Joe Pyne | Samsung ElectroMechanics Co. | e-commerce group | finance division

OUT OF SIGHT
Maybe UPS realizes that creative thinkers don't need the regimentation of the hub or the hush at headquarters. Maybe the corporate types know that while UPS may have a global operation and may have its own logistics down, someone still has to envision where that elusive next market might be. For whatever reason, the company has parked most of its new business divisions elsewhere. The logistics team is construct-ing its own headquarters a few miles away from corporate. Sequestered far to the north, the e-commerce group brags that it is a bastion of unbuttonedness. Not even UPS' new finance division is located in corporate HQ.

Here, in the corporate hub, there is no sign of loosening, perhaps for good reason. When your goal is to persuade old-line companies like Honeywell to let you manage all their transport and logistics, and even their e-commerce needs, it can help to appear as neutral and nonthreatening as possible. After all, UPS is no longer simply providing a shipping service. It is becoming part of a company's core.

Joe Pyne wanders into the cafeteria, a cup of tea on his tray. He sits and sips, quietly. Is he conjuring up some new project? Has he figured out, as he said in his office, where he will find the "next billion dollars in revenue?" It's impossible to tell as he sits there, inscrutable, as UPS carves out space for itself in the inner workings of hundreds of other companies. One thing at least is clear; when Pyne says "we," these days the word includes much more than UPS alone.
Samsung: A Case Study
One of the best recent examples of what UPS can provide is its September 2001 deal with Samsung ElectroMechanics Co. (SEMCO). The Korean company hired UPS' logistics arm to rethink how it moves everything from the raw materials it buys to the finished goods which it then delivers, mainly to other manufacturers. Once the new strategy is in place, UPS Logistics will manage the operation.