NOON BUSINESS SCHOOL

University of Sargodha
Midterm Exam Assignment (Spring 2020)
Program: BBA (Hons.) Ex.PPP Semester: 6th
Course Title: Management Information System Code: BCMP- 5203
Note: Read the Name of Examiner: Naveed Iqbal Assignment Assigned Date: 08-04-2020 case study carefully
and answers the Assignment Submission Date: 19-04-2020 Total Marks: 30 following
questions:

Q-1: What are the inputs, processing, and outputs of UPS's package tracking system? 10 marks
Q-2: What technologies are used by UPS? How are these technologies related to UPS's business strategy? 10 marks
Q-3: What would happen if UPS's information systems were not available? 10 marks

United Parcel Service (UPS) started out in 1907 in a c1oset-sized basement office. Jim Casey and Claude Ryan-two teenagers from Seattle with two bicyc1es and one phone-promised the "best
service and lowest rates." UPS has used this formula successfully for more than a century to become the world's largest ground and air package-delivery company. It's a global enterprise with
over 400,000 employees, 93,000 vehic1es, and the world's ninth largest airline. UPS delivers 15.6 million packages and documents each day in the United States and more than 220 other
countries and territories. The firm has been able to maintain leadership in small-package delivery services despite stiff competition from FedEx and Airborne Express by investing heavily in
advanced information technology. UPS spends more than $1 billion each year to maintain a high level of customer service while keeping costs low and streamlining its overall operations. It all
starts with the scan-able bar-coded label attached to a package, which contains detailed information about the sender, the destination, and when the package should arrive. Customers can
download and print their own labels using special software provided by UPS or by accessing the UPS Web site. Before the package is even picked up, information from the "smart" label is
transmitted to one of UPS's computer centers in Mahwah, New Jersey, or Alpharetta, Georgia, and sent to the distribution center nearest its final destination. Dispatchers at this center download
the label data and use special software to create the most efficient delivery route for each driver that considers traffic, weather conditions, and the location of each stop. UPS estimates its delivery
trucks save 28 million miles and burn 3 million fewer gallons of fuel each year as a result of using this technology. To further increase cost savings and safety, drivers are trained to use
"340Methods" developed by industrial engineers to optimize the performance of every task from lifting and loading boxes to selecting a package from a shelf in the truck. The first thing a UPS
driver picks up each day is a handheld compute or called a Delivery Information Acquisition Device (DIAD), which can access a wireless cell phone network. As soon as the driver logs on, his
or her day's route is downloaded onto the handheld. The DIAD also automatically captures UPS is now leveraging its decades of expertise managing its own global delivery network to manage
logistics and supply chain activities for other companies. It created a UPS Supply Chain Solutions division that provides a complete bundle of standardized services to subscribing companies at a
fraction of what it would cost to build their own systems and infrastructure. These services include supply chain design and management, freight forwarding, customs brokerage, mail services,
multimodal transportation, and financial services, in addition to logistics services. In 2006, UPS started running the supply chains of medical device and pharmaceutical companies. For example,
at UPS headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky, company pharmacists fi1 l4,OOO orders a day for insulin pumps and other supplies from customers of Medtronic Inc., the Minneapolis-based
medical device company. UPS pharmacists in Louisville log into Medtronic's system, fill the orders with devices stocked on site, and arrange for UPS to ship them to patients. UPS's service has
allowed Medtronic to close its own distribution warehouse and significantly reduce the costs of processing each order. UPS and other parcel delivery companies are investing in giant customers'
signatures along with pickup and delivery information. Package tracking information is then transmitted to UPS's compute r network for storage and processing. From there, the information can
be accessed worldwide to provide proof of delivery to customers or to respond to customer queries. It usually takes less than 60 seconds from the time a driver presses "complete" on the DIAD
for the new information to be available on the Web.
Through its automated package tracking system, UPS can monitor and even re-route packages throughout the delivery process or at various points along the route from sender to receiver, bar
code devices scan shipping information on the package label and feed data about the progress of the package into the central computer. Customer service representatives are able to check the
status of any package from desktop computers linked to the central computers and respond immediately to inquiries from customers. UPS customers can also access this information from the
company's Web site using their own computers or mobile phones. UPS now has mobile apps and a mobile Website for iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android smartphone users. Anyone with a
package to ship can access the UPS Web site to track packages, check delivery routes, calculate shipping rates, determine time in transit, print labels, and schedule a pickup. The data collected at
the UPS Website are transmitted to the UPS central compute r and then back to the customer after processing. UPS also provides tools that enable customers, such Cisco Systems, to embed UPS
functions, such as tracking and cost calculations, into their own Web sites so that they can track shipments without visiting the UPS site. A Web-based Post Sales Order Management System
(OMS) manages global service orders and inventory for critical parts fulfi1lment. The system enables high-tech electronics, aerospace, medical equipment, and other companies anywhere in the
world that ship critical parts to quickly assess their critical parts inventory, determine the most optimal routing strategy to meet customer needs, place orders online, and track parts from the
warehouse to the end user. An automated e-mail or fax feature keeps customers informed of each shipping milestone and can provide notification of any changes to flight schedules for
commercial airlines carrying their parts. Warehouses that service multiple pharmaceutical companies at once, with freezers for medicines and high-security vaults for controlled substances. UPS
has partnered with Pratt & Whitney, a world leader in the design, manufacture, and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems, and industrial gas turbines, to run its Georgia
Distribution Center, which processes 98 percent of the parts used to overhaul Pratt & Whitney jet engines for shipment around the world. UPS and Pratt & Whitney employees together keep track
of about 25,000 different kinds of parts and fulfill up to 1,400 complex orders each day-ranging from a few nuts and bolts to kits comprising all the parts needed to build an entire engine. On the
receiving side of the 250, OOO-square-foot building, UPS quality inspectors check newly arrived parts against blueprints.