UPS launches ‘revolutionary’ new tracking system

SUPPLY CHAIN major UPS has added a new weapon to its technology armoury – and a new acronym to the SA shipper’s technology lexicon. A first in the industry, the Delivery Information Acquisition Device (Diad) provides one of the fastest package tracking systems in the world, allowing customers to establish via the internet or UPS call centre where their parcels are in the UPS network. The hand-held device, used by courier drivers to simultaneously capture and transmit real-time delivery information without the need to download, will “revolutionise service in the courier industry”, according to MD of UPS SA Paul Horsfall. It relies on what operations director Thore Saether describes as the “smart label’ which acts like an electronic fingerprint on the package to which it is attached. The first generation Diad was launched in 1991, with Diad III to be launched in SA in the third quarter of this year. “And implementation gets faster and easier in every new country,” says Saether. The system allows drivers to maintain immediate two-way contact with dispatchers so that customer pickup requests can be quickly forwarded through text messages. The device also doubles as a radio and in-vehicle cellular phone offering traditional telephone transmission. In addition it uses the latest imaging digitised technology for signature capture at point of delivery. The technology is currently in use in 41 countries around the globe with S outh Africa the first on the African continent. And while courier business is its prime target, it is available for the tracking of all cargo in the UPS network.