We think that if you do the same work, you should be covered under the same law,” he says.

FedEx has been virtually non-union since its founding in 1972, with only its pilots today represented by organized labor. FedEx already has more than 100,000 non-airline employees who are eligible to be covered under the NLRA but who remain non-unionized.

Berkley says FedEx’s campaign is based on a “bogus premise” that a change in union classification will trigger a dramatic shift in FedEx’s labor structure, affect its operations, and drive up its labor costs. He notes that thousands of FedEx employees who for decades could have been organized under the NLRA have chosen not to be represented by organized labor. ;

—Mark Solomon

; Blue ribbon. APL, a global container shipping line, has placed first
in the Agriculture Transportation Coalition’s annual Ocean Carrier
Performance Survey. This is the second time in three years APL has
earned the number-one ranking.
accolades

; Right on the mark-et. The Transportation Marketing & Communications Association has named George Abernathy the 2009 Transportation Marketing Executive of the Year. Abernathy, who has over 25 years of experience with transportation-focused companies, is executive vice president and COO of Transplace, a third-party services and solutions provider. This annual award honors professionals who demonstrate the highest principles and marketing effectiveness in the industry.

; Energy efficient. National Retail Systems Inc., a provider of global logistics services to U.S. retailers and manufacturers, has been recognized as a Green Leadership Award finalist in the energy conservation category by NJBIZ magazine, a New Jersey business publication.

supply chain master:
a definition

What defines a supply chain “master”? According to a survey by consulting firm Accenture, it’s the ability to take an end-to-end view of the supply chain, to integrate the supply chain into the company’s overall business strategy, to develop the proper metrics to correlate performance and expectations, and to be superior in two or three disciplines, or domains.

The survey, Accenture’s “ High-Performance Supply Chain” study, was conducted across a field of 1,500 practitioners in more than 20 countries, the largest such survey Accenture has conducted in nearly six years. It was designed to offer a window into the qualities of a supply chain “master” and the performance advantages that can be gained by achieving the distinction.

According to the survey, masters have a big-picture vision of their supply chain but focus their execution and investment in specific areas where they will stand apart from their competition. In the past, supply chain excellence had been driven by a “one size fits all” strategy, says Bill Read, a partner in Accenture’s supply chain management practice. Today, the focus is on “targeted and more customized strategies,” Read says.

Another trait of the “masters,” says Read, is that they do not demonstrate a slavish devotion to an industry’s best practices. What emerged from the survey, he says, is that “best practices for an industry may not be the best for you.”

The survey examined mastery of six functions: sourcing and procurement, supply chain planning, fulfillment, manufacturing, innovation and product development, and service management. It found that masters of supply chain planning achieved 10 percent greater forecasting accuracy than their counterparts did; that service management masters attained 33 percent better turns on “spares” inventories; and that masters of sourcing and procurement delivered 2. 5 times more value for every dollar they spent on procurement than companies that haven’t achieved “masters” status did. ;