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Fedex Case Study

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Managing Information Systems
FedEx Case

1. List the business processes displayed in the video.

- Pick up the package & scan the box.
- Transfer of the packages & letters to a big rig
- Packages are loaded to a conveyor and sorted regarding its final destination
- The belt carries the package to a scan that register each of them according to their weigh and size.
- The packages are then pushed different ways depending on their destination
- The packages with unreadable label are treated manually and disposed on their right destination.
- Packages are thrown into container that are entirely weighted and specially designed in order to fit on an aircraft.
- Packages take to the air.
- When arrived at destination, packages arrive to another facilities centre and are sent regarding the right cities.
- Once in the truck, FedEx couriers are delivered to the exact location specified on the label.

2. List the types of information systems shown in the video. Can you describe how systems that were not shown might be used at FedEx?

- At the first moment the package is being picked up, the FedEx carrier scan the label on the box that send directly to the system that the package has been picked up.
- Once the package arrives to the first conveyor, the scan gives the information regarding the destination.
- In the sorting centre, another scan takes care of adding the weight and size to the label in order to determine the price that would be charged to the consumer.
- Once the information is in the computer, the machinery knows exactly what to do: the labels tell the scanner where the boxes have to be shipped.
- Global Operation Control is tracking the packages and deciding when the flight is leaving depending on the weather conditions (it can change 2 to 3 times before leaving).
- Once arrived in the destination country a scanner helps to sort out packages distributed from the left ones.
- When delivered to the final customer, the carrier scans a last time the package, to inform the system that the latter has been delivered.

3. The system displayed in the video is an enterprise system. Why is this true? Explain your answer.

David Olson, in his work "Enterprise Information Systems: Contemporary Trends and Issues," states that enterprise systems allow companies to integrate business processes, such as sales, deliveries and accounts receivable, by sharing information across business functions and employee hierarchies.

FedEx sends millions of packages to hundreds of countries all over the world. To achieve this, the company invested in one of the biggest and largest facility that integrates each step of the process. From this point of view, we can state that the displayed system is an enterprise system.

From A to Z, each activity is technologically assisted by the enterprise system. The latter allows a quick and efficient sorting, sizes and weights packages and containers, takes into account the weather or even delays when sending the packages by plane and informs the company that the packages had been delivered to the final clients.

The system gathers each different piece of information of the business process and gives data access to the employees. Therefore, the FedEx system can definitely be considered as an Enterprise System.

4. How important is technology to FedEx's business processes?

We can see in the video that most of packages are travelling by plane to reach its final destination. Without technology it would be impossible for FedEx to ship millions of package in 200 countries every day.
First in the video we see that packages and mails are collecting by truck and then brought to really big facilities, where there are machines that sort out every package according to their final destination. In those machines they are scans that measure and weigh each package to tell the customer how much he will have to pay. There are also lots of cameras that read the label on the box to tell the computer where the box is being shipped. But sometimes the labels can’t be read for many reasons so the packages are sorted by hand, that’s why we said that people also have their place in FedEx’s facilities.
Once they’ve been sorted out, packages are put in containers, rollers have been put on the ground so that each container can be moved and weighed easily. It’s also interesting to know that each container has a special shape to perfectly fit the aircraft.
FedEx also has a Global Operation Control responsible to track flights that are leaving and those who are arriving. They also look at the weather and at different other parameters to predict delays. This department also have access to data such as: how many packages there are in the aircraft …
Finally at the end of the process when the package is delivered to the final person, the box is scanned in order to tell electronically to FedEx that the package is in the client hand.
To conclude we can say that technology is a really big part of the FedEx business process. Of course sometimes machines and technology aren’t enough and humans have also their part in the process.
4. How could FedEx's shipping process be made even more efficient?

One idea to optimize the delivering process could be to avoid having all packages going through the warehouse since some of them do not need to. Indeed, we could imagine having a first human control of the package's final destination by the operator who takes it in charge, which does not require additional time nor specific effort. Then two cases; first (most common case), the final destination is far away and in this case the package follows the habitual process. Second possibility (more seldom but not negligible), the final destination could be within the operational area of one of the operators delivering from the warehouse where the package is meant to pass through first. In this case it would be faster not to have the package unloaded into the warehouse but rather put directly into the truck of the operator covering the area in which the final destination is.

This idea requires to have a centralised technology that allows the operator to link the addresses to truck numbers directly as he/she scans the package at the beginning. If the truck that will be delivering the package to the final destination happens to be parked next to his/her truck by the warehouse then it can be loaded directly and leave with the next batch!

Also making the entire process more efficient includes taking into account the client's complaints. Fexdex is facing an important number of delivering problems due to the lack of recipient at home to take delivery of the package. Therefore they could have a system sending a text-notification to the recipient's cell phone slightly ahead of the delivery in order that they can get ready for the arrival of their package. That is using a multi-canal Information System.

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