The Brilliant Ways UPS Uses Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning And Big Data Posted on : Jun 18 - 2018

In a business where shaving off a mile per day per driver can result in savings of up to $50 million per year, UPS has plenty of incentive to incorporate technology to drive efficiencies in every area of its operations. According to UPS’ Chief Technology Officer Juan Perez, “Our business drives technology at UPS.” Here are just a few of the ways UPS uses big data and artificial intelligence (AI) to prepare for the

Technology catapults UPS operations

UPS was founded in 1907 and has a history of embracing change and evolving as new technologies arise. It’s the use of big data and artificial intelligence that allows the company to operate its global logistics network in more than 220 countries and territories. On an average day, there are typically 96,000 UPS vehicles on the road handling 19 million packages. UPS invests $1 billion annually in technology to enhance efficiency, improve customer service and support the ever increasing consumer demand to have as close to immediate delivery of packages as humanly possible.

UPS Bot

UPS developed its chatbot, UPS Bot, in house and released it for use just three months after the idea was born. This AI-enabled tool mimics human conversation and can respond to customer queries such as “Where is the nearest UPS location?” and can track packages and give out shipping rates. Customers can ask the bot questions either through text or voice commands through mobile devices, social media channels and virtual assistants such as Alexa and Google Assistant. The UPS Bot is able to recognize these requests and then takes the appropriate steps to complete them. The more “conversations” the bot has, the more learning it experiences to take the appropriate action in the future.

UPS My Choice

During its peak period, UPS provided more than 137 million UPS My Choice alerts—the free system that lets residential customers decide “how, where and when home deliveries occur.” The chatbot is integrated with the UPS My Choice system, so customers are able to obtain information about their incoming packages and deliveries without providing a tracking number. View More