UPS announces IT improvements designed to drive global commerce operations

By Jeff Berman, Senior Editor -- Logistics Management, 3/19/2007

ATLANTA—UPS today announced it has made improvements to its various technological platforms in an effort to help shippers better conduct global business and save them time and money by streamlining the preparation, management, and tracking of multiple types of shipments, including domestic or international, small package or heavy freight.

The platforms which have been augmented include:

• WorldShip 9.0, a Windows-based platform which is geared for UPS customers with high-volume shipping bandwidth,
• Quantum View Manage, a Web-based platform that provides shippers with online access to download and query shipping status information, such as delays and schedule changes, among others, and
• Billing Solutions, a software platform that provides shippers with financial information on small package and UPS Freight shipments to help shipments manage transportation costs.

In a Webcast attended by members of the media and analyst communities this morning, Kurt Kuehn, UPS senior vice president of worldwide sales and marketing, explained that the drivers for UPS expanding its global technology footprint stems from the realities of a global economy that is enabled by technology.

“[Shippers] want to be able to combine the flow of goods, information, and funds through one global network and it has been our goal to build and support that network,” said Kuehn. “We feel the pace of global trade and the continuing globalization of the economy will move forward very strongly in 2007.”

Kuehn also pointed to data from McKinsey & Company, indicating that global shipments are expected to more than double over the next decade, with an estimated 85 percent of manufactured goods being sold across borders by 2020. He said this data is a stark contrast to data from 2002 that said only 20 percent of goods sold moved across borders. UPS’ total international export volume grew by 11 percent in 2007, with double digit growth in Europe, Asia, and U.S. export, noted Kuehn.

Some of UPS’ product enhancements announced today are:

1. WorldShip 9.0 - Time-definite delivery options for international shipments by 9:00 a.m. or earlier (UPS Worldwide Express Plus), 12:00 p.m. or earlier (UPS Worldwide Express), or by end of day (UPS Worldwide Saver); residential address classification to reduce billing adjustments for residential shipments within the U.S. or from Puerto Rico to the U.S.; the ability to enter package dimensions on the main shipping screen; and simplified billing terms used to decide who pays shipping charges and who pays duties and taxes.

2.Quantum View Manage - visibility for less-than-truckload (LTL), air and ocean freight shipments after pickup; search, sort, filter, e-mail, and download functions for all shipment data; and access to scanned images of UPS Freight LTL shipments documents, including Bill of Lading, Corrected Bill of Lading, and Delivery Receipts.

3. UPS Billing Solutions - the addition of an electronic freight invoice.

UPS said that the changes made to Quantum View Manage represent the integration of UPS Freight, which is the result of its 2005 acquisition of LTL carrier Overnite Express.