Fortune 500 Firms Boost Tenn. Knowledge Base
Published Apr 07, 2005
Memphis-based FedEx landed the No. 78 spot on the Fortune 500.
Let’s say you’re the governor of Tennessee and you want to improve the efficiency of a state service. Where would you turn?
Without pause, Gov. Phil Bredesen called FedEx, a Tennessee-based company that’s an acknowledged global leader when it comes to keeping things moving.
“We regularly use our resources and expertise in logistics to help organizations around the world, most often our customers. But in this case we agreed to provide our expertise to help the state out with one of its most widely used services,” says Sally Davenport, a FedEx spokeswoman in Memphis.
The state’s dilemma: How to improve the driver’s license process, which is periodically plagued by slow-moving lines of disgruntled residents.
“At its core, the driver’s license process is really about logistics, technology and, most of all, customer service,” Bredesen said in his 2005 State of the State address. “We happen to have in Tennessee one of the world’s leaders in each of those fields: FedEx.”
As home to seven Fortune 500 companies - including FedEx at No. 78 - Tennessee is also home to some of the nation’s top knowledge-based jobs, in fields such as logistics, health care, insurance, retailing and chemical engineering. At No. 73 on Fortune’s 2005 list is Caremark Rx, offering drug benefits services to health plans; at No. 80 is Hospital Corporation of America, the nation’s largest for-profit hospital chain; at No. 208 is UnumProvident, providing group and individual disability insurance; at No. 280 is Dollar General, a discount retailer with about 7,500 stores; at No. 316 is Eastman Chemical, manufacturer and marketer of chemical, fiber and plastic products; and at No. 350 is AutoZone, with about 3,500 auto parts stores. Another 12 Tennessee companies made the Fortune 1000.
But back to the lines at driver’s license stations. The 44 stations serve more than 1 million customers annually, issuing commercial and noncommercial driver’s licenses, processing handgun permits and answering driving-record requests. It’s no wonder the service hits a few snags.
FedEx experts rolled up their sleeves and got right to work after the governor’s call. They observed the flow of people and paper at stations in Memphis, Knoxville, Cookeville, Cleveland, Chattanooga, Nashville and Murfreesboro and interviewed employees and exiting customers at those sites.
After processing the survey results, FedEx planned to have an “executable plan” on the governor’s desk, with recommendations on the technology side as well as process-flow improvements and improvements in customer service.
Would you expect any less from FedEx?
Story by Sharon H. Fitzgerald
Current Weather Conditions In Nashville, TN (37243)
Cloudy, and 56 ° F. For more details?
Click here...
