UPS has moved way beyond boxes
UPS ranks among the top freight haulers at Miami International Airport, the busiest international cargo airport in the country. It flies hundreds of thousands of pounds of international cargo yearly through Miami on its own fleet and other planes: roses from Ecuador; seafood from Central America; computer parts to Brazil, said Stephen Flowers, president of UPS Latin America and the Caribbean region.
The company’s sprawling warehouse in Miami also stores goods from China to be shipped out as needed to Central America and beyond.
Over the past decade, UPS has been on a buying binge to expand “end-to-end” services to clients in Latin America.
It bought Miami-based carrier Challenge Air Cargo, acquiring key flight routes to the region. It bought a customs brokerage to help ease the flow of goods across borders. Plus, it bought an information technology parts and service business that sends technicians to fix computers and critical equipment at banks and other businesses in Latin America, drawing on parts that UPS ships and stores.
UPS now employs more than 5,000 people in its Latin American regional operations, including hundreds in Miami.
One fast-growing business segment is running warehouses and distribution for clients, using its high-tech systems. For example, it handles Latin American distribution for consumer giant Gillette, tracking inventory and dispatching goods as needed.
Services now run the gamut from dispatching some 400 field engineers to fixing computers to financing its customers.
Through UPS Capital, the company helps clients with billing and collections. It even offers loans for companies to expand and trade more through UPS.
Analysts say UPS distinguishes itself from fellow delivery giants FedEx and DHL by its attention to detail and well-engineered processes: Driver manuals provide routes with fewer left-hand turns to save time at intersections. It is the only one to offer financing. And it is by far the most profitable, said analyst Jindel.
For the future, opportunities still abound. UPS aims to expand business within countries overseas, such as trucking between Chinese cities.
Challenges remain, too, especially managing relations with the U.S. Teamsters labor union and franchisees that own UPS Stores.
But analysts and UPS managers say the outlook is bright for one of the few publicly traded companies in America that existed a century ago.
