24 Manaqement Information Systems

INTERACTIVE SESSION: TECHNOLOGY

INFORMATION|TECHNOLOGY
UPS GLOBALLY WITH Customer queries It usuallv takes less than,
COMPETES 1907 in a
from the time a drnver presses "Complete' ona
United Parcel Service t(UPS) started out in
to be
office. Jimt Casey
closet-siZed basement Seattle and Claude
for the new
intormation
available
Through its automated packkage tracking
on
an- two teenagers from with two bhicycies
monitor and even re-tOute
dhd one phonc- prouuised the "hest service lla

OwCst rates," UP'S has used this tormula succeSsluly

UPS can
throughout the delivery
process
from sender to receiver
At packages
various
Tor more than 90 years to becoue the world's laTgest along the route bat use
informaation
devices scan shipping
on t
}TOund and air package-distribution commpany. I IS a he
global enterprise: with more than 425,000 employee,
1.5,000 vehicles, and the world's ninth largest airIine
label and feed data about the progress of the r
Customer
pa.tkc
Intothe central computer.
Today UPS delivers more
r than 15 million parcels sentatives are ablc to check the status s of ary D service
and documents Cach day in the United States and computers linked to tthe central t
from desktop
more than 200 other countries and territories. putersaand respond immediately to inquires tr
The firm has been able to maintain Jeadership in CUstomers. UPS customers can also access ths
Small-package delivery services despite stife competi mation from the company's Webb site usingthe
Such as cell
tion from FedEx and Airborne Express by investing computers or wireless devices
heavily in advanced information technology. UPS Anvone with a package to ship can access h.
spends more than $1 billion cach year to maintain : delivery r
Web site to track packages, check
high level of customer service while keeping costs calculate shipping rates, determine time in tr
low and strcamlining its overall operations. print labels, and schedule a pickup. The da:
It all starts with the scannable bar-coded label
collected at the UPS Web site are transmitted t
attached to a package, wihich contains detailed
UPS central computer and then back to the cu
information about the sender, the destination, and
whenn the package should arrive. Customers can after processing UPS also provides tools that e
customers, such Cisco Systems, to embed UPS
download and print their own labels using special functions, such as tracking and cost calculations
software provided bv UPS or by accessing the UPS
Web site. Before the package is even picked up, their own Web sites so that they can track shipr
intormation from the "smart" label is transmitted to without visiting the UPS site
one of UPS% computer centers in Mahwah, New UPS is now leveraging its decades of experis
Jersey, or Alpharetta, Georgia, and sent to the managing its own global delivery network to ma
distribution center nearest its final destination. logistics and supply chain activities for other cor
Dispatchers at this center download the label data nies. It created a UPS Supply Chain Solutions dve
and use special software to create the most efficient that provides a complete bundle of standard1zed
delivery route for cach driver that considers traffic, services to subscribing companies at a fraction at
weather conditions, and the location of each stop. it would cost to build their own systems and intt
UPS estimates its delivery trucks save 28 million structure. These services include supply-chain de
dailes and burn 3 million fewer gallons of fuel cach and management, freight forwarding, customs tr
year as a result of using this technology. age, mail services, multimodal transportatior., a
The first hing a UPs driver picks up each day is a financial services, in addition to logistics servica
handheld computer called a Delivery Intornation Hired Hand Technologies, a Brenen, Alats
Acauisition Device (DIAD), which can access one of based manufacturer of agricultural and horticu
rhe wircless networks cell phones rely on, As SOon as
the driver logs on, his or her day's route is down cquipment, uses UPS Freight services not ofl
track shipments but also to build its weekly
loaded onto the handheld. The IDIAD als0 automati
cally captures customers' signatures along with
manufacturing plans. UPS provides up-toie
nickup and delivery intormation. Package tracking intormation about exactly when parts are artt
information is then transmitted o UPS's ComDute,
within 20 seconds.
nework for storage and processng. Fronn there. the Soirces United Parcel Service Poweting
Up thr ap
OPS Comnas
High- Jech I
and TLs
information can be accessed worldwide to provid. Compas So
a
Tech The Neaudta Dr utsch Stitl Hrrna
nroof of deliverv to cuistomers or to respond to accessed Iuly 26 200
Times luly 12 2007 and ww*