Packages and IT

UPS system delivers savings
UPS has spent $600 million to automate package sorting and cut time, miles and cost. For drivers, it's a real help.
By Steve Alexander, Star Tribune
Last update: December 11, 2006 – 9:50 PM
http://www.startribune.com/154/story/869353.html

..."UPS says the automation system -- akin to putting the Dewey Decimal System in a library to replace random book piles -- is a key to handling increasing package volume, up 8 percent this year, and coping with the increased volume of holiday deliveries. The Maple Grove distribution center, one of three serving the Twin Cities, expects a peak volume of 86,000 packages a day around Dec. 20, up from 59,000 packages a day the rest of the year."

"But bringing order to the jumble of packages is the aim of a $600 million, six-year nationwide software project at Atlanta-based UPS. As a result, UPS has become a leader in using automation to improve the efficiency of package delivery, said Brian Clancy, an analyst with MergeGlobal, a freight and logistics consulting firm in Arlington, Va."