UPS

Company: UPS
Company Description: UPS is the world’s largest global transportation company, offering the most extensive range of e-commerce and supply chain solutions for the movement of goods, information and funds. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., UPS serves more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. UPS stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange (UPS) and the company can be found on the Web at http://www.ups.com/.
Nomination Category: Company, Office & Product Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Most Innovative Company

Nomination Title: At UPS, a Label Can Be a Real PAL

Tell the story about what this nominated company achieved in 2003 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

This one goes to the Green Bay Packers. This one belongs with the New Orleans
Saints. And this, well, that’s clearly going to the Seattle Seahawks.

A random line-up of NFL teams? No – just some of the mnemonic devices or
memory triggers UPS package loaders have developed over the years to determine
a package’s ultimate placement within a UPS delivery vehicle. Certain addresses
match up with certain NFL teams, which match up with the shelf location for that
package inside the vehicle. But those triggers are going the way of the drop-kick,
thanks to a new suite of software and hardware known as Package Flow
Technologies.

Package Flow Technologies is giving UPS a whole new playbook and an offensive
line of functions that strengthens the virtual link between sort, load and delivery.
Here’s how it works:

Address information and other details are transmitted via the smart label affixed to
packages moving through the UPS network before the package is even picked up
by a driver. Consequently, information on a package can be pre-processed before
the physical arrival of the package at the sorting center, completely automating
two key processes: planning the daily delivery route and the process of actually
loading each vehicle.

Package Flow Technologies go a step beyond with features like the Pre-Load
Assist Label or PAL – a literal map for sorters to route the package to the right
loading area and for loaders to identify the precise spot on the exact truck to place
it. The intricate system creates a dispatch plan for every driver, helping package
center management avoid over dispatching and keeping last-minute load changes
to a minimum.

By completely automating the sorting and loading process, drivers know exactly
how many packages are in a package car and the most efficient order in which to
deliver them. And at UPS, where a single driver delivers multiple services,
efficiency is imperative.

That’s why the system also enhances the Delivery Information Acquisition Device,
or DIAD, the handheld computers UPS drivers have been carrying since 1991. The
Enhanced DIAD Download is internally-developed software that downloads an
electronic manifest into the driver’s DIAD before the work day starts. This allows
the system to work for the driver in much the same way as the sorter and loader
by displaying on the DIAD the exact delivery order needed to fulfill all service
requirements in the most optimal way.

Package Flow Technologies further reduce the margin for error by providing an
audible alert to the driver if, for example, a package is being delivered to the wrong
customer or if one of a group of packages is overlooked.

This combination of ease and efficiency gives UPS customers better real-time
information on where their packages are. Ultimately, it empowers them with more
customized services, such as rerouting delivery of a shipment that is already on
the road.

Package Flow Technologies help the environment, too. Once completely
implemented in 2007, it will reduce package car mileage by more than 100 million
miles annually, saving UPS 14 million gallons of fuel each year. That fuel savings
translates into an annual reduction of 130,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions.

List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: List each link on a separate line, begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.website.com]:

http://www.courier-journal.com/business/news2003/09/24/biz-front-ups24-6625.html

http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=17602194
 
http://www.computerworld.com/managementtopics/management/itspending/story/0
,10801,85460,00.html
 
http://www.wirelessweek.com/article/CA329135?text=brad+smith+ups&stt=001
 
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,4149,1304131,00.asp
 
http://www.intelligentasia.com/ieAsiaViewArt.cfm?artid=22073&catid=9&subcat=

Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader of this nominated company:

Mike Eskew has served as chairman and CEO of the world’s largest package
delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services since 2002.

Under Eskew's direction, UPS is synchronizing global commerce by expanding its
emphasis on developing new lines of business that complement the company's
core package operations while enabling the movement of goods, information, and
funds. In 2003, this included the deployment of Package Flow Technologies and
the launch of The UPS Store as 3,100 former Mail Boxes Etc. locations in the
United States became part of the UPS portfolio.