Report - Competing through Operations
United Parcel Service Inc. Module Leader: Pete James

2012-2013
TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction 3 II. UPS’s five performance objectives 3 III. UPS’s capacity strategy 6 1. Capacities 6 2. Capacity Constraints 8 3. How UPS meets customers’ demands 8 IV. How UPS capacity strategies support its five performance objectives 10 V. Conclusion 12 References 13 Appendices 14

I. Introduction:
Being founded in 1907, United Parcel Service Inc. has become a multinational corporation with the aim to develop commerce in the world. According to the Annual Report in 2011, UPS is the largest delivery company, which provides express carrier and package, be recognized brand as the leading provider of global logistics, specialized transportation and also e-commerce services. Goods flow, funds and information in more than 200 countries worldwide are managed by UPS every day.
The present study sought to understand this assumption by finding out how important the UPS is in real life as well as analyzing its capacities theories, strategies to meet customers’ needs in recent years.
This study involved 50 International Students of the University of the West of England (UWE), who were randomly sampled from various major in Frenchay Campus, and 50 native people, who were also randomly selected in Filton Avenue. Furthermore, in a real interview with two staff working at UPS Customer Center – Bristol, it is the right ideas to support this study. Both questionnaire and interview are used as two main methods to understand what people really think about UPS service. The impact of UPS, therefore, would be reflected clearly in students’ life as well as in UK community. Additionally, searching information throughout UPS website (www.ups.com) is also used as an effective method. II. UPS five performance objectives:
It is essential to recognise that Satisfying customers’ requirements is one of the first things that a company should be concerned for fast and dependable services at reasonable price, as well as helping its own suppliers to improve the services they offer. There are five basic performance objectives that UPS applied to its operation.
Before analyzing UPS performance objective, throughout collecting data, the following chart shows the customer’ consideration aspects when they send a parcel.

It is true that every customers believe the service to ensure that their package will be delivered correctly with no damage. Step inside the familiar brown trucks, quality is one of the first things that the UPS chairman has a customer-orientation with a focus on (Team 3 UPS, 2009). With UPS, the successful key of keeping customers in high trust is quality of design, which is always determined clearly and blueprinted before being delivery include: where the package is going, when it need to arrive, how it will be handle, ect. It is clearly that how much time it takes in case one package is missed and how long UPS can regain the trust from customers when their package is damaged. Therefore, “the quality of the service is most important”, says Mr. Mark – full-time staff in UPS Customer Service, Bristol.
Inside any operations, speed – the rate at which service is done - is one of the most challenges with all companies, especially in delivery field (Slack et al, 2004). Mr. Mark mentioned it like a competitive survival of any delivery company as in emergency in hospital. If a customer needs to deliver the next day, their parcel will be combined with other packages, which will be delivered on next day. Before it loaded on the way, whatever the time, day or night, the parcel is put into separate locations where it is either delivery by ground or air depending on proximity (Team 3 UPS, 2009). It does not only reduce inventories waiting to ship, but it is also a specific strategy to accelerate the speed of work, build up