After two years of acquisitions and expanding services for international trade, FedEx Trade Networks Inc. is reorganizing and renaming two of its business units.
The move by FTN, one of five operating companies of Memphis- based FedEx Corp., is geared toward pulling together several operations, some existing and others acquired through acquisitions, under one umbrella organization, company officials said. The organizational shift will not change the number of employees in the business units, said Ed Clark, president and chief executive officer of FTN.
In February 2000, FedEx created a new division, FTN, to expand its services into customs brokerage, international freight forwarding and other international trade solutions. Importers and exporters use customs brokers and freight forwarders to deal with complex trade regulations and find the quickest and cheapest ways to move goods internationally.
FedEx wanted to become more of a "one-stop" shopping center for international shippers, handling more paperwork through customs and helping small and large companies with other international trade procedures, Clark said.
Traditionally, FedEx had been the shipper, but had not offered some of the additional services that are now offered by the expanded FTN subsidiary.
In February 2000, FedEx bought Buffalo, N.Y.-based Tower Group International, a transportation logistics subsidiary of McGraw-Hill Cos., to jump into the customs brokerage business. That group had 1,600 employees and 63 offices throughout North America.
As of July 8, the name Tower Group will no longer be used, and the unit will be known as FedEx Trade Networks Transport & Brokerage Inc.
In a related adjustment, the company also is creating a new subsidiary called FedEx Trade Networks Trade Services Inc., which will take over services previously offered under the company's WorldTariff subsidiary. The WorldTariff name will no longer be used. The new unit also will offer international consulting services and introduce a new set of international shipping resources known as Global Trade Tools. It also will incorporate duty and tax data services.
Caribbean Transportation Services, the largest air-freight forwarder between the United States and Puerto Rico, which also serves the Dominican Republic, is already a part of the FTN company.
The FTN re-organization also will include adding the resources and employees acquired when FedEx in February bought four operations of Fritz Cos., another customs brokerage firm that added about 1,000 employees to the group. All told, the combination gives the FTN subsidiary 3,400 employees, said Jennifer McGowan, a senior communications specialist with FedEx in Miami. She said only a small portion of the 3,400 work in Memphis.
"Right now, we have the same number of employees as we had before the change," McGowan said. "But one of the reasons we're doing this is to grow the business."
