OM in the News: UPS Drivers Pick Up the Pace

In Chapter 10’s discussion of work measurement, we describe UPS as “one of the most efficient companies anywhere in applying effective labor standards”. And in Chapter 6, Managing Quality, we provide a photo of a UPS driver and talk about the 340 precise methods he is taught to correctly deliver a package. So I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the company which designs its routes so drivers avoid left turns (so as not to waste time waiting for a break in oncoming traffic), has added yet a 341st time saver!

The Wall Street Journal (Sept.16, 2011) describes how UPS ‘ newest cost-savings strategy–taking away the drivers’ keys–will save $70 million a year.  Currently, drivers are required to carry key rings on their ring finger to avoid wasting time searching for them. Still, wrangling with keys can waste valuable seconds. Once a driver stops, he or she has to take the keys out of the ignition, then turn around to use them to unlock the bulkhead door that leads to the packages. Soon, drivers will wear a digital-remote fob on their belts and will be able to turn the engine off with a button that will unlock the bulkhead door at the same time.

That will save 1.75 seconds per stop, or 6.5 minutes a day per driver–and also reduce motion and fatigue. UPS’s COO acknowledged that the company is “obsessive about efficiency”. Each night, when drivers return from deliveries, UPS  industrial engineers study data from computers aboard each truck. The data show details such as how much drivers idle, how often they back up, whether they are wearing seatbelts, or whether they are going out of their way to get lunch. All this helps shape new procedures such as the surrendering of keys.

Discussion questions:

1. Name some of the (many) other UPS efficiency techniques.

2. Ask students to identify efficiency improvements they could make at places they worked.