UPS unveiled two innovative technologies that will ease and accelerate training for many of the nearly 95,000 seasonal workers the company will hire to help manage increased package volume during this year’s holiday shopping season.

The first is an update to the Mobile Delivery App, which resides on users’ smartphones and helps delivery personnel easily manage package deliveries. It features most of the functionality of the handheld DIADs (Delivery Information Acquisition Device) that UPS delivery drivers carry. UPS launched the first DIAD in 1991 and is now on the fifth generation.

The second innovation, Dynamic Sort Instruction, uses Bluetooth audio to tell workers in sorting facilities where to route packages. Employees carry a device about the size of a cell phone and wear ear buds to receive processing instructions as they scan packages. This technology eliminates the need for workers to memorize hundreds of postal codes and other service-level details. Dynamic Sort Instruction gets employees up to speed faster, eliminating 40 hours of training that occur on the job.

“UPS IT and engineering professionals developed both of these technologies in-house to streamline the onboarding experience for seasonal staff in order to help us meet our commitments to customers during our busiest time of the year,” said Juan Perez, UPS chief information and engineering officer.

The Mobile Delivery App and Dynamic Sort Instruction reflect UPS’s commitment to using the latest and best technology. Earlier this year, the company explained how investments in flexible capacity, technology and other capabilities would bolster its global smart logistics network.

UPS rolled out an earlier version of the Mobile Delivery App in 2016 and has enhanced the functionality for 2017. Two of the most important upgrades are the ability to complete c.o.d. stops and the ability to complete scheduled pickups.

The Mobile Delivery App also features:

• Map view that shows delivery locations

• Ability to sort delivery stops by distance: This feature is especially useful to workers who accompany drivers on routes. These employees often make deliveries on foot and may be less familiar with a route than the delivery driver. This functionality makes delivery workers more efficient when they’re on unfamiliar routes. 

• Ability for customers to sign for packages using their fingers

• Ability to download routes while away from a UPS building: This enables a worker to get delivery assignments while on the road. It also allows employees who are not drivers to work with multiple drivers in a day without the need to return to a UPS building to download additional dispatch information.

The app reduces UPS equipment expenses while greatly enhancing productivity. It is downloadable on UPS-issued smartphones or, in some cases, smartphones owned by employees. The deployment date is Oct. 30, and 10,000 to 15,000 workers will use the app until the end of the peak shopping and returns season.

Dynamic Sort Instruction promises to improve productivity, as well. And this technology illustrates UPS’s mission to rapidly advance technological enhancements that benefit the company and its customers. UPS engineering and IT staff first considered using Bluetooth technology this way just a few months ago. Seeing the strong potential to reduce training costs, the company fast-tracked the development and plans to deploy the technology to about 1,500 workers in 41 U.S. facilities this fall. UPS is considering other versions of Dynamic Sort Instructions, including eyewear that communicates the instructions visually.

UPS uses about 95,000 seasonal employees during the peak holiday shopping season – November through January – to support the increased package volume. Up to 35% of those hired seasonally over the last three years now have permanent jobs with the company.