Archive
February, 2010

The following post was published at The Salvation Army’s blog this week. 

Have you ever sent or received a package and tracked it online through UPS? If so, you’re probably familiar with the useful technology that keeps you well informed and your parcell accounted for throughout the process. 

Now, UPS has donated use of their Trackpad® technology to The Salvation Army for use in Haiti relief efforts, adapting the barcode scanning system to disaster relief supply distribution. 

Using unique, laminated cards with barcodes, The Salvation Army is now able to streamline distribution of food, medical supplies, and shelter for the 4,000 families living in a makeshift camp near the Port-au-Prince compound. 

These high-tech coded cards store useful information such as the type and amount of supplies the family has received, where they live within the camp, and how many members are in their family. They also resist wear and tear far better than the handwritten, paper index cards previously used, as well as reduce fraud and theft. In addition to using the technology to optimize food distribution, the Salvation Army also plans to use the cards and tracking system to help with the distribution of hygiene kits and tarps to prepare for the upcoming rainy season. 

UPS technology provider Cardinal Tracking provided the barcode cards and donated labor and equipment for the project. The system includes 4,000 laminated cards, two handheld scanners and a laptop. 

Damaris Frick, manager of the Salvation Army’s camp in Port Au Prince, said in an official statement, “We are abundantly grateful to UPS for providing this new distribution system. The technology will improve the speed of the distribution, helping us to keep the process as orderly as possible…We will no longer need to manually input distribution data, which will also speed up and increase the accuracy of our reporting process to other NGOs and donors.” 

In addition to the UPS Trackpad project, UPS’s relief effort in Haiti has included: 

• $1 million in cash and in-kind donations to relief organization partners, including CARE, the U.N. World Food Programme, and the American Red Cross.
• Logistics coordination for relief shipments.
• Air, ground, and ocean shipping.
• Employee volunteers to help prepare relief shipments and assist relief agencies.
• Loaning logistics management expertise to assist the U.N. World Food Programme’s Logistics Emergency Team in the Dominican Republic by overseeing warehousing and other distribution operations.

On Monday, the Atlanta Tradeport Training Center hosted a unique event aimed at helping small and medium-sized businesses improve their environmental performance and efficiency. As part of the Department of Commerce’s Sustainable Manufacturing American Regional Tours (SMARTs), the program provides a great opportunity for businesses to learn how they can implement environmentally-smart practices that deliver improvements both internally and throughout their supply chains. And that’s where I come in.

I lead the sustainability solutions group at UPS and we help customers of all sizes “green” their supply chains. Some of those customer solutions include carbon impact analysis and measurement, transportation and logistics network redesign to minimize environmental impact, carbon neutral shipping, and “green” packaging.

Joining me on a panel at SMART was PBD Worldwide Fulfillment Services, a Georgia-based company that provides fulfillment services backed by guaranteed service levels that average above 99.99 percent for both fulfillment and inventory accuracy.  PBD uses UPS Paperless Invoice when processing international shipments and as a result saves more than 450,000 sheets of paper while eliminating the use 150 toner cartridges every year.

UPS Paperless Invoice is just one of the solutions UPS provides to help customers like PBD make greener choices. But before you can help others go green, you really need to have your own house in order. To learn more about how UPS is making greener choices, check out our corporate sustainability efforts at responsibility.ups.com.

Have you ever noticed all the different types of trucks on the road? You know, the food service, beer or soda truck? Maybe? Maybe not. (I admit they were pretty invisible to me before I started working with them!)  Have you ever wondered how they figure out where to go, which roads are best to take, and when?

How do companies efficiently route, whether they have 10 or 100 vehicles or service techs? This problem of routing vehicles is very intriguing to me, so I did some math. If you have one vehicle that has 10 stops, there are 3,628,800 ways to sequence just those 10 stops. That’s where UPS Logistics Technologies fits in – we help companies find the most efficient ways to route their vehicles.

