UPS starts European deployment of its latest wireless technology
UPS has announced it will begin deploying wireless technologies, including Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, to package facilities and drivers in Europe to ensure customers continue to have the most up-to-the-minute tracking information available at all times.
The first part of the deployment will occur inside UPS sorting centers and hubs. It involves pager-sized Bluetooth scanners, worn on the middle finger, which send package tracking data to small Wi-Fi (802.11b) terminals worn on the waist by package sorters. The Wi-Fi devices then send the tracking data to UPS’s computer network, where it can be accessed by customers.
“Our ultimate aim is to treat each UPS customer as if it is the only UPS customer,” said Ken Lacy, UPS’s chief information officer. “The wireless technology UPS is deploying today is laying the groundwork for the company to develop better operational software applications, which will allow us to offer new customized solutions to our customers while reducing our operational costs.”
The new global scanning system is one of the freshest technologies in UPS’s worldwide operation. When the enterprise-wide deployment is completed in 2007, UPS will have streamlined and standardized more than 55,000 ring scanners in 118 countries; integrated a number of UPS scanning applications into one, improved information flow, and decreased the cost of ownership.
By eliminating the cables that connect the ring scanners to the wearable terminals, UPS expects a 30 percent reduction in equipment and repair costs, as well as a 35 percent reduction in downtime and a 35 percent reduction in the amount of spare equipment needed.
As part of the global deployment, UPS will install as many as 12,000 Wi-Fi access points in more than 2,000 facilities. The resulting Wi-Fi network is expected to be one of the largest in the world.
The deployment of the wireless scanning systems will be further boosted by the rollout of the newest hand-held computer to UPS’s delivery drivers. The DIAD IV (Delivery Information Acquisition Device), currently in field trials in the United States, is the first handheld computer to include wireless connectivity options for personal (Bluetooth), local (Wi-Fi) and wide-area networks (GPRS or CDMA). Other innovative features include:
A Global Positioning System (GPS) capability that will give drivers more detailed directions to customer pick-up or delivery points.
A color screen that accommodates color coding of messages to drivers and displays information in a more attractive fashion for customers.
An acoustical radio modem to facilitate dial-up access if necessary.
An optical modem to enable transmission within a UPS center.
UPS began pilot testing the Bluetooth ring scanner and Wi-Fi terminal application in Europe earlier this month in Munich, Germany. The company now is launching another pilot test in Hamburg. UPS anticipates deploying the application at 73 sites in Europe by the end of 2005 and also will start deploying the DIAD IV in Germany next year. The company anticipates having 10,000 DIAD IVs deployed in Europe in 2005 and more than 70,000 worldwide by the end of 2007.
