Network Efficiency
Making Our Logistics Network Smarter Than Ever
When people think about our global logistics network, brown trucks and jumbo jets are top of mind. But that’s just the start of a vast portfolio of assets, expertise, and advanced technologies that combine to provide our customers with a way to move materials from one point to another more efficiently than they could by themselves. Think of it this way: UPS provides a way for customers to “carpool” their goods rather than driving them on their own. That efficiency ultimately translates into sustainable benefits and avoided emissions.
The exponential growth of e-commerce, and the resulting increases in both package volume and delivery points, continues to place more demands on our network than ever before. It’s one of the primary reasons we’ve embarked upon a transformation of our business. We are continually evolving our smart logistics network to incorporate real-time data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other technological advancements to take network efficiency to its next level of performance—from the point of sale to the last mile.
We are in the midst of a multi-year capital investment program to construct and renovate facilities with higher levels of automation, acquire new highly efficient aircraft and ground fleet vehicles, and enhance information technology platforms. In 2018, we opened 22 new and retro-fitted highly automated facilities globally, adding 5 million square feet with additional sorting capacity of 400,000 packages per hour across our network. These include the addition of five U.S. regional “super hubs” that increase the speed and flexibility for how packages are transported along the way to their final destinations. In 2019, we plan to add even more capacity at 20 new and retro-fitted facilities, including two regional “super hubs.”
All the new facilities incorporate UPS’s latest in package processing and network planning technology, seamlessly integrating air and ground operations across the U.S. and around the globe.