Behind The Scenes: Meet UPS’ Strategic Partner, DDC FPO

View This Article in BOSS Magazine

DDC FPO, a strategic partner of UPS, is a member of the global network of business process outsourcing (BPO) companies, The DDC Group. As each member has different areas of specialization, DDC FPO’s primary focus is freight. Having been dedicated to serving transportation and logistics providers for over 16 years, DDC FPO now processes 300,000 shipments that move between 33 countries on a daily basis.

The company has operations across Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific with a staff of 5,000 delivering services in over 30 different languages.

DDC FPO is best known for its premium freight back office programs, such as Freight Billing with DDC Intelligence, its AI-powered, software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution, but it also provides several other BPO services, including the Customs Brokerage Processing suite that plays a key role in DDC’s partnership with UPS.

Since 2008, DDC has had a relationship with UPS. The official partnership with UPS’ Freight Forwarding and Global Customs Brokerage division began in 2017.

The two companies have worked together as strategic partners throughout the COVID-19 crisis, teaming up to successfully meet transportation and logistics needs for UPS’ customer base while maneuvering challenges put forth by both the pandemic and global trade events – such as Brexit.

An ability to work together while staying ahead of potential needs is what makes the two companies a successful pairing, according to Art Zipkin, president of DDC FPO.

“We mesh on a lot of levels,” Zipkin said. “From a service standpoint, DDC understands what they need when they need it. We proactively work to always anticipate what the needs will be in the future.”

The fallout from Brexit has been a challenge for the global supply chain – and one that the companies have collaborated on extensively to keep freight moving for UPS’ customers. The heavy burden of subsequent paperwork, border plans and tariff coding systems has tripled the workload in the transportation industry.

Yet the business continuity and freed resources that DDC equips its partners with enables companies like UPS to go above and beyond efficiency standards to achieve sustainable profitability rates. In turn, UPS supports DDC’s mission and vision, and empowers the company to thrive by innovation. The companies have even teamed up on corporate social responsibility initiatives with their shared priorities of giving back to the community and making the world a better place.

“They welcome us as a part of the team, as a part of UPS,” said Luna Boyd, vice president of client solutions at DDC FPO. “It’s like a big family embracing another family. Even though there are different divisions we work with inside of UPS, they treat us the same.”