FedEx receives CIO award for innovative use of technology

FedEx announced earlier this week that they have been named a recipient of the 2013 CIO 100 Award from IDG’s CIO magazine. The award, which was established 26 years ago, recognises companies and organisations around the world that make intelligent use of information technology to meet operational and strategic objectives.

The other winners will be officially recognised at the CIO 100 Symposium & Awards Ceremony, due to take place in Colorado this August 13th. Maryfran Hohnson, Editor in Chief of CIO magazine and events stated that this year’s award winners “are an outstanding example of the transformative power of IT to drive everything from revue growth to competitive advantage.”

FedEx has certainly used technology to its advantage: the companies web services were upgraded extensively in 2012 in anticipation of a peak in shipping during the Christmas season. The move to a virtual environment enabled four times the amount of customer facing transactions at a fraction of the cost. The company now handles in excess of 25 million tracking requests per day.

David Zanca, Senior Vice President of IT said the company was “honoured” to have been named an award recipient adding, “I am proud of the FedEx Web Services team’s continuous innovation in the world of e-commerce, connecting business and consumers around the globe.”

Source: FedEx

DHL to support the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia

Earlier this month, DHL announced it has become the naming rights partner for the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia. The much anticipated tour kicks off in Perth, Western Australia on Wednesday 5th June with a match between the Lions and Australia's Western Force and is expected to sell 400,000 tickets, 100,000 more than when the Lions last toured Australia in 2001.

DHL's partnership with the Lions continues the German logistics company's longstanding support of the game: DHL was the Official Logistics Partner of Rugby World Cup in 2011 and was also a partner of the 2005 DHL Lions Series in New Zealand.

John Pearson, CEO Europe and Global Head of Commercial, DHL Express, explained the company's support of the sport: " Rugby is about determination, teamwork and dedication, and these qualities resonate very strongly with DHL. We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with the British and Irish Lions Tour this year, and thrilled to be building further on our global ties with Rugby. We look forward to engaging with the fans of both the Lions and Australia before and during the tour."

Source: DHL

FedEx Publish 2012 Global Citizenship report

FedEx released its 2012 Global Efficiency report last week. The company's stated priorities for 2012 were in four main areas: Economics & Access, Environment & Efficiency, Community & Disaster Relief, and People & Workplace.

Highlights from the report included: movement of approximately £4 million in disaster aid in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, significant savings in fuel and energy costs, and achievement of the goal to improve the overall fuel efficiency of the company’s vehicle fleet 20% by 2020 – way ahead of schedule.

Mitch Jackson, vice president of Environmental Affairs and Sustainability, FedEx Corp commented “FedEx is committed to connecting the world responsibly and resourcefully […]This year’s Global Citizenship Report aligns with the Global Reporting Initiative G3.1 Guidelines to communicate our continued efforts to address sustainable actions and solutions for our customers and our communities in a more standardized and transparent way.”

UPS supports Oklahoma recovery efforts

Along with key disaster relief partners, UPS have announced a coordinated plan to provide urgent relief and strategic support for the long-term recovery efforts needed in Oklahoma, following the devastation caused by the massive tornado that tore through the suburbs of Oklahoma City earlier this week.

Eduardo Martinez, president of the UPS Foundation, commented: “In addition to the $550,000 cash and in-kind support contributed to the American Red Cross's Annual Disaster Giving Program last month, we're pledging an additional $250,000 to execute the plan we have developed with our partners, which will provide urgent relief and support for the long-term recovery needs of these communities.”

In addition to contributing the the American Red Cross, UPS is delivering aid and support to several other organisations: the St Bernard project, which shares lessons learned from past disasters to speed community recovery and home reconstruction; Operation Hope, which aids small business‘ financial recovery by assisting firms to apply for aid and mortgage payment referrals; and the National Voluntary Oganizations Active in Disaster which engages in long-term recover initiatives.

UPS are also moving a shipment of communications equipment to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency in the city Moore, the local fire department and other disaster response groups.

UPS launches mobile app for i-Pad

A new, free i-Pad app is available for download for all UPS customers, UPS announced yesterday. The app enables customers to track their parcels, to find UPS shipping locations and to access a host of other features via the UPS MyChoice facility.  The app also comes with advanced mapping features.

Stu Marcus, vice president of customer technology marketing at UPS said, "The new app allows our customers to more easily view and manage their shipments from an iPad. The enhanced mapping features of the app provide an engaging visual display of shipments in transit, and details of a shipment's progress are updated regularly while en route."

Ownership of tablet computers has surged in recent years; carriers are evidently responding accordingly. DHL also offer a free mobile app for phones and i-Pad and TNT Express have a tracking application available for iPhone, Blackberry and Andriod.

TNT Express to transport twin Pandas from Madrid to China

TNT Express are transporting twin Pandas Po and De De from Madrid to Chengdu today, six years after bringing their parents from China to Spain. The twin brothers are among the few pandas born in captivity outside China. The bears’ parents Hua Zuiba and Bing Xing were transported by TNT Express in September 2007 to Madrid from Chengdu as part of a giant panda loan programme.

Thanks to preparations made by TNT Express’ special services teams, including customised routes and temperature controlled vehicles, Po and De De should have a safe and comfortable journey back to their parents’ homeland.

The bears –which will be accompanied by a veterinarian for the duration of their trip – will leave Madrid at 16:00 today, local time and will board an air-conditioned truck to Amsterdam. From their, they will be flown to Chengdu and spend several hours at the airport before reaching their destination, the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, by the afternoon of the 18th May.

The giant panda is listed as endangered in the World Conservation Union’s Red List of Threatened Animals. Only about 600 remain in the wild, with an additional 341 living in breeding centres and zoos. Of the pandas living in captivity, 44 are outside China.

DHL Express strongest division of Deutsche Post DHL according to first quarter figures

Deutsche Post DHL released their results for the first quarter of 2013 yesterday morning. Revenue amounted to  €13.44 billion - a small increase of 0.6% compared to the same period last year - but consolidated net profit fell 5.9% to  €498m compared to  €529 in 2012.

DHL attributed the slight increase in revenue to parcel delivery within Germany and the DHL Express division, the areas of the business that saw the most growth. The loss in profit was attributed to the non-recurrence of last year's positive one-time effects related to the sale of Postbank last year. Excluding the effects of this, DHL claim that net profit and earnings per share would have increased by over 45%.

Capital expenditure amounted to €711 million for the quarter and was primarily invested in the DHL side of the business in network expansions, fleet and warehousing. This is great news for the international courier sector: throughout the year we have reported on expansions and developments to DHL's international network, including partnerships in India and the development of an 'East-Asian hub' based across Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

Revenue was up 2.4% for the DHL Express division, with an increase in operating profit of almost 10%. The Global Forwarding, Freight division saw a 2% fall in revenue, but achieved an increase in operating profit of €1m year-on-year. The Supply Chain division was the least successful: although it achieved a 2% increase in revenue (attributed mainly to growth in the Asia Pacific region) EBIT was down 8.7%. The company stated this was due to "insolvency proceedings relating to a US Customer." For the mail side of the business, volumes were up 1.5%

Chief Financial Officer Larry Rosen commented in an interview, "The first quarter of 2013 was a really good quarter for us. We've got off to a very solid start for the year in what is a very difficult macroeconomic environment. Cash-flow performance was much improved compared to the first quarter of last year and we are very confident about our short term and mid term goals (...) DHL is doing well, especially the Express business."