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Nov 10 2023

Logistics firms taking extra measures ahead of Christmas peak

Christmas and New Year is an exciting time of year for all, but a busy time of year for those working in the supply chain. With the rising popularity of e-commerce showing no signs of slowing down, the pressure on the logistics industry to fulfil orders and delivery targets is high.

 

Ahead of this year’s peak season, Logistics Manager spoke with Wouter Roels, Senior Vice President of Marketing & Customer Experience at FedEx Express, about what the company is doing to prepare.

“Peak is an exciting time for us,” Roels said, adding that it gives FedEx the opportunity to “make [its] customers successful during the most important time of the year”.

He noted that the end-of-year peak season no longer consists of just one peak, but three. Starting with Singles Day on 11 November, the busy period continues into Black Friday, and finally Christmas.

 

Roels identified digitisation as an important consideration going into peak season, explaining that FedEx has worked to create a “digital fingerprint for each parcel”, with each of the 16 million packages it handles daily being scanned 25 times throughout the journey to its destination. He noted that artificial intelligence (AI) has been deployed in order to predict disruptions so that preventative action can be taken before the supply chain is affected.

 

FedEx has also worked to create a sustainability footprint for every package, with Roels pointing out: “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” The company has set a target to achieve carbon neutral operations globally by 2040 and, as part of this, 50% of new vehicles will be electric from 2025, rising to 100% from 2030. Read more

 

Source: LOGISTICS MANAGER