Innovating Global Logistics in Uncertain Times featuring UPS CEO Carol Tomé | Betting on America

Navigating Pandemic Challenges

• 💡 Carol Tomé took over UPS in March 2020 as the world shut down, recognizing UPS's essential role in keeping commerce moving.
• ✅ UPS prioritized employee safety with protective gear and operational changes, like stopping signature requirements for delivery.
• 📊 Managed a surge in volume with control towers to maintain best-in-class on-time delivery.
• 🚀 Partnered with the US government on Operation Warp Speed, delivering 1 billion COVID-19 vaccines with 99.9% effectiveness.

Evolving Supply Chain Strategies

• 🔑 The pandemic highlighted the need for customers to adopt a "China plus one" strategy, diversifying manufacturing beyond a single country.
• 📈 Shifted from "just in time" to "just in case" inventory management, impacting working capital practices globally.
• 🌱 UPS established new gateways in countries like Vietnam and Malaysia to follow manufacturing shifts.

Technology and Workforce Transformation

• 🧠 UPS operates a global smart integrated network powered by 70 petabytes of data, using AI and machine learning for millions of daily deliveries.
• 🛠️ Invested in robotics to automate physically demanding tasks like unloading mixed loads from tractor-trailers, improving efficiency and worker conditions.
• 🎯 Developing the "operator of the future" role, training employees in digital fluency and generative AI to manage automated operations.

Global Trade and Healthcare Logistics

• 🔍 UPS offers supply chain intelligence through its "solutions" group and the Symphony tool, providing end-to-end visibility and optimization for customers.
• ⚡ Demonstrates agility in managing trade policy shocks, making over 100 operational changes to follow shifting trade routes and automating brokerage processes.
• 🏥 Aims to be the top provider of complex healthcare logistics, investing in cold chain capabilities and certifications for the biopharmaceutical market.

Purpose-Driven Leadership and Global Impact

• 🧭 UPS's purpose is "moving our world forward by delivering what matters," guiding decisions through crises like the Russia-Ukraine war.
• 🌍 The UPS Foundation delivers humanitarian aid, exemplified by providing free vaccine deliveries via drones in Rwanda, showcasing the US's offer to the Global South.
• 👏 Emphasizes the importance of a clear purpose for navigating global uncertainties and fostering positive change.