07.09.20
Most of us know UPS from the brown trucks that deliver packages to our homes. One of the world’s largest parcel delivery services, UPS generated a total of $74 billion in revenue in 2019 and delivered more than 5.5 billion packages and documents. Perhaps less well-known is UPS’s Supply Chain Services, or SCS, a $13 billion division that handles everything from freight forwarding to e-commerce fulfillment services targeted at the small- to mid-sized (SMB) business community.
To keep up with that growth, UPS has been investing in connectivity across its smart network, which seems natural for an organization known for its transportation chops.
Now, UPS is moving inside the four walls of its fulfillment centers, designing the warehouse of the future with a focus on the right mix of automation and people. That mix includes autonomous mobile robots from Locus Robotics, a warehouse execution system (WES) from Softeon, goods-to-person picking solutions from AutoStore, and robotic stretch wrapping from Robopac. And, other automation technologies are under consideration in UPS’s innovation centers.
Source: by Bob Trebilcock, Modern Materials Handling Magazine