UPS Reinvents Package Flow.

The article focuses on the package flow initiative system of UPS Worldwide Logistics Inc. Beginning in 2007 when the new system will be fully deployed, increases in operational efficiency are expected to save UPS that $600 million each year, according to Cathy Callagee, operations portfolio manager at UPS. The improved end-to-end flow, which will ultimately be used by more than 100,000 employees, begins when the customer generates a smart label using a Web application that transmits customer and package information to UPS and preprocesses it before the driver arrives for pickup. That information then passes to UPS' Dispatch Planning System which charts UPS truck pickup and delivery routes. 93 percent of UPS packages have smart labels. At the package center, the smart label information is validated, at which point the system spits out another label, dubbed the preload assist label or PAL, to help human loaders route the package to the correct conveyor belt and place it an optimal position on the delivery truck. The package flow software was developed in-house using COM+ components written in C, C++ and Visual Basic running on Windows 2000 Server. SQL Server maintains the planning, real-time sort and post-sort reporting databases.