We are a business unit of UPS that sells route planning and GPS tracking software to companies that have a fleet of vehicles to be routed or a team of people to be scheduled. We use algorithms and customer requirements (e.g. don’t deliver food supplies to a restaurant during the lunch rush hour) in order to find the most efficient route to complete all of the deliveries or service calls. Once the plan is established, we use GPS tracking to ensure that the plan is being followed. Our goal is to provide our customers with the tools they need in order to reduce mileage, which reduces fuel consumed and ultimately makes the world a little greener by reducing carbon emissions.

Many of the commercial vehicles that you see on the road today are customers of UPS Logistics Technologies. In fact, we route over 186,000 vehicles every day in 56 different countries.

Several of these vehicles belong to WAXIE Sanitary Supply, the largest family-owned janitorial supply company in the United States. Their key to success is living their mission every day by making the customer central in everything they do, being environmentally sustainable and investing in technology. Through their investment in the Roadnet® Transportation Suite, WAXIE quickly discovered that they were not using their fleet to the fullest, causing unnecessary expense and having more vehicles on the road than needed. By using the technology to balance routes and compare how they planned to deliver to what actually happened they were able to service more customers and not have to purchase additional vehicles, in the days of old, the growth they experienced would have required an additional 29 vehicles!

On the other side of the coin is a customer that has become a household name – Feeding America. They’re using our software to help local food banks save on transportation costs (something that has skyrocketed in recent times). The savings can then be spent to provide additional meals to the hungry. See Donna Longino’s previous story on the benefits these solutions and savings have delivered to Feeding America.

So the next time you see a truck on the road, just because it’s not brown on the outside doesn’t mean it’s not routed by Brown!

Ask and you will receive. UPS Calgary employees have long awaited the opening of their new facility. Today we celebrate this opening along with customers, local government, media and the Calgary Fiddlers.

Picture a football field, now multiply that by two-and-a-half and you have the size of this new hub.  There are more than three kilometers of conveyor belts in the building – that’s longer than my routine coffee run to the Tim Horton’s around the corner!  This new airport hub will double the previous centre’s processing capability and allow us to expand our delivery capacity for the next 10 years. It is going to change the way UPS serves Calgary customers, and in turn, how they will serve their customers.   

With the facility’s close proximity to the airport and the city’s major highways, we’re now able to offer customers the convenience of later pickup times for their shipments. It also can process over 7,000 packages per hour – doubling our previous sorting capacity – and help connect Canadian businesses to markets around the world. The facility’s expanded capabilities will mean even greater flexibility and convenience to customers.

Another benefit – the hub will help boost the local economy, not immune to the hard times over the past year, by adding more than 400 new jobs at the facility.

Even with the recent recession, UPS continues to invest in building new facilities in Canada. Calgary’s new hub is the latest and greatest, but back in December 2009 the Toronto hub also underwent a large expansion. 

The opening of this new hub also comes at the perfect time. On February 28, UPS celebrates 35 years in Canada.  This new Calgary Airport facility is yet another example of UPS’s vision to prepare and plan for the future. This foresight will benefit our customers, but also us, as employees, as it aims to better support global trade and connectivity for businesses in Canada.

The only thing missing in Calgary right now are the warm Chinook winds… and the stampede.

At one time or another, many of us have entertained the fantasy of quitting the daily grind and starting our own business. I know that I have – purely to work from home in my PJs and fuzzy slippers! Therefore it shouldn’t come as a surprise that every year more than half-a-million people choose to indulge their entrepreneurial passion and start their own businesses.

According to a recent report by the Kaufmann Foundation, more than half of the companies on the 2009 Fortune 500 launched during a recession or bear market. So, given the past year or two, my guess is that many future Fortune 500 companies are currently being born in home offices, basements and garages throughout the country. It is these small businesses that will position our country for strong growth in the coming years.

Ok, so you have your million dollar idea. Now what? Coming up with the concept is just the first step of many that you will need to take when starting your new business. Consider finding a small-business counselor, or utilize free online resources, such as SCORE or the Small Business Administration to help you through this journey.

