FedEx Innovation at FedEx the Shipping and

FedEx Innovation Innovation at FedEx The shipping and parcel delivery company FedEx has always placed an emphasis on technology, starting with the industry's first automated customer service center as long ago as 1978 and continuing to incorporate new technologies that provide more efficient services and create value for customers and company shareholders alike (FedEx, 2012; Comer, 2007).

FedEx still represents the forefront of technological innovation and incorporation in the shipping and delivery industry, with many different areas of technological adaptation, innovation, and application that serves to enhance the value chain of the company in all operations and at all levels (FedEx, 2012). From office communications to customer interactions, innovation and technological use remain deeply engrained and very widespread parts of FedEx's operations and overall competitive advantage.

When it comes to the internal operations of the company, there are several specific technological innovations FedEx has made that enable the company to operate more efficiently and more effectively. The tracking and sorting of packages has long been automated, but continuing modifications and innovations to the systems that accomplish these tasks lead to ever more refined and sophisticated results, such that real-time global tracking is now available and overall tracking and deployment is much more accurate (FedEx, 2012).

The company also uses well-integrated and state-of-the-art communication technologies to enable relevant team members to remain in contact and full communication despite possibly being literally on the other side of the globe (Comer, 2007). All operations are made more efficient by technology. The innovations and technologies employed internally at FedEx all ultimately create value for the company's customers and clients by making the operation faster and more cost-effective, yet there are also technological advances that have a more direct and observable impact on customer value perceptions.

FedEx's now long-cemented acquisition of Kinko's added a new layer of customer offerings that is explicitly built on providing the latest technologies in document preparation and communication technologies (Comer, 2007). Website and call center technologies that the company has adopted and continues to update provides enhanced customer access to the company and information regarding packages shipped as well as other services FedEx offers, improving customer retention and market penetration for the company as well as -- in fact, because of -- the value these elements add to end consumers (FedEx, 2012).

Ongoing progress in basic transportation technologies also continue to serve the company and customers well, improving delivery capabilities, times, and efficiency, all of which contribute to the cost effectiveness of the company's basic operations and the service quality.