Supply chain mapping improves efficiency, customer service

Venturing into global markets can be daunting for local businesses. Businesses around the world, both the "Davids" and the "Goliaths", are fighting for a share of the pie. While it may be true that big businesses might have a better rate of survival with access to greater resources, the story of how David triumphed over Goliath serves as an important reminder to local businesses — having the right strategy is key to better compete with bigger players.

“One in three of businesses in Philippines are SMEs. To grow and stand out from the rest of the competition, local businesses need to fulfill customers’ demands and offer greater value to them. Today, many end-consumers demand faster delivery, hassle-free return process, and greater visibility,” said Adrian Dizon, UPS Philippines’ Talent Development Manager. “Retooling supply chains to meet the growing demands of customers and of their target markets should be second nature to local business, as this would enable them to compete effectively at the global level.”

At UPS, a process called "Supply Chain Mapping" helps customers identify operational issues that are causing chokepoints or resulting in unproductive use of resources. Working together with the company’s internal stakeholders from C-suite executives, logistics managers, finance directors, to sales teams, UPS plots out the entire process of moving goods from point A to point B, pinpoints gaps and provides solutions to businesses.

A Supply Chain Mapping session typically involves UPS account executives delving deeper into different aspects of a business, such as the volume and frequency of shipments, as well as questions specific to importers and exporters including single sourcing, order processing, international transportation, costs control, visibility, customer service, and repeat business.

“We want to know who the decision makers are, where shipments are from or headed to, what their business goals are, and what issues prevent them from meeting their goals. Once we get the full picture, we can then identify solutions that would help our customers overcome business challenges,” said Dizon. “The Supply Chain Mapping session is used to help businesses make more informed decisions, and for UPS to deliver customized solutions to address their challenges.”

Dizon shares how some Philippine manufacturers have benefitted from Supply Chain Mapping:

Fulfilling customers’ demand for fast delivery in Europe. UPS worked with a manufacturer and distributor of orthopedic shoes and special medical footwear, which was expanding their business into Europe. During the Supply Chain Mapping session, the customer shared that they faced challenges in monitoring imports of their product components and exports of their final goods, and delivering the finished goods to end-consumers within two days.

UPS offered the customer a host of solutions to help them meet their endgoals. To help improve the visibility on shipments, daily outbound and inbound monitoring reports were provided to the customer through Quantum View Manage. As the customer had to fulfil short turnaround time of two days, UPS made arrangements for early delivery and guaranteed delivery to destinations in Europe through the use of UPS Express Saver for individual orders and UPS Worldwide Express Freight for palletized bulk clinic orders. UPS also offered the use of customized small and large plastic pallets and customized pallet boxes, labeled with the customer’s logo, to make it easier for UPS to identify the shipment and address any service issues.

Since the Supply Chain Mapping session and the adoption of UPS’s solutions, the customer has reduced their delivery time by one day and increased their year-on-year revenue.

Navigating complex supply chain and custom requirements. A mobile phone repair and parts sales company turned to UPS to help them improve their customer service levels. They needed to ensure that goods reached end-consumers in Hong Kong, United States, Hungary, Australia, Japan, Mexico, Spain, and Russia within seven working days. The company had difficulties managing deliveries within the tight window, as well as staying on top of different export requirements from various markets.

Through the Supply Chain Mapping session, UPS executives discovered a chokepoint – nearly all shipping activities were controlled from the Philippines and there was no support system in the destination markets for the major trading lanes. This led to delayed responses to customer queries and concerns.

UPS introduced the customer to two solutions: UPS WorldShip® which allows the customer to key in the database of their regular customers and reduces the time employees spend in processing international documents; and, Quantum View Notify® which gives both the shipper and recipient timely updates on a shipment’s status.

To ensure that goods are promptly delivered to end-consumers, UPS oriented the customer on customs regulations for their destination countries to help them minimize delays resulting from customs holds and documentation issues. Moreover, UPS worked with its counterparts in the customer’s major destinations to support the customer’s operations and established specific pick-up times at customer locations. UPS’s specific shipment pick-up times provided greater certainty to the customer as it enabled them to adjust their production timelines, minimize unproductive labor costs, and ship out finished goods on schedule.

Now, the UPS customer receives imports approximately an hour earlier. The timely deliveries allows the UPS’s customer to deliver the repaired or refurbished phones before the committed turnaround date, and receive the payment from their clients on time. These funds are channeled towards their future expansion plans.

Helping a semiconductor company manage greater demand. A local company engaged in manufacturing, trading, and distribution of semiconductor and electronic products, aimed to efficiently manage a 50 percent increase in orders while reducing costs and maintaining the quality of their customer service.

Based on these objectives, UPS conducted a Supply Chain Mapping session with the customer and found that production timelines would be affected if their raw materials were held up for more than three days. This would have a knock-on effect as their staff will have to work a 24-hour shift to meet production deadlines. This issue was exacerbated by the fact that most of their employees were new and needed training.

To reduce the pressure on their manpower constraints, UPS introduced the customer to UPS’s online tools, WorldShip® and Paperless Invoice™, which have now been adopted in Japan, Taiwan, and China for automated shipping.