One of the next steps you’ll need to take will be to establish your business’s address. If you’re currently working at your kitchen table or garage, consider obtaining a private mail box (PMB) at a place like The UPS Store. Here’s why:

• You’ll be provided with a real street address, not a P.O. Box, for your business, which helps convey a more professional image. And, since you’re running the business out of your home, you don’t have to give out your home address, helping to protect your privacy.
• You can receive packages from any carrier and have them held in a secure location for pick-up at your convenience.
• Depending on the outpost, you may be able to arrange for e-mail or text notifications when you have a package waiting, lessening unnecessary trips to your mail box. As a small-business owner, your time is precious!

Who knows, maybe we will see your business on a future Fortune 500!

UPS recently held an event to celebrate the expansion of UPS Road Code to Orlando. UPS Road Code is a safe driving class for teens taught by UPS volunteers at Boys & Girls Clubs across the United States. At this particular event, Ginny Odom, UPS’s safest female driver on the road, was onsite to share some words of wisdom with the teens. I took the opportunity to ask her a few questions of my own.

Q&A with UPS’s safest female driver – Ginny Odom

Q: Wow – 35 years and more than 3 million miles without an accident.  What have been the keys to your tremendous safety record?

A: Well that’s what UPS trains us to do – I’ve had a lot of practice! And I’ve been very fortunate. One of the keys for me is to take my time and remain focused on the job at hand. It has worked pretty well so far.

Q: We’re here today at one of the local Boys & Girls Clubs in Orlando to announce the next location of UPS Road Code, our safe driving program for teens. What is the most important driving tip you would give to these teenagers?

A: Put the phone down! There are more and more distractions today – we used to just have a radio. Now there are cell phones and iPods and there seems to be a greater temptation to use them while driving. Also, everyone – and I mean EVERYONE – should wear their seatbelt. I am surprised by the number of drivers I see out there – especially teens – who aren’t wearing seatbelts. 

Q: Why do you think UPS developed the Road Code program? Do you think it can really help?

A: I heard some statistics today about the number of teenagers who die each year in car accidents. And my own 35-years safe driving is evidence that we know a thing or two about safe driving at UPS. So, this is a great way to bring one of the things we do best into our communities and hopefully to save lives.

Q: Earlier I saw you checking out the driving simulator used in UPS Road Code – what did you think?

A: It’s nothing like the way I learned to drive – it looks like a video game! I can see why that makes it appealing to teenagers. The driving simulation seems very realistic.  And – I’d much rather have them face road hazards to test their knowledge and decision making skills…and make their driving mistakes behind a steering wheel that is connected to a computer rather than out on the road with the rest of us. It all comes back to safety!

Growing up a huge sports fan in New Jersey, I was lucky enough to attend a few World Series and NBA Finals games but never a Stanley Cup contest or Super Bowl. And, I most definitely never went to the Daytona 500. Well, I can’t say that anymore after this past weekend.

I was given the opportunity to see David Ragan in live NASCAR action at “The Great American Race,” as well as a chance to meet the Daytona 50 – winners of the UPS NASCAR Employee Program that recognizes UPSers who excel in the areas of safety, service and growing the business, such as Tennessee District Package Car Driver Ronnie Bruce, who submitted an incredible 169 new business leads last year.

There was a whole lot and a hole lot going on race day. Despite enduring temps better suited for Vancouver than Florida and 2½-hours worth of delays to repair a pesky pothole, the Daytona 50 and their guests were treated to an exciting and strong 16th-place finish by David Ragan to start the season.

Central Florida District Circle of Honor Driver Ginny Odom was thrilled about delivering the green flag for the event, but found it a little funny that she did so in our flame package car, considering that she’s been driving feeders since 1983.

“I wanted to deliver the flag with my tractor and a trailer,” joked the 35-year safe driver credited with amassing more than three million miles without an accident.

At a dinner reception Saturday night, I must confess to feeling a little awestruck when I saw Ginny talking shop with Whites Creek (Tenn.) Feeder Driver Mike Jenks, who has driven more than five million accident-free miles and is one of only 14 active drivers at UPS with 40 years of safe driving. That’s a combined 75 years of safe driving between those two remarkable individuals. As a communications professional, I realize I shouldn’t have been nervous when I asked Mike and Ginny if I could take their picture. Oh, well.

