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FedEx Or UPS? What Makes An “Order Winner” For Your Firm?
FedEx Or UPS? What Makes An “Order Winner” For Your Firm?
By admin In Topics Posted February 14, 2011 0 Comments

I was reading through the Sourcing Innovation blog today (an interesting read btw) and came across a post mentioning that when you have to expedite a package there is little choice–FedEx or UPS. Of course, that left off DHL, but then again, it is a distant third.

What the article used as a jumping-off point, however, was an infographic from PackageFox comparing the two “gorillas” in express shipping. The take-away that Sourcing Innovation had was that there is no real difference between the two, except in the numbers of aircraft (FEDEX wins) or ground vehicles (UPS wins). I would agree with that observation (it’s simple numbers after all) but I am curious about something else: What metric matters?

I would think that, when selecting an express carrier to deliver an overnight (or two day) package one would care at the top about two metrics. The first is will you get the package there on time, and how much will it cost. Of course, the third metric that I would think would go without saying is that it will arrive “safely.”

But then I started thinking about “order winners” and “order qualifiers.” FedEx, UPS (and really, DHL) are fairly close in their ability to deliver express packages on time (although I was a bit surprised to see FedEx at only 88%) If package delivery is truly “critical” (and that would be the assumption for an express delivery) then on time delivery (and in good condition) for these carriers would simply be order qualifiers. I wouldn’t even consider a carrier if they couldn’t meet these simple goals.

That leads me to look at the rest of the metrics presented. Is a carrier’s positions as a “green” carrier important to you? Do you place value on their ability to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions?

This then presents a question: What does YOUR firm see as the “order winner” when selecting an express carrier?

Let me know. EMail me at Steve @ sctoday.net and share your thoughts.

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