Jim Barber Named President of UPS Europe

cheryl

I started this.
Staff member
Wolfgang Flick Retiring After 35 Years of Service

UPS (NYSE: UPS) has appointed Jim Barber, a 26-year UPS veteran, its new president of the UPS Europe Region with responsibility for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Barber, 51, most recently served as the chief operations officer of the Europe Region and succeeds the retiring Wolfgang Flick as the region's president. In his new role, Barber will be responsible for all UPS package, cargo and logistics operations in 120 countries and territories with more than 40,000 employees.

"Throughout his career with UPS, Jim has excelled in leadership positions in both the United States and Europe and we're confident that he's going to make a tremendous impact on our Europe Region," said Dan Brutto, president, UPS International. "The Europe Region represents roughly half of UPS's international revenue so this is a critical assignment and one that's very important to the future of UPS."

Barber joined UPS in 1985 as a delivery driver in the United States in Georgia, then was promoted into management later that same year and began moving through a series of accounting and billing positions. In 1993, he was promoted to controller of the West New York District in Buffalo, N.Y., then transferred to a similar position with the North Illinois District before being promoted again in 1998 to controller coordinator of the West Region.

In 2000, Barber transferred to UPS's global headquarters in Atlanta to join the Mergers and Acquisitions Group, then became controller of the Southeast Region before assuming the post of Europe Region Controller in Brussels in 2004. In January 2006, Barber was promoted to the post of president of the UK and Ireland District, based in London, then moved to his current post as region chief operations officer in 2010, based in Brussels.

In his most recent assignments, in London and Brussels, Barber has played key roles in overseeing the integration of one of UPS's largest recent acquisitions and in setting the stage for the 2012 London Olympics. The acquisition of LYNX Express Ltd. in late 2005 significantly expanded the scope of UPS's operation throughout the United Kingdom and it fell to Barber as the District's president to guide that integration.

In 2008, Barber oversaw a $105 million investment that led to the construction and opening of the Tamworth ground hub, the company's largest facility in the UK and second largest in Europe.

And in both his District and Region positions, Barber has been overseeing preparations that are now reaching a feverish pace to launch the logistics network necessary to stage the 2012 Olympics, a task described as biggest peacetime logistical undertaking in the world. As it did in Beijing in 2008, UPS is serving as the official logistics and express delivery provider of the London Games. It will be up to UPS to operate the Games Logistics and Command Centre as well as provide an integrated supply chain network that includes logistics planning, warehousing services and transportation.

Flick is retiring after 35 years of service to UPS, including the last 7.5 years as president of the Europe Region. He is a "Day One" employee of UPS's first expansion beyond North America, when the company launched its German operation in 1976.

Flick originally joined the company as a center supervisor in Giessen, Germany, then moved through a series of positions of increasing responsibility. By 1987, Flick had been promoted to the post of air manager for the Europe Region, then became the district manager of the Cologne Air / International District in 1991. In 1995, Flick became the president of the Utah-Idaho District in the United States, then became the president of the South Europe District. In 2001, Flick became the president of the Germany District and in 2004, was promoted to president of the Europe Region.

During his tenure as Region president, Flick directed the expansion of UPS's European air hub in Cologne - the largest construction project outside the U.S. in the company's history - then built what is now a massive campus to serve healthcare customers in The Netherlands. He also oversaw the acquisitions of companies in Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Turkey to expand UPS's European footprint.

"Wolfgang deserves the credit for initially establishing UPS's European air network, designing and opening the Cologne air hub and putting together the pieces of that air operation," Brutto noted. "His vision and leadership also were instrumental in successfully transforming our European network into an integrated supply chain service provider. He's played a leading role in building
 

Catatonic

Nine Lives
I knew Jim in the Georgia district and was impressed with his intelligence and determination. He is a very good golfer too or he was back then.
 

Europa

Active Member
Bad move, say more later.

Come on then, out with it. Why do you think it's a bad move?

I think it's great for UPS, tough on anyone working near him who isn't getting the job done. He's razor sharp, tough as nails and doesn't take excuses. Some region, district and country management changes already announced to breathe new momentum into the business.
 

Catatonic

Nine Lives
Come on then, out with it. Why do you think it's a bad move?

I think it's great for UPS, tough on anyone working near him who isn't getting the job done. He's razor sharp, tough as nails and doesn't take excuses. Some region, district and country management changes already announced to breathe new momentum into the business.

I think you just explained it. klein's view of the world is one where, inefficiency, ineffectiveness and general mediocrity is the goal if it creates an environment where everyone is happy with no stress.

I think that only happens in Erewhon.
 

klein

Für Meno :)
Hey , look up UPS Germany, esspecially the city of Stuttgart.
(the city I lived at for 14 years).

UPS tried to fire all the shop stewards there, including the BA (in Germany the BA has an office at the work site).
Big demostrations etc, happened there.

Europeans won't put up with all the crap, North Americans do. I guarantee you that much.
 

Europa

Active Member
Hey , look up UPS Germany, esspecially the city of Stuttgart.
(the city I lived at for 14 years).

UPS tried to fire all the shop stewards there, including the BA (in Germany the BA has an office at the work site).
Big demostrations etc, happened there.

Europeans won't put up with all the crap, North Americans do. I guarantee you that much.

You don't think he learned anything? Did you see labor issues blow up in the UK? No, didn't think so, despite a potentially messy integration. Germany's being a huge growth engine for the past few years, as has the UK since the Lynx integration. Guess who they have in common?

Don't get me wrong - the guy has "things to work on" just like the rest of us - but when his opening question on meeting a new person in the office is "how many times have you been on car?" you know you have a region manager with operations at the core of his thinking.
 

klein

Für Meno :)
Lets hope he doesn't screw it up. Walmart Germany had to shut down all it's operations (stores) there.
And as far as I know, DHL is still much larger in Germany then UPS is, and probably will ever be.
 

Europa

Active Member
Lets hope he doesn't screw it up. Walmart Germany had to shut down all it's operations (stores) there.
And as far as I know, DHL is still much larger in Germany then UPS is, and probably will ever be.

DHL is bigger than UPS in German Domestic. No doubt about it, always will be and that's the way we like it - no need to feed at the bottom. But the export market is a different story.
 
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