United Parcel Service (UPS) started

United Parcel Service (UPS) started out in 1907 in a
closet-sized basement office. Jim Casey and Claude
Ryan—two teenagers from Seattle with two bicycles
and one phone—promised the “best service and
lowest rates.” UPS has used this formula successfully
for more than 100 years to become the world’s largest
ground and air package delivery company. It’s a
global enterprise with over 408,000 employees,
96,000 vehicles, and the world’s ninth largest airline.
Today, UPS delivers more than 15 million packages
and documents each day in the United States
and more than 200 other countries and territories.
The firm has been able to maintain leadership in
small-package delivery services despite stiff competition
from FedEx and Airborne Express by investing
heavily in advanced information technology. UPS
spends more than $1 billion each year to maintain a
high level of customer service while keeping costs
low and streamlining its overall operations.
It all starts with the scannable bar-coded label
attached to a package, which contains detailed information
about the sender, the destination, and when
the package should arrive. Customers can download
and print their own labels using special software
provided by UPS or by accessing the UPS Web site.
Before the package is even picked up, information
from the “smart” label is transmitted to one of UPS’s
computer centers in Mahwah, New Jersey, or
Alpharetta, Georgia, and sent to the distribution
center nearest its final destination. Dispatchers at
this center download the label data and use special
software to create the most efficient delivery route
for each driver that considers traffic, weather
conditions, and the location of each stop. UPS
estimates its delivery trucks save 28 million miles
and burn 3 million fewer gallons of fuel each year as
a result of using this technology. To further increase
cost savings and safety, drivers are trained to use
“340 Methods” developed by industrial engineers to
optimize the performance of every task from lifting
and loading boxes to selecting a package from a shelf
in the truck.
The first thing a UPS driver picks up each day is a
handheld computer called a Delivery Information
Acquisition Device (DIAD), which can access one of
the wireless networks cell phones rely on. As soon as
the driver logs on, his or her day’s route is downloaded
onto the handheld. The DIAD also automati-
UPS COMPETES GLOBALLY WITH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
cally captures customers’ signatures along with
pickup and delivery information. Package tracking
information is then transmitted to UPS’s computer
network for storage and processing. From there, the
information can be accessed worldwide to provide
proof of delivery to customers or to respond to
customer queries. It usually takes less than 60
seconds from the time a driver presses “complete” on
a DIAD for the new information to be available on
the Web.
Through its automated package tracking system,
UPS can monitor and even re-route packages
throughout the delivery process. At various points
along the route from sender to receiver, bar code
devices scan shipping information on the package
label and feed data about the progress of the package
into the central computer. Customer service
representatives are able to check the status of any
package from desktop computers linked to the
central computers and respond immediately to
inquiries from customers. UPS customers can also
access this information from the company’s Web site
using their own computers or mobile phones.
Anyone with a package to ship can access the UPS
Web site to check delivery routes, calculate shipping
rates, determine time in transit, print labels, schedule
a pickup, and track packages. The data collected
at the UPS Web site are transmitted to the UPS central
computer and then back to the customer after
processing. UPS also provides tools that enable customers,
such Cisco Systems, to embed UPS functions,
such as tracking and cost calculations, into their own
Web sites so that they can track shipments without
visiting the UPS site.
In June 2009, UPS launched a new Web-based
Post-Sales Order Management System (OMS) that
manages global service orders and inventory for
critical parts fulfillment. The system enables hightech
electronics, aerospace, medical equipment, and
other companies anywhere in the world that ship
critical parts to quickly assess their critical parts
inventory, determine the most optimal routing
strategy to meet customer needs, place orders online,
and track parts from the warehouse to the end user.
An automated e-mail or fax feature keeps customers
informed of each shipping milestone and can provide
notification of any changes to flight schedules for
commercial airlines carrying their parts. Once orders
Chapter 1 Information Systems in Global Business Today 23
CASE STUDY QUESTIONS
1. What are the inputs, processing, and outputs of
UPS’s package tracking system?
2. What technologies are used by UPS? How are
these technologies related to UPS’s business
strategy?
3. What strategic business objectives do UPS’s
information systems address?
4. What would happen if UPS’s information systems
were not available?
are complete, companies can print documents such
as labels and bills of lading in multiple languages.
UPS is now leveraging its decades of expertise
managing its own global delivery network to manage
logistics and supply chain activities for other companies.
It created a UPS Supply Chain Solutions
division that provides a complete bundle of standardized
services to subscribing companies at a fraction
of what it would cost to build their own systems and
infrastructure. These services include supply chain
design and management, freight forwarding, customs
brokerage, mail services, multimodal transportation,
and financial services, in addition to logistics
services.
Servalite, an East Moline, Illinois, manufacturer of
fasteners, sells 40,000 different products to hardware
stores and larger home improvement stores.
The company had used multiple warehouses to
provide two-day delivery nationwide. UPS created a
new logistics plan for the company that helped it
reduce freight time in transit and consolidate inventory.
Thanks to these improvements, Servalite has
been able to keep its two-day delivery guarantee
while lowering warehousing and inventory costs.
Sources: Jennifer Levitz, “UPS Thinks Out of the Box on Driver
Training,” The Wall Street Journal, April 6, 2010; United Parcel
Service, “In a Tighter Economy, a Manufacturer Fastens Down Its
Logistics,” UPS Compass, accessed May 5, 2010; Agam Shah, “UPS
Invests $1 Billion in Technology to Cut Costs,” Bloomberg
Businessweek, March 25, 2010; UPS, “UPS Delivers New App for
Google’s Android,” April 12, 2010; Chris Murphy, “In for the Long
Haul,” Information Week, January 19, 2009; United Parcel Service, “
UPS Unveils Global Technology for Critical Parts Fulfillment,” June
16, 2009; and www.ups.com, accessed May 5, 2010.
Explore the UPS Web site (www.ups.com) and
answer the following questions:
1. What kind of information and services does the
Web site provide for individuals, small businesses,
and large businesses? List these services.
2. Go to the Business Solutions portion of the UPS
Web site. Browse the UPS Business Solutions by
category (such as shipment delivery, returns, or
international trade) and write a description of all
the services UPS provides for one of these
categories. Explain how a business would benefit
from these services.
3. Explain how the Web site helps UPS achieve some
or all of the strategic business objectives we
described earlier in this chapter. What would be
the impact on UPS’s business if this Web site were
not available?
MIS IN ACTION
The system must also provide information to satisfy the needs of
managers and workers. UPS drivers need to be trained in both package
pickup and delivery procedures and in how to use the package tracking
system so that they can work efficiently and effectively. UPS customers may
need some training to use UPS in-house package tracking software or the UPS
Web site.
UPS’s management is responsible for monitoring service levels and costs and
for promoting the company’s strategy of combining low cost and superior
service. Management decided to use computer systems to increase the ease of
sending a package using UPS and of checking its delivery status, thereby
reducing delivery costs and increasing sales revenues.