On Saturday I got to visit the new UPS Trackside Services trailer. Over the course of a typical 36-week season, UPS handles all of the packages that come in and out of the track. The new trailer provides a much better environment for our customers and employees and is much nicer than the simple canopy erected between two car haulers in the garage area.

Obviously every business decision is magnified in a difficult economy, but I believe the NASCAR sponsorship continues to be a smart investment. There are a significant number of people watching these races who make shipping decisions. In addition, we have access to all of the different sponsors in the sport, allowing us the chance to showcase our technology and service for these businesses. By the way, keep an eye out for the new NASCAR commercials, especially “Delivery People,” which is as brilliant as it is hilarious.

I realize I was extremely fortunate to have had the Daytona 500 for my first NASCAR event. It was a ton of fun. And I enjoyed every second. Witnessing live action has given me even more of an appreciation for these drivers who skillfully maneuver those cars at such a blinding pace. But even more importantly, the weekend reminded me again of all the extraordinary UPSers who maneuver their own difficult tasks, day in and day out, and make it look just as easy.

And although we know David would have liked to place higher than 16th, he did keep one of his promises: The FedEx car only finished 17th.

Nice job getting our backs, David!

For most people, Mardi Gras means festive parades and celebrations. For David Haydel Jr., Mardi Gras means business.

As a third-generation general manager of Haydel’s Bakery based in Jefferson, Louisiana, David has a special connection with the king cake tradition. While the bakery specializes in birthday cakes and wedding cakes throughout the year, it’s most famous for its purple, green and gold king cakes.

I had the chance to speak with David and learn about his business and the overwhelming impact of Mardi Gras. I was completely blown away when I learned that he has to triple his staff in the weeks before the holiday to keep up with the explosive demand. In the two weeks before Fat Tuesday, his team will make 2,000 king cakes each day. On Monday, February 15, Haydel’s peak day of the year, the bakery will produce approximately 5,200 king cakes in a single day – that’s 11 cakes a minute!

What is the significance of the king cake?

King cakes represent a little piece of New Orleans. They are a sign of Mardi Gras. For people sending them out to customers and clients, it’s like sending them a piece of New Orleans.

After Hurricane Katrina, we had many customers calling us up and saying, “I’m up in Idaho and they’ve never heard of king cakes here, can you send me some?” The king cakes represented home for many of the people who had to move away.

Since your grandfather started Haydel’s, he must have pulled you in when you were young. When did you start helping with the business?

At age two. I starred in Haydel’s first commercial back in the 70s. I crawled across a table and flew into a cake. I’m still trying to get them to pay me for that! But that was just my debut, I’ve been involved in the business as long as I can remember.

Over the past two weeks, your team has been making 2,000 cakes a day, and today you expect to make 5,200 cakes. How do you keep up with that kind of volume?

We don’t sleep! In the last week before Mardi Gras we work almost 24 hours a day. Throughout the whole season, from the Epiphany through Fat Tuesday, we will sell 52,000 king cakes. And they go all over the world!

All over the world? Where all do you ship to?

We pretty much go everywhere you do. From Canada to London to Singapore, we’ll send king cakes from one end of the world to the other.

How does UPS help you manage this major peak in demand?

During king cake season, UPS leaves a truck at the bakery all day long. We fill it up throughout the day, and we may even swap it out for second one if needed. Then UPS takes it and delivers all the cakes overnight so they can arrive fresh. This is where we take all our hard work and leave it in UPS’s hands. Simply put, we rely on you guys to make us look good.

UPS has also equipped you with some technology solutions. What have we done to help make shipping easier for you and your business?

As UPS has integrated technology to speed up their process, they’ve kept us up with it. This technology eliminates steps and saves space, but it also saves headaches. I remember when we used to prepare our shipments manually, and you had to worry about filling out all the right labels and stickers for each box. Now it’s more automated.

One really big thing is the way customers can track packages directly from our Web site. This is a huge help because, otherwise, we would have people calling us every five minutes.

Can you describe a few of your “special edition” king cakes from this year?

We made a black and gold king cake in honor of the New Orleans Saints for the Superbowl. That one was really popular, and we ended up selling out. We love Saints fans!

We also did a heart-shaped king cake in pink, red and white for Valentine’s Day.

What is the significance of the plastic baby inside the king cake?

There are a lot of theories behind this one, but we like to say whoever finds the baby has to buy the next king cake.

Tonight, the world celebrates the start of the Vancouver Olympic Games. For the UPS team assisting with the London Olympics, it is a milestone on the journey to the 2012 Summer Games.

Organising an Olympic Games is the single biggest peacetime logistical event in the world, followed just two weeks later by the second biggest – the Paralympic Games. The starting point for us came by installing a team of skilled UPS logistics professionals into LOCOG’s HQ to start the planning process. I am leading the team, assisted by six other UPSers with expertise in warehousing, transportation, venue and village logistics, customs and freight forwarding, and courier services. As a project, it is unique. In addition to its size and complexity, there is obviously zero flexibility when it comes to the implementation date – 27th July 2012. There’s only one chance to get it right!

The first four months of planning have been intensive. We’re fortunate at UPS to have a lot of Olympic experience and expertise so part of our preparation has included sessions with the UPSers in China who successfully delivered the Beijing 2008 Olympic logistics. The opportunity to work with the individuals who lived and experienced the Beijing Games was invaluable.  Beijing has become an important reference point, however we all realise that London 2012 will be very different.

Warehouse selection has started and we plan to have the first warehouse operational by late 2010. By 2012, UPS will be operating nearly one-million square feet of warehousing to support the Games. UPS is also involved in all the venue planning sessions. The venues range from existing stadiums to new-build stadiums, plus venues that are currently public spaces – for example roads where some cycling events and the marathon will take place.

We’ve also had the valuable opportunity of visiting the VANOC logistics team. VANOC is the Organising Committee of the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. We spent 10 days with VANOC prior to Christmas studying their planning processes, IT systems and visiting their warehouse and venues. The Winter Games are roughly one-third the size of the Summer Games, but many of the processes are similar so it was a great learning experience.

The UPS team helped move Team GB (Great Britain) to the Vancouver Winter Games. Team GB has 43 athletes competing at the Winter Games.  We started the process at the beginning of January with the shipping of an ocean container full of equipment. The container arrived in Vancouver after traveling by rail across Canada. At the end of January, we moved a number of more time-sensitive air freight shipments containing – among other things – bobsleighs for the reigning Bobsleigh World Champions; the women’s GB team, the men’s bobsleighs, skis and uniforms for the athletes and officials.

To keep track of UPS and our involvement with the London 2012 Olympics, visit ups.com/london2012.

This year, Valentine’s Day happens to coincide with the first day of the Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, as it’s known in China. 2010 marks the Year of the Tiger in the lunar calendar and the national holiday lasts from 13 to 19 of February.

Sending people home is the most critical task for China’s national transportation ministry every year. Imagine 210 million people making their annual trip home and then back again to work in the cities after the holidays via a host of different transportation means including air, trains, coaches, cars, and you get the picture. Most people consider it a campaign in itself, called “Chunyun” in Chinese, which means “Spring Festival transportation.” This year, the campaign started on 30 January and lasts forty days until 10 March. Getting a train ticket is always the biggest challenge for those who need to travel long distances. Reason being, the majority of the people going home are regular workers who toil throughout the year for their one trip back, and the train is the most economic travel option. Limited railway capacity versus huge demand means that there is always a gap. Looking at the people queuing outside of the railway station from midnight to early morning, with ticket brokers buying and selling tickets for scalper prices, it reminds me of the scenes of people buying an Avatar IMAX movie ticket or a Michael Jackson concert ticket, but this time, everyone’s just going home, having a family reunion and, of course, indulging in a good rest after a year of hard work.

As for me, I am looking forward to having the week off from the office. As my family is here with me in Shanghai, I am fortunate to not have to join the throngs of travellers in the lead up to the new year. Everyone in our Shanghai office is gearing up for the long break, looking forward to reuniting with their families and enjoying the beginning of spring.