UPS’s Balancing Act: More Packages, Less Spending | SupplyChainBrain

UPS’s Balancing Act: More Packages, Less Spending

The Wall Street Journal

April 30, 2018

UPS executives on Thursday spoke often of accelerating a review of the company’s operations after it reported its latest quarterly results. The company is now delivering a majority of packages to consumers, rather than businesses, in the U.S., a more expensive delivery since it means delivering fewer packages to more stops.

“The pace of change of business is accelerating so quickly,” Chief Executive David Abney said on the company’s first-quarter earnings call. “We feel like we had to respond with a sense of urgency.”

At the same time, UPS is facing new entrants encroaching its delivery turf, from Amazon’s expanding delivery operations to other startups vying to deliver packages to homes.

The review is being led by Scott Price, a former Walmart Inc. executive who joined UPS in December with a seat on the company’s top leadership committee, a rare appointment for an outsider